Poker and business skills often are considered to fall into two completely different worlds, galaxies apart from one another. However, few people realize how closely the two are actually related. Knowing how to play poker can essentially help you improve your business acumen. Believe it or not, there are a number of skills which you can pick up from playing a hand which will help you stride with confidence up the corporate ladder. So read on and discover how learning poker can play to your advantage!
You Gotta Know When to Hold ‘Em, Know When to Fold ‘Em, Know When to Walk Away, Know When to Run
As the great Kenny Rogers once said in The Gambler, you have to know when to run. This is an incredible powerful lesson to be learnt not only in poker and business, but in life itself. Sitting round the poker table will force you to learn this very quickly. Hence, your decision making skills will be sharpened thanks to this popular casino game. Therefore, the first lesson which poker will teach you in preparation for your business life is how to make better decisions. Poker will show you how to know when you need to give up, when you need to stick with the hand you’ve been dealt or when to back your decision with everything you got and go all in. Poker will teach you how to say no and stand by that decision. It will also give you the confidence to trust your intuition.
Perfect Your Sales Pitch
One key to poker is confidence. When playing, you need to be able to command the attention of the table, read your peers and bluff. If you think about it, this translates almost word for word in how you would deliver a sales pitch. The bluff isn’t necessarily about lying, but rather, it is about the persuasion; knowing how to sway your listeners in your favour. Therefore, lesson number two comes in the form of being able to successfully hold your own in a high pressured environment.
Let Poker Do the Talking
Another thing which poker will help you improve in is both your negotiation skills as well as your execution. When playing poker, the person holding the best hand doesn’t necessarily always win. Poker helps you to identify the strength of your hand, but also find multiple outs – or ways to win. Poker also has the ability to teach you when it is time to change direction, and completely walk away from a fruitless venture. This can be translated into your business strategy tenfold. Knowing your outs in the business world is vital because you always need to have more than one plan in place in case of failure. In the same right, knowing how to play your cards rationally but change your course when the environment no longer suits you will help you make informed decisions on the execution of the project at hand.
Improve Your Poker and Business Skills Simultaneously
All in all, the practice of poker will present you with a plethora of learning opportunities for your business acumen. Be sure to go down to the table today, pull up a chair and begin to learn valuable life lessons through know how to play poker.
