Minka Borec

Psychology of winners

Psychological principles of winning in business and life
Insights of Slovenian politicians and business leaders into the psychology of success
The author's reflections on the psychology of power

Psychological principles of exceptional success in the Slovenian economic-political landscape

Acknowledgment

I extend my gratitude to Saša Arsenovič, Alenka Bratušek, Blaž Brodnjak, Gregor Golobič, Zoran Janković, Katarina Kresal, Milan Kučan, Anže Logar, Jože Mermal, Aleksander Mervar, Dušan Mes, Stojan Petrič, Vesna Prodnik, Aleš Rojs, Branko Selak, Iztok Seljak, Ivan Simič, Rok Snežič, Tibor Šimonka, Janez Škrabec, and Tim Žagar for their charisma, motivation, knowledge, experience, and implicit insights into the psychological principles of success and victory in business, politics, and life—insights they forever passed on to me through this project we co-created.

Abstract

The aim of the master’s thesis was to research the psychological principles of success in Slovenian business and politics. I set out to explore parallels between philosophical insights in the Graeco-Roman and oriental traditions, the perspectives of contemporary science and the views of leading members of Slovenia’s business and political elite, and identify the psychological principles of success in business, politics and life that are independent of period, context and location if there exist any.

Insights of business owners

Janez Škrabec - Why would I live someone else’s life? – courage is fear that lasts a minute longer

I am six years old. I remember a carriage ride around Lake Bled. Someone points at the white mansion we are passing. “Škrabec’s villa.” “Who is Škrabec?” I ask. Honestly, I don’t remember the answer. Something vague flickers in my mind about the communist elite and an untouchable man. Recently, I attend a seven-day training course in Bled. By chance, I am staying in a house next to Škrabec’s white residence. It is also the former official residence of another of my interviewees, but let us leave that aside … “The owner of this house is a man I will get to know,” a silly, stubborn conclusion suddenly springs up in me as I walk past the white beauty.

Insights of CEOs

Tibor Šimonka - No prosperity without successful individuals

Tibor Šimonka. A name that has resonated with the Slovenian public for decades as a byword for dignity, morality and an iron will, and at the same time for fairness and competence, as well as a feel for people. A feel for business. A feel for the environment in which he operates. A man who found his way in the old Yugoslav system, in independent Slovenia and abroad alike. A man of rich experience and unmistakable charisma. Tibor Šimonka unites what I see as the two basic and, to me, most cherished characteristics of a good leader: steel and softness, fused in one person.

Insights of politicians

Zoran Janković - If true leaders want to make new leaders better than themselves, they allow them to have the glory

Every leader smells different. In Zoran Janković, the never-confirmed prime minister of the Republic of Slovenia, the Mayor who is also one of the most recognisable symbols of modern Ljubljana, probably more powerful than Ljubljana Castle, Ljubljanica River or the Olimpija football club, and alongside Ivan Tavčar, probably one of the most famous mayors by far, the former President of Management Board and CEO of the Mercator retail chain, this special smell is so strong that it is hard to miss. The Mayor is a man with a strong personality.

Concepts discussed from scientific perspective

The Psychology of Corporate Investment Behaviour after the Global Financial Crisis in Slovenia

“Se vogliamo che tutto rimanga com’è, bisogna che tutto cambi”, “If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change” (Lampedusa, 1958/2007, p. 40). Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s novel The Leopard traces the decline of an old Sicilian aristocratic family that mistakes stagnation for self-preservation and, in refusing to evolve, cedes the future to a more ruthless new elite, better suited to the world taking shape around it. Inertia is built into every system, from human bodies to corporations and empires, and the only way to fight it is to keep moving. Older still than Lampedusa’s novel is the Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita, in which Krishna counsels the warrior Arjuna to act but relinquish attachment to the fruit of the action (The Bhagavad Gita, 2007).

Ancient Views on the Psychological Laws of Success, Modern Research on the Psychological Characteristics of Successful Individuals, and Methods of Selecting Potentially Successful Company Founders in the Slovenian Context

My observations from practice led me early on to the idea that there exist universal psychological laws of success in life, business, the economy, and politics. That there are certain universal rules of the game that increase an individual’s potential for success and determine their long-term breakthrough and persistence at the top. Rules of the game and psychological laws of exceptional success that matter regardless of how “players change and stages shift” (Aurelius, 2002), to quote the thought of an ancient emperor. I came to the idea that I could find more grounds to believe my hypothesis if I identified parallels between ancient and East Asian philosophical views on leadership, professional insights, and the practical observations of current politicians and business leaders in the Republic of Slovenia.

Commemorative publication: the dark and light sides of 'ruling the world'

About the author

I hold a Master's degree in Psychology. My master's thesis, Psychological Laws of Exceptional Success, explored the deeper psychological patterns behind extraordinary achievement. Based on more than 1,000 pages of transcripts from in-depth interviews with over twenty-five leading Slovenian business leaders and politicians, the research sought to identify the psychological principles of peak success that remain constant across time, context, and arena.

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