What Makes Toto Wolf Tick

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I think everyone who is successful has to have something that drives them to achieve what they do. An inner desire to be better than others even though they don't even realise this.

Toto Wolf is the principle of Mercedes AMG Formula One and has won the Constructors title 6 years in a a row. He has built something that no other team has and will continue to do so. Most teams would get complacent and be overtaken by someone else but he hasn't and we have to understand the person to realise why. Toto is not like any of the other team principles and thinks very differently.

When Toto was growing up along with his baby sister they were raised by their mom after losing his dad at a young age. He remembers the bad times like when they were at school and were asked to leave the one day as the school fees hadn't been paid. Finances and struggling were not hidden away from them and they were well aware of how cruel the real world was.

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When he was 17 he had his first business venture as he saw an opportunity. In Austria there was going to be a demonstration against the ruling party at the time. This demonstration was a peaceful one showing that the people were not happy and it involved lighting candles.

Toto contacted the organisers and sold them on the idea of him supplying the candles giving them a portion of the profits to help their campaign. There was one manufacturer of candles in Austria and he bought every candle they had all 125 000 of them.

The day of the demonstration that was set to start at 5pm he had set up candle stalls all around the city. Toto recalls how nervous he was as this was all the money he had invested in the stock and at 5pm he had sold none. By 6 pm he had sold most of them and by 6.30pm they were all gone.

Toto had spotted something that others hadn't picked up on and that was the demand of something quite obvious. This taught him many things and set him on his way to study becoming a banker and then leaving to join Formula One. racing was never on his radar until he was in his mid twenties when by chance he was invited to watch a race by some friends of his.

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Toto today is obviously very wealthy and successful, but has never forgotten his roots. He finds the most important time is self reflection and will often switch off and be lost in his thoughts for hours. He is known when travelling with others to just stare out of the window as a type of meditation. He encourages this with his staff today to spend 30 minutes per day to switch off from the stressful environment and to rest the mind.

I do believe that lifes experiences whether at a young age or later on in life shape the people we are. You don't have to be poor as someone from a privileged back ground may have the drive to prove to others they are just as good as their parents. A common one is when someone has had a medical scare that was life threatening as they all tend to think in positive ways.

I must admit I find these personal insights interesting as it tells a lot about someone and why they think in a certain way. Subconsciously many are unaware of why they do things a certain way and to others it becomes obvious once you know more about the person.