Despite coming from vastly different worlds, CEOs, NBA stars, and Hollywood’s elite share one powerful trait: an unrelenting desire to get better. That’s according to David Rogier, CEO of MasterClass, the online learning platform valued at $2.75 billion in 2021, where celebrities and industry leaders teach everything from cooking and acting to entrepreneurship and content creation.
Speaking to Fortune, Rogier said that even the most decorated instructors on his platform—those with MVP titles, Oscars, Emmys, and Grammys—consistently seek feedback after every shoot.
“I thought when you’re on top of the game, maybe you don’t, but like every single one of our instructors, every time you cut the camera, ask: What things went well? What things did not? What can they improve?” Rogier said. “I was shocked at not only how hard these people work, but that they crave feedback.”
MasterClass’s roster includes names like Mark Cuban, Richard Branson, Stephen Curry, Kris Jenner, and Samuel L. Jackson. Rogier said that despite their fame and success, they all share a common “superpower”: the ability to learn on the fly.
“Your ability to learn things fast is now probably the most important skill,” the 42-year-old added.
‘Be comfortable with not knowing something’
Rogier, a Los Angeles native and Stanford MBA graduate, said that emulating the success of household names isn’t as complicated as it seems—so long as one is willing to embrace discomfort.
“When you don’t know something, it is scary. You are gonna be judged for the first time on it,” he said. “But in that process, you have to train yourself. It is also like a confidence thing to go and actually, when I don’t know something, to take that discomfort and go chase it.”
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