"Competitive for attention" - When Shark Tank’s Barbara Corcoran discussed growing up with 9 siblings

Shark Tank investor Barbara Corcoran, who has made a name for herself in the real estate industry of New York, shared during The Diary of a CEO podcast, about how it was growing up with 9 siblings.

She says that a major share of her entrepreneurial success has come from the experiences that she gained during her childhood. The environment honed her competitive nature and teamwork skills that were very important later on in her career.

Sharing the details about how she grew up, the Shark Tank investor said that they lived in very tight quarters with just two bedrooms. In the house, there were 10 kids and just 2 parents.

Thus, getting the attention of a parent was not an easy task, as everyone was fighting for it. With so many siblings vying for recognition, she said she had to quickly learn to assert herself and stand out amongst them all.

"I was one of 10 children. We, of course, only had two parents to share. We were in very tight quarters—a two-bedroom home—and just getting the attention of a parent was very hard to do. I think everyone in my family, certainly myself, grew up very competitive. Competitive for attention, competitive to do something better than the next kid."

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Shark Tank investor Barbara Corcoran reveals how her childhood shaped her competitiveness

The ingrained sense of competition that Barbara, the Shark Tank investor, had growing up became an asset to her in the business world. This is where standing out and being resourceful were very important.

The way she set up her business, The Corcoran Group, as a distinguished real estate firm in New York City, can be traced back to how these early experiences of constantly working to set herself apart from her siblings came in handy.

However, this was not the only natural instinct that was built in her growing up in a house with 10 kids in total. She also learnt teamwork and collaboration.

"We never knew what it was like to be alone. My idea of doing anything is: Who's with me? Who’s with me?" she said.

This mindset helped her build a team for herself after starting the business and thus helping her with her professional life. The Shark Tank investor explained further:

"I think I’m phenomenal at building a team. It’s second nature to me. It was so easy for me to think about who would go with whom, who wouldn’t, who would get along, who had the right task. I could just size somebody up really fast and make a great, tight team. I don’t think that would have happened if I hadn’t grown up in a very crowded household, looking for attention and competing."

Her talent for assessing people based on their personalities and skills gave her an edge during hiring and mentoring employees and building a team for her business. This ability also helped her as an investor on Shark Tank. She also believes that this provided her with an intuitive understanding of people.

This helped Barbara in assessing people's strengths and weaknesses when she transitioned into the competitive world of business. As an investor and entrepreneur, she was able to understand human nature and make smart hiring decisions.

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Shark Tank season 16 episodes release weekly on ABC at 8 PM Eastern Time on Fridays. They are later available to watch on Hulu.