You can't beat them if you don't see them

The funny thing is that unless you know your competitors, you cannot fully know yourself. In any competitive situation, who you are and what your strengths/weaknesses are, will always be determined RELATIVE to the other competitors.

Nobody ever competes in a void. Yet, prior to the arrival of LinkedIn in 2003, most careerists could not really know who their competitors were, or what they were doing.

Now, you can actually monitor the competition in order to prepare your career moves in a foresightful, premeditated and strategic manner.