Five Steps to Success

Is success merely a matter of chance? More often than not, those who seem to have all the luck have created their success by upping their opportunities. The best leaders are those who lead by example, and their track records tend to be filled with successes resulting directly from hard work and focus. Although talents and drive have their place in the accomplishment equation, don’t discount these five factors anyone can implement to increase their success:�

• Spell out specifics – When working toward a goal, go into detail about what you want to accomplish. Having a definite, tangible end to reach leads to a higher rate of success than a vague idea. Are you more likely to improve your health by setting out to “eat right and exercise” or to “work out three times a week, eat 1,500 calories a day, and stop eating after 8 p.m.”? Definite boundaries help you gauge whether or not you’re actually approaching that goal.
• Be optimistic AND realistic – Making things happen takes hard work and positive thinking. While you should imagine your possibilities beyond your boundaries, remember to also be realistic. What will it take to reach that end goal? It will take tenacity and time, planning and persistence. Mapping out the journey in your mind first, including potential obstacles, will help you find the strength to push forward when discouragement comes.
• Challenge your willpower – Think of willpower and self-discipline like a muscle or a foreign language: use it or lose it! The more you exercise self-control, the stronger it grows, and the easier it becomes to do so. Flexing your willpower muscle can be as simple as choosing one healthy habit you’d rather not do, like working out daily or giving up a favorite indulgence, if only for a set amount of time (e.g. no dessert for a month). Will that simple sacrifice change your world? Not necessarily – but will the impact of setting an improving goal and accomplishing it make a difference? Absolutely! Conquering small challenges builds the confidence necessary to tackle major obstacles.
• Practice patience – Remember to be patient with yourself. Don’t throw out the proverbial baby with the bathwater if you fall short early on. Chalk it up to experience and keep pursuing your goal with this added wisdom. Being able to step past setbacks with an eye fixed on the end prize is integral to long-term success.
• Break through your barriers – Improvement should be focused on bettering your best. Many of us impose false limits on our own possibilities, thinking that our intelligence, personality, or looks are set and unchangeable. However, research shows that fixed ability is a fallacy. Reach your fullest potential by embracing your ability to change and grow. When you focus on getting better as opposed to being good at something, then you’re able to enjoy the journey, not just the destination.

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As you focus on how to increase what you can control, you’ll be able to increase your opportunities to succeed. By gaining into what you’ve done right – and wrong – in the past, you’ll be able to lead by example and inspire others to achieve past their self-imposed limits.

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Following Examples to Success

Recently I came across a blog post that discussed the brilliance and drive of Erez Lieberman-Aiden, a brilliant interdisciplinary mathematician with a whole slew of noteworthy accomplishments under his belt – and before turning 30 at that. The blogger made the argument that emulating Lieberman-Aiden would be a great way to defeat procrastination. While I don’t disagree, I think the case can be made that finding someone who has accomplished your dreams and following the principles along their path to success is a tried-and-true way to make any worthy life goal a reality. There’s a great deal of power in seeing that someone has actualized what might seem like a far-off idea or dream, taking cues from the steps they took.�

How can you best analyze and emulate another’s success? Here are some tips:

• Look for principles, not circumstances – Each individual may travel a different path, but there are always lessons to be learned by looking beyond specific details and finding what it was the person did to succeed. Don’t fall into the trap of attributing the success – or lack thereof – to environment or circumstances. While those do have an effect, they’re generally beyond your control. How you act and react within those boundaries is where the real difference lies. Look at what steps others have taken to rise above roadblocks. How can you use their story as a case study and learn best practices for business and life from them?
• Read between the lines for character – Similar to the point above, there are often attributes successful leaders have honed over the years. What character traits do you want to improve in yourself? Find someone who radiates that trait and watch them closely. What small actions show that trait? It can sometimes be a “fake it ‘til you make it” situation – start with the actions that reflect that trait, and the trait will grow. Remember that everyone has traits that come more naturally for them than others, so be patient with yourself as you cultivate these characteristics.
• Push past what’s easy – Rarely do the movers and shakers in life take the easy way out. It’s their tenacity and vision to push past the crowd and take the road less traveled that makes them stand out and succeed. They’re willing to take on the challenges and sacrifices that so many would rather avoid. It’s not wise to choose difficulty for difficulty’s sake, either, but as obstacles arise, remember that those challenges are part of the journey. Instead of folding, use them to become stronger. Study how other leaders have made it past challenges – it often involves staying true to themselves and their vision.
• Make an action plan – The best way to actualize a goal is to make an action plan, complete with objectives, strategies, tactics, measurements, and milestones. Begin with the end in sight, as Stephen R. Covey teaches, and then work backward, setting milestones and midway goals, complete with deadlines. Again, look to the example of those who have succeeded before you. What steps did they take along the way? What setbacks did they face? Is there a way to plan for those sidesteps when making your action plan? Don’t forget to celebrate those small victories along the way.

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“Overnight success” is a myth. People may achieve prominence in an instant, but even in the rare case that happens, they’ve been working for years to hone their skills and develop the character traits to achieve their goals, including a myriad of milestones along the way.�

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LEARNING YOUR LEADERSHIP STYLE

Have you ever encountered a boss whose approach to power and leadership baffled you?�

According to Harvard Business Review, one’s instincts where power is concerned – both giving and receiving it – stem from conditioning in one’s life since childhood, particularly within the family unit. In researching power styles, author Maggie Craddock observed that “the building blocks of anyone's signature power style are rooted in the ways they have been conditioned to respond emotionally and behaviorally to the first authority figures they encountered in life, namely, their caregivers.”�

In other words, those whose caregivers asked for the child’s opinion in making family decisions are likely to be adults who appreciate when colleagues take time to connect and build a trust-based relationship. Conversely, those raised by authoritarian caregivers usually build their power relationships based in fear, which can lead to disliking consensus building and preferring independent leadership. �

Most people’s power styles are a blend of the following four profiles, according to Craddock. Where do you fit into the mix? �

• The Pleaser – These are the folks who, lacking the attention they craved early in life, are hardwired to care for others. They hunger for validation and connect with others at a personal level as a means of gaining power.
• The Charmer – As a child, these individuals often had to care for a parent’s emotional needs. Consequently, these individuals have little respect for formal authority and may resort to manipulating others to get their needs met. Charmers have an intense focus that both intimidates and seduces others into compliance.
• The Commander – Sports, religion, military, or any larger system that reinforces discipline or a strict code of conduct has often featured strongly in the family of a Commander. Accustomed to that active scope of thinking, Commanders tend to foster a sense of urgency as they focus on results.
• The Inspirer – Self-expression is more important than conformity in the families of Inspirers. These innovative thinkers operate with a consistent commitment to the greater good, an example set by parents who made sacrifices to achieve excellence.

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Remember, no power style is inherently good or bad – each has its share of strengths and challenges. Recognizing how you react to power will help you to react accordingly, strengthening the advantages while minimizing the drawbacks.

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TEAM = Together Everyone Achieves More

Many companies underestimate the importance of teams in fulfilling their overall mission. In reality, every company with more than one employee needs to assign tasks to a team —� not an individual. In today’s complex and fast paced workplace, you’ll get left behind if you try to make it alone.�

That’s because no one can contribute everything, but everyone can contribute something. One team member might have outstanding leadership talents while another team member excels at providing administrative support.�

A huge benefit to team building is being grouped together with like-minded people who are all working toward the same goals. A side-benefit to this is being surrounded with the positive attitudes and actions of people that will progressively motivate you to reach your own potential.�

When working with a team, many individuals discover abilities that were unknown to themselves and to the team as a whole. Stretching boundaries and known limits within a group will allow more ground to be covered in a shorter period of time. Plus, a team can act as a support group to weaker team members and assist in overcoming obstacles that would have seemed impossible if tackled alone.

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LEARNING YOUR LEADERSHIP STYLE

Have you ever encountered a boss whose approach to power and leadership baffled you?�

According to Harvard Business Review, one’s instincts where power is concerned – both giving and receiving it – stem from conditioning in one’s life since childhood, particularly within the family unit. In researching power styles, author Maggie Craddock observed that “the building blocks of anyone's signature power style are rooted in the ways they have been conditioned to respond emotionally and behaviorally to the first authority figures they encountered in life, namely, their caregivers.”�

In other words, those whose caregivers asked for the child’s opinion in making family decisions are likely to be adults who appreciate when colleagues take time to connect and build a trust-based relationship. Conversely, those raised by authoritarian caregivers usually build their power relationships based in fear, which can lead to disliking consensus building and preferring independent leadership. �

Most people’s power styles are a blend of the following four profiles, according to Craddock. Where do you fit into the mix? �

• The Pleaser – These are the folks who, lacking the attention they craved early in life, are hardwired to care for others. They hunger for validation and connect with others at a personal level as a means of gaining power.
• The Charmer – As a child, these individuals often had to care for a parent’s emotional needs. Consequently, these individuals have little respect for formal authority and may resort to manipulating others to get their needs met. Charmers have an intense focus that both intimidates and seduces others into compliance.
• The Commander – Sports, religion, military, or any larger system that reinforces discipline or a strict code of conduct has often featured strongly in the family of a Commander. Accustomed to that active scope of thinking, Commanders tend to foster a sense of urgency as they focus on results.
• The Inspirer – Self-expression is more important than conformity in the families of Inspirers. These innovative thinkers operate with a consistent commitment to the greater good, an example set by parents who made sacrifices to achieve excellence.

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Remember, no power style is inherently good or bad – each has its share of strengths and challenges. Recognizing how you react to power will help you to react accordingly, strengthening the advantages while minimizing the drawbacks.

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LEAVING A LEGACY

Recently a software company in Orem, Utah, celebrated its 25^th anniversary. In gathering recollections of the company’s history for the milestone, a friend of mine at the company remarked how impressed she was by the comments her colleagues shared.�

“So much of what I took for granted as part of our corporate character – a family-like environment, a culture focused on working hard while playing hard and having fun, a commitment to serving our community – originated with the founder who passed away several years ago,” she told me. “His leadership and legacy extends to this day, even to those of us who started years after his passing. It’s like the folklore and oral histories of old – stories of the founder’s generosity and quality character still serve to inspire new employees to follow in his wise, kind footsteps.”�

What fascinated me in hearing this story is how the business founder’s leadership style was likely just an extension of who he was. I doubt he consciously set up a culture in the company he started in his basement decades ago – rather, as the company grew to the global presence it is today, it retained the personality and values forged in those startup days.�

Think for a moment about what you would want your employees or business associates to say about your legacy 25 years down the road. What are some character traits, principles or qualities you would hope they’d mention? How is your heart and soul manifested in your business? People connect best with people and stories – and that gives you a great opportunity to break past business barriers and connect with your customers and colleagues. As you infuse what you value or what makes you passionate into your business, your company story will come to life, and your legacy will be able to take root.�

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