I was asked the other day by a new employee what it would
take for him to get my job. I could have
provided a list of credentials, past experiences, successful projects, and the
educational requirements, but I didn’t do that.
My answer was simple, “raise your hand.”
I proceeded to provide my simple four part formula for success that I
live by and believe in. If any person
applies these four principles to their vocation, and if they are doing
something which they are capable of doing, then I believe they will be
successful.
Before I provide my simple formula, we must first have
common ground regarding what success really is?
Is it measured by an abundance of wealth? If so, why are so many wealthy people
miserable? Is it related to stardom or
popularity? I say no. A lot of superstars live destructive lives
full of drug and alcohol addiction. Some
end their lives tragically at the pinnacle of what appears to be success. John Wooden, the legendary coach of the UCLA
Bruins, who is considered by many to be one of the most successful in his
vocation, defines success this way:
“Success
is a piece of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you
made the effort to become the best of which you are capable.”
I am not athletically gifted. My golf handicap is that I have a golf club
in my hand. It does not stop me from
wanting to play well, and I do try. I am
not capable of being a professional golfer.
Instead of spending all my time trying to be a better golfer, I have
devoted my time to scholarly activities, pursuing the answers to the questions
in precast concrete, quality assurance, or leadership. I also align my values to a system of values
and principles, placing first that which is most important in life. This allows me to make decisions that guide
me to keep the main thing the main thing.
And, I have the satisfaction of knowing I did my best.
Over several years of contemplating what the secret sauce is
of becoming successful, I have adopted four simple principles I apply to my
life and my vocation. The four are: be
on time, have a good attitude, offer suggestions for improvement, and give a
little extra.
Be On Time
With regard to being on time, it means to show up early for
work. If the work day begins at 7am,
don’t get into a habit of arriving at 7:03.
Arrive five or ten minutes early.
In my current job, I don’t punch a clock when I arrive, so it could be
easy to push the limit each day and just arrive late. It doesn't matter, right? Well, it does matter. This one habit is often the outward sign of
how someone views their tasks and challenges.
Those who tackle the big stuff first tend to arrive early, whereas the
folks who arrive late tend to be the procrastinators. This is not always true, but it is true more
often than it is not.
Have a Good Attitude
The second item in the secret sauce is to have a good
attitude. Some days this is easy, and on
other days it seems like the most impossible thing to do. The neat thing about your attitude is that
you are the only one that can choose it.
No one, not one other person, can choose your attitude for you. When your feet hit the floor first thing in
the morning, you can choose to have a positive attitude, a negative attitude,
or even one of complete ambivalence.
I have a bad habit; I call it the “have to” habit. I have to go to work today. I have to visit my friend this evening. I have to go to a meeting. I have to attend this conference. Hopefully, you see my point. If I approach everything with the “have to”
mind set, it is a chore, a task, something I may or may not like or want to
do. On the other hand, if I exchange the
words “have to” with “get to”, then I change my perspective. I have a paradigm shift. Now I get to go to work. It is a privilege. I get to spend time with my friends. I get to go to a meeting or to a
conference. May people do not have the
opportunities I have, and yet I overlook the great things I get to do.
One leadership guru I like to listen to says that your
attitude will determine your altitude.
Think about that for a moment.
Can you really go farther, go higher, and climb the corporate ladder
just by having a positive attitude? No,
but your attitude raises your limits of success. When all other tools of success are at their
optimum, and a door is opened in your path, the employee with the best attitude
has a greater chance of getting the nod, all other things being equal.
Offer Suggestions for Improvement
Many people complain about their situation; it takes a
unique person to come to management with solutions instead of just
problems. Continuous improvement is a
mindset of successful people. Being
content with the status quo leads to a stale environment. Dr. Spencer Johnson wrote a very good, very short
book called Who Moved My Cheese. The thesis of this book is that our environment
is changing constantly. We need to
change with it or it will eventually lead to our demise.
Two mice Sniff and Scratchy leave the familiar in search of
new cheese. Hem and Haw, the other two
mice in the story, stay with the same pile of cheese. Sniff and Scratchy discover a pile of cheese
that was even better than they had ever dreamed. The fear of change had to be overcome, but
had these two not taken a chance, their fate, and the fate of their friends
would have been eventual extinction. So,
make suggestions for improvement on a regular basis and see the impact one
person can have.
Give a Little Extra
The final principle is not a light one. Give a little extra. Go the extra mile. Give 110% effort. Do more than that for which you are being
paid. I’ll give you a personal example
of this. As a rule, I hate dealership
mechanics. Recently, I took our Buick to
the local GM Certified shop for an oil change, tire rotation, and 29 point
inspection. The shop has a car wash, and
included with my complete service was a complementary car wash. Did it really cost them anything? Maybe it cost a little, but not much. I was so impressed, that this shop has earned
my future business. They gave me
something of value that I did not expect, and I really appreciated it. And it was something they could give for very
little extra cost.
I recall being in a fast food restaurant some time ago. The young worker behind the counter told me
my total was $4.04. I handed her a $5
bill, and she gave me one dollar bill in change. I don’t know where the four cents came from
to settle my debt, but I was please to not have $0.96 in change rattling around
in my pocket. Sometimes doing extra just
means picking something up off the floor, or gathering your plates for the server
at the restaurant. It boils down to a
mindset of being servant minded, and being others focused. If I had a room full of candidates to choose
from, I will choose the servant minded candidate every time.
Success is not a destination; it is a state of
being. Success is different for every
one of us. In the United States of
America, every citizen is endowed with the right to three things: life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Each one of us is endowed by our creator with gifts and talents that,
when we tap into them, we can be a person of significance within our circle of
influence. Dr. John Maxwell said it like
this. “Whatever you do to add value to
yourself makes you successful; whatever you do to add value to others makes you
significant.” As for me, I want to choose
a life of significance. I will consider
that to be success.
