What is the secret to success?

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.