Sustaining Success

One of the biggest challenges any team, organization, or individual can face is a great deal of success.  Though it seems strange, success is a huge test.  This is proven time and time again in our society.  Think about a young movie star or musician who seems to be doing fine until he or she really hits it big and then they seem to go off the deep end, or a company whose stock explodes only to be found struggling to keep their doors open a few years later, or look at the frequency of the winning Super bowl team failing to make even the playoffs the following year.  Why does this happen?   Why is it so hard to remain on top? 

Throughout my career, I have seen this cycle repeatedly happen as well at different levels.  Teams that achieve amazing results quickly dissolve or individuals who zoom up the “corporate ladder” somehow completely fall off of it.  In thinking about these situations I’ve asked myself, what is going on? 

I’ve come to the conclusion that the biggest reason for the eventual failure of the super successful boils down to a lack of humility.  Before they “arrive”, the team, organization, or individual seem to possess at least some sense of humility which fuels a self-sacrificing mentally that pushes them to be willingly to do whatever it takes to get to the top regardless of how simple, mundane, challenging, embarrassing, hard, demeaning, annoying, and undesirable it is.  Unfortunately, once they hit it big, things begin to change and it seems most lose the humility they once had.  They seem to completely lose an appreciation for their success and they fail to value or even recognize what got them there in the first place.  Humility is replaced with ego, and a self-sacrificing mentality with an entitlement mentality.  With this change in mindset it becomes easy to feel underappreciated.  Soon people begin looking out for only their own self-interest and individuals who once got along and functioned so well together begin to seek more and more credit for the success.  Rather than continuing to work hard a feeling of being owed the right to stay on top permeates.  All of this builds up and the absence of humility leads to the eventual collapse of the highly successful. 

So what can we learn from this?  We must learn that success will present unique and difficult challenges in our lives.  Therefore, when success comes knocking on our door we must remain true to what got us there and guard against the ego and entitlement mentality so many fall victim to.  We must keep our feelings and emotions in check and remain humble and grateful for our opportunities and blessings.  In order to remain on top, we must value the humility and sacrifice it took to get us there.  Handling success well can be done and building on the success we’ve achieved by remaining humble will be gratifying.  Merry Christmas!                 
               

Employees First, Customers Second

I love the title of a book I recently read called “Employees First, Customers Second” written by Vineet Nayar.  The reason I love it is because I’ve seen this philosophy yield great results in many different settings during my career.  And this book tells the story of how the author, as CEO of HCL Technologies (HCLT), helped change the success of his organization by employing strategies to live this philosophy. Though the book was different than I had anticipated and didn’t reach my high hopes based on the title, I still loved some of the ideas found in it which included increasing transparency, focusing on the need for constant change, and improving and creating innovative ways for communication.  But perhaps my favorite idea found in the book was how the author changed and enhanced the role of management. 

The traditional role of management has changed in the best organizations such as HCLT.  No longer does the boss yield all the power, get all of extra privileges and perks or hold all of the cards.  The author who was the former CEO of HCLT changed the way leadership was viewed in his organization and as a result, it was one major reason for the company’s eventual success. 

At HCLT, rather than employees being solely accountable to their boss, the organization made the bosses accountable to those they supervised.  In fact, if team members were unhappy with their supervisor’s performance, they were encouraged and provided innovative, constructive ways to share their views.  As you can imagine, those leaders who were not interested in doing all they could to help their people become successful, quickly left the organization.  

Additionally, HCLT made it known that people in supervisory roles were primarily responsible for serving and enabling those they managed rather than those they managed being there to serve them.  According to the author and his story, this put more value in what he refers to as the value zone which created greater results for the company.    

This idea, that the boss’ primary measure of success is based on the value he or she adds to those they supervise is brilliant.  I’ve seen the best organizations embrace and live this kind of management philosophy and would add that if we want to be great leaders, we must be willing to serve those we lead.  As the author explains, a leader’s primary role is in enabling and supporting rather than governing and controlling.  If we ourselves can embrace these ideas in our areas of responsibility, I know we will have greater success. 

I think every organization and every leader should espouse the Employee First, Customer Second philosophy, and this book provides insights and an example of how to do just that.     

To see how I rated this book, click here. 

Accurately Measuring Success

BurntHam Rewind:  Original Posted 4/18/13

Measuring success at first glance seems easy—we simply look at what someone has accomplished and determine if we believe that makes them worthy to be considered successful or not.  To me however, I believe this is a false or inaccurate measurement of success.  The reason is because many times achievements alone are not enough.  Many seemingly successful people in life who have accomplished many great things are actually miserable and unhappy.  And would we consider a miserable and unhappy person successful in life?  Therefore, to me, accomplishments alone cannot be a good measurement.  So then, how do we determine true success in life?  Let me tell you my thoughts. 

Our society teaches us that the successful person is one who has been recognized for their great accomplishments, and in turn has received many great accolades and respect.  True, in a certain way these people are successful.  But I believe there is even a more important way to truly measure success in life.  This measurement is not so much about what we do or what we accomplish, but is more about who we become.  To me, the real measurement of success is being a great person rather than simply being recognized for doing some great feat. 

Why is who we become a more important measurement of success in life?  Because in order for us to reach a full level of satisfaction and happiness in life, in order for us to be at peace with ourselves, we must become something and not just achieve something.  Those who “become” are happy regardless of what they achieve in the worlds eyes, while those who only “achieve” often are rarely happy at all. 

So what does it mean to become something?  To me it means we must change our nature.  Human nature is that we have an innate desire to fulfill our own needs and desires often without regard for others.  This attitude follows must of us throughout our life.  To actually become someone, we must find a way to overcome this and flip it on its head.  We must put off our “natural man” and become someone who truly loves, cares, and wants the best for others before our self.  This is not easy!  In fact, most can’t seem to do it totally because our natural tendencies are so strong.  But being this type of person—a person who puts others before self—is really what true success looks like.  This is the best way to measure success because those who “become” are the most happy and satisfied in life.        

So all of the awards, prizes, and accomplishments do mean something and are nice to receive but in the end, they will mean very little to us if we have not at the same time become a great person.  Being a great person brings joy and peace in life. Being a great person equals success.