What is success? In a seminar I recently attended, the leader divided us into groups and asked us to tell each other how we define success. That seemed simple enough to me until I actually had to start talking. I quickly realized two important points: there’s no easy way to define success and we all have a different idea of what it is.
In the weeks since then, I’ve reflected on the question, trying to find a more coherent answer than I did when put on the spot. I realized that there are really three different types of success; short term, long-term, and life-time.
Short-term success is what you feel when you finish a project, or win a contest. This sort of success can be gratifying, providing a temporary feeling of pleasure. But, it doesn’t last.
Long-term success is the feeling that comes from a successful career or achieving a goal that was difficult and required time and hard work. These successes come much less often but leave a more enduring feeling.
Life-time success is different as a much longer period of time is involved. It also involves more than one particular area. For instance, it’s common in some fields, especially the arts, to present a Life Time Achievement Award. But is that really life-time success? These awards usually concentrate on a single area of the recipient’s life, which doesn’t really capture this concept. Success over such a long period has to involve more than just achievement in a single area, even if such accomplishment covers a life time.
That’s the foundation of this concept of success. Success is, quite simply, that which we think it is. Each person’s definition of success is tempered by their own vision and values. Accomplishing something that doesn’t relate to your vision, or that contradicts your personal values will not feel much like success. In fact, it may even seem more like failure.
If we set or adopt specific goals, and then achieve them, we feel successful. Such short-term success will most likely whet our appetite for more long-term success and if we continue to strive to accomplish those short-and long-term successes across a broad spectrum, we’ll realize life-time success. And that’s what’s most important; success which comes from a lifelong devotion to a clear vision and a well-defined set of values.
My grandfather was a well-respected, accomplished scientist. He spent the majority of his life as a biochemist at the Mayo Clinic. He had many successes in many areas, learning to walk again after a bout with polio in his teens, a marriage of over 60 years, and of course a successful career. His crowning professional achievement was his work leading to the discovery of cortisone. I was walking through the hallways of the Mayo campus with him one day, long after he had retired, and was amazed at the number of people who stopped him to say hello. When I was introduced, they would invariably make it a point to tell me what a great person my grandfather was. He was a humble man and I believe he found all those accolades a little embarrassing, but they left a lasting impression on me. What I saw that day was true life-time success.
As leaders we must understand, for ourselves, and our followers, that life-time success does not result from only the job, but from a well-rounded approach to life that involves many short- and long-term successes of different types.
How do you define success?
Bob Mason is dedicated to leadership development. He works with companies to solve problems by helping supervisors and managers become more effective leaders leading more productive teams. He is a professional speaker and author of Don’t Worry, You Can Do This: What New Supervisors and Managers Need to Know About Leadership; The Art of Not Motivating: How Leaders Can Succeed by Understanding the True Nature of Motivation; Balancing the Generations: A Leader’s Guide to the Complex, Multi-Generational, 21st Century Workplace; and Planning to Excel: Strategic Planning That Works.
A 30-year career in the U.S. Air Force exposed him to great leaders and leadership opportunities such as command of four squadrons, including the Air Force’s largest munitions squadron. He has studied leadership extensively, but more importantly has been there, working with real people, making hard decisions, and experiencing the results.
Contact Bob at Bob@BobMasonSpeaker.com or 505-453-5266
