Success. Explorers welcome.
Success. I have been doing an awful lot of thinking about it lately. I recently finished writing a chapter for a book titled Success is a State of Mind (available at your favorite book store in February 2008). Ironically, during the process of writing the chapter I had the opportunity to experience a series of setbacks, both business and personal, culminating perhaps with the crash of my hard drive just 48 hours before the deadline for my chapter submission. It was at that point that it occurred to me that all of this thinking and writing about “success” was not really about the chapter at all. No. It was about something much bigger.
Later that evening, mid-way through rewriting my chapter it became undeniably clear to me: success is about your relationship with the present. Preparation, goals, expectations, learned skills … these are noble entities…that exist in the past. Success happens in the now.
The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus offers some wonderful insight: “You can’t step into the same river twice.” History may repeat itself but never exactly. Now is different every second. I offer that success is defined by your relationship to now, your relationship to the present.
In her brilliant book, Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End, Rosabeth Moss Kanter states: “It’s not mistakes that cause winners to lose, it’s panic. Panic is a sudden, anxious feeling of loss of control, and panicking can make a small fumble worse, by causing people to lose their heads and forget to think clearly. Or sometimes threats stop people in their tracks, paralyzing them or causing them to revert to the most familiar actions of the past. Panic is the enemy of good decision making under pressure.” Experienced any tough situations lately? What helps you think “clearly” and not panic?
Recall the opening scenes of the movie Saving Private Ryan…an excellent, albeit tragic, visual of a leader defining success in the present. Something more than training, physical fitness and leadership is at play here in such moments…something inside ourselves that is unknown or untapped until we draw upon it in the now. It is about standing in what is possible in the present…possessing confidence in what is undefined.
Reflect on the past week or so. What was happening when you faced expected and unexpected obstacles? What was success?
Consider the famous, anonymous quote: “Life does not put things in front of you that you are unable to handle.” How is that so? How do you engage the present? What does your relationship look like?
Fall Ahead
Ahhh, autumn. Does it get any better than this? Autumn has been my favorite time of the year as long back as I can remember (and, yes, we are talking way back here). Crisp air, football, cool colors of the sky and the leaves and the feel and smell of new Levis and new books…school is here! It was never really spring that signified new beginnings for me. Fall has always been about new beginnings, new challenges, new possibilities…a new space to thrive.
Whether this is your first semester at college, the first 90 day test leading your new team or the beginning of the 4th quarter of a very challenging business year, how do you see the world today? Are you staring down a dark tunnel just beyond the warning sign “rough road ahead”? Are you standing in the doorway eyeing the bright open space and brimming with anticipation of the bold journey ahead? Face it. You are here…and here is what you make of it.
Many industries are battling one of the toughest years on record this year. Many of my clients are leaders in these stormy industries. Most of them are doing things they never thought they could do this year. Why? They are confronting what Seth Godin calls the Dip right now. Godin says: “the Dip is the reason you’re here. It is not enough to survive your way through this Dip. You get what you deserve when you embrace the Dip and treat it like the opportunity it really is.” Face it. You have worked hard to get to this moment. There is a reason you are here.
Recently, I was working with a very talented young leader who has just assumed responsibility for a team of capable designers that lacks clear goals and alignment. After working together for a couple of hours developing specific goals and crafting an action plan to launch her new team forward, she sat silently for a moment…eyes wide…and then proclaimed “I am nervous and so excited at the same time.” Indeed. She was facing the Dip. This is where she was supposed to be.
So, what will it be? You can blow off the day or the miserable 4th quarter and wait for something to change…or you can see the moment for what it is: the opportunity for you to achieve something extraordinary. What if you were bold today? What if Thomas Edison was right: “if we did all the things we were capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves.” There is a reason you are here.
