By: Kriss Barlow, RN, MBA | kbarlow@barlowmccarthy.com
As a consultant, I am lucky to meet many very successful professionals. Frankly, often those who hire outside support do so because they have a vision for success and a timeline that goes with it! What drives some people to the next level – to strive for success? It’s not about title, or age, or organization, it’s personal and seems to start from within. They are willing to do their own push-ups. Here’s how that translates in my observation.
- Clear sense of success. They’ll say, “Here’s where I want to be…” These individuals establish clear goals with a measure of success and a timeline. They often start a meeting by sharing that end goal. They understand that success comes through a series of actions. And in our world, most of those actions will occur with other people as a part of the process, so they are in touch with the need to evolve and the potential barriers.
- Willing to do work. Individuals who carry the torch of personal success want to be excellent in their role. They are hard workers. When a determined physician relations rep gets frustrated by a gatekeeper, they work harder to successfully win them over. They are driven to learn; they try new approaches, ask their colleagues and leaders for ideas- they are students of success.
- Willpower and tenacity are part of the equation. Those who are driven to personal success continue to adapt their style while keeping a single focus on the outcome. I often see this in new leaders when the team is slow to embrace “their way.” While every one of them has had a strong-willed moment, over time they become highly effective in understanding how and when to bend to ensure a win-win. They can also admit when they need to course-correct.
- Stuff doesn’t get them down. Everyone has their moment, when a boss or an employee pushes you to the brink, but for those that embrace personal success, it’s brief and followed by a positive course of action. They seem to have good self-management of that inner voice of doubt and are fearless when they need to be.
- Success is part of their resume. When asked, these individuals are easily able to tell you about a time when they were able to take a challenging situation and turn it around. I was recently part of a virtual round robin discussion on questions to ask in an interview. Successful people are generally humble in their style, but it is easy for them to recall a past success and how it was achieved. The examples are rarely about external accolades, though they are present. For the successful person it’s the internal drive that stimulates them.
I suspect you have some other attributes that should be added to the list. My question is, do you think people are born with these drivers or can they be learned? If you follow my logic, I suspect we can all learn to do push-ups. They come easier for some but with some discipline, practice, and time, it will happen. All things considered, the expectations we set and personally achieve are often the most special.