For Success in 2015

It is the beginning of a new year, in which many of us will set objectives. From a career perspective, it also provides an opportunity for us to chart proposed moves, and make choices that will have the most impact. For me, the first step to think of how to progress is to acknowledge the current destination. This means I appreciate that something has happened in my life that has led me to where I am today. I draw from that to think of how to progress. While it is true that you cannot just rely on the same thing you have done if you are expecting a different result, it is just as important to realise that it is what you have done that gives you your current credibility.

I have thought of those things that make the goals easy to achieve and have proven to work. I have drawn these from many wonderful conversations I have had this past year, lessons from others as well as restating things from my book on the lessons that have led me to where I am today. They are not the only ones, but to me are the most critical, especially in the current period.
 
These are the things I would suggest must be on the menu for continued success in 2015:

Be yourself: This first route is to ensure that you are authentic. Be true to who you are, know where you are strong, and where you need others. Proactively ensure that those critical to your success can feel your strengths, and are able to appreciate them. This authenticity will also form the basis of trust, and you are likely to differentiate yourself from a crowd where everyone is trying to fit in but do not show their true value, self and character. People buy you.

Aim for excellence: Future success is unlikely unless we practice the art of being excellent. In your current assignment, whether a job or a vocation, you have been given a theatre in which to practice how to be excellent. There is a difference between excellence and perfection. Excellence is about doing the best you can and drawing on all one’s strengths and knowledge. Unless you practice and understand what it takes to be excellent, you may not be developing the skills that enable you to transition your current assignment in order to excel on a sustainable basis. No one else will do this but you.

Focus on the present: Leadership trainer Phil Nuernberger, in his book Strong & Fearless: The Quest for Personal Power reflects that there are two twin demons that impact on us. One is fear and the other is self-hatred. Self-hatred is related to guilt and is about the past, and we spend too much time focusing on the things that did not go down well (see discussion on mistakes below). Fear is about the future and is related to things that may or may not happen in future that we do not have control over. If we focus on the present, we seek to prepare ourselves for whatever future we want, on the basis of who we are, our capabilities, personality, et al. This enables us to focus on the things we can do now to create the future we want, rather than have our minds and energies being taken up by things we either cannot change or control.

Wear mistakes with pride: The Russian revolutionary. V.I. Lenin once said “Show me a man who has never made a mistake, I will show you a man who has never done anything” [gender-specific language not mine]. It is in the process of doing rather than inaction that we make mistakes. Acknowledging the mistakes we make, and taking responsibility proactively, is a much more sustainable approach to learning and development, than the desire to be seen to be perfect.

Develop yourself: The world is seeing so much change that we have to reinvent ourselves every few years. New skills are being required that we did not even know were needed five years ago. The impact of technology is such that those you either serve as customers or work with as colleagues are undergoing such transformation that you may be overtaken. One powerful tool you have is to focus on your ongoing development, whether by studying further or gaining relevant new skills. Without this, success will be hard to come by.

Enable your creativity:  One of the best ways to differentiate is through the creativity and innovation you put in your work. Develop these creativity skills by learning to do something different that takes your mind to a different level. Go to a cooking course. Learn a new language. Learn pottery. Teach. Do a writing course. Just do something that is different from the linear processes that we find in business. Do something new. Do something now.

Create networks: Your value is not just in what you do, but also in the networks you have. The networks are the basis for it to be recognised, and rewarded. Both internal and external to your organisation, build the networks that will provide a platform for you to express yourself, that will help promote and support you. Networks are like investments, which continue doing work for you in your absence. It is not just in what you do that you will succeed, but in whom you get to know to help you succeed. Commit to extending your networks in 2015. Do not be an island.

Be generous: As a person, you have been blessed with wonderful skills and abilities that go beyond your job. Whatever these are, find a way to share and give back to others that need them. Sharing with others creates such goodwill, and it will also payback for you later. It also provides an opportunity for you to learn about yourself through how others respond to you, and you use this knowledge to project yourself to the world.

Read: I do not want to say too much about this, but just to emphasise that without reading, you are not helping your mind and thus yourself on the route to success. The mind needs to be exercised, and you also need to improve your knowledge. Read.

Be inquisitive: George Bernard Shaw, in his book of plays entitled Back to Methuselah, said “You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, "Why not?”. Ask why is it that you cannot do what your customer is asking. Why could you not design the job you want? Enquire. Research. Look. Listen. Read. And through that you will see a lot more possibilities than you anticipated.

To end, I would like to leave you with this quote that is likely to be my mantra in 2015. It is about ignoring the negative noise that will seek to stop you in your journey. The quote is about “The Man in The Arena”, and is taken from the speech “Citizen in a Republic”, delivered by former US President Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne, Paris on 23 April 1920 [gender specific languages not mine].

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. "

Have a successful 2015.