Do you find yourself often Googling motivational quotes, searching YouTube clips for inspirational graduation speeches and videos, and reading anything that Stephen Covey (Author of “7 Highly Effective Habits of Successful People”) produces? Successful people eat, sleep, and breathe personal improvement. Because of this, success is an art and not a science. So if you don’t mind, I would like to paint you a picture of 10 characteristics of highly successful people that you must emulate right now to create the best version of you!
1. They greet every individual by their name.
Dale Carnegie, the godfather of self-improvement, interpersonal skill development, and public speaking, always emphasized that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language. Therefore take time to learn people’s names, their interests, their passions, and what’s important to them. By simply putting a little effort into knowing people as humans and not statistics will go a long way when it’s time to rally the troops.
2. They learn to delegate.
Being in a leadership position means you are charged with improving the present in order to ensure a prosperous future. If you are bogged down trying to do every single task your way or managing others to ensure they do it your way, you are going to burn out like a sparkler on the 4th of July. You can find Paul Orfalea, founder of Kinko’s, constantly communicating to his team that “Busy is not a good word. It’s not a good excuse. Get it done; delegate it!” Successful people understand the value of delegating work in helping create autonomy and confidence from within others – which will pay dividends in the long run for everyone.
3. They communicate when times are good, bad, and ugly.
The Dalai Lama put it best with, “A lack of transparency results in distrust and a deep sense of insecurity.” You can’t argue with the Dalai Lama. Simply put – be transparent. Transparency, regardless of what is going on, will build trust, honesty, and respect among everyone you impact on a daily basis. Highly successful people know that there is nothing more important in inspiring and motivating others than building trust, sharing honestly, and earning respect. Get’r done!
4. They are okay with being role models.
Albert Schweitzer, a great philosopher and humanitarian among other things, always emphasized that “Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.” Being a role model is not something you get to choose. Regardless of whether you want to be or not, you are a role model. So instead of worrying about having to be perfect all of the time, be authentic, humanistic, and strive to be the best version of you. Because somewhere out there, someone is watching what you do and what you say in the hopes of one day becoming the great, honest and transparent leader that is you.
5. They recognize the importance of recognizing others.
As Maya Angelou infamously put it, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Highly successful people know how invaluable public displays of recognition are with regards to empowering others. Constantly celebrate and recognize positive efforts and individual accomplishments. Doing this illustrates that you are aware of even the small things that occur on a regular basis. And when it boils down to it, life is only about the small things. Every success is founded by a thousand small positive exchanges – one a day, every day, as often as you can.
6. They only try to be themselves.
Some of our greatest leaders are not stoic, as history would tell. Instead they are dynamic, eccentric (think Mark Cuban), zealous, and most importantly, humanistic. People relate and attach themselves to those who are authentic, energetic, and charismatic – all of which you can’t be if you are spending all of your time trying to be someone else. Steve Jobs also said, “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
7. They don’t work for their work calendar.
Mark Cuban, one of the wealthiest and busiest men in America has been repeatedly quoted saying, “Time is more valuable than money,” especially when it’s your own. Sure, highly successful people’s calendars may look like the end of a Tetris game, but that doesn’t mean their time and conversations are dictated by Outlook invites. Instead their schedule is whatever it takes to empower others to find their own success. Success isn’t dictated by meetings, it’s created through meaningful exchanges.
8. They constantly wear everyone else’s shoes
Sir Richard Branson has gone on record numerous times stating the importance of understanding and looking for the best in your people, “I love my people, I love spending time with my people, and most importantly I love learning from my people.” Follow in his footsteps by making it a point to spend some time with your peers by placing yourself in their shoes. By doing this you will be reminded every day how invaluable the people in your life are to your success! In Sir Richard’s mind, no job is ever below him and every job is essential to his personal and professional success.
9. They live active lives
Just think of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. If life is an endurance sport, then success is our fuel. Becoming and staying successful is like running a marathon. In order to survive this marathon we need to fuel ourselves with the right things – people, thoughts, and experiences. As Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson says, “Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work gains success. Greatness will come.” Successful people not only train their minds, hearts, and will, but they train their bodies to endure the grind that is necessary to become successful too.
10. They take time to decompress
Doe Zantamata, author of the book “Karma”, accentuates through her literature that by “Taking time to do nothing will often bring everything into perspective.” Being successful takes a lot of energy, drive, and passion. No matter how centered or even-keeled we are, we are still susceptible to fatigue and burnout. Highly successful people know how vital it is to take time for themself, re-focus, re-energize, and re-calibrate on their vision and goals. At the end of the day we are only humans doing the work of superheroes and even a superhero has a weakness. Don’t let your lack of attention to your needs become your kryptonite. Create a great day!
