Shaping How Others Define Success

A recent Gallup survey asked Americans about their view of success. Of those surveyed, 97% agreed with this statement: A person is successful if they have followed their own interests and talents to become the best they can be at what they care about. 

When asked how they believed others define success, only 8% agreed with the same statement. Instead, 92% were convinced that others define success as a person who is rich, has a high-profile career, or is well-known. 

It is more than curious that people believe others define success very differently than they do. Why the disconnect? Perhaps people would like to define success as achieving one’s potential, but deep down are caught up in the societal seduction of wealth and fame as reflecting true success. 

Fighting the temptation of allowing society to define success is not easy for even the strongest of leaders, but it is essential for your leadership to do so. 

Only a handful of those you lead will ever achieve the wealth, influence, or fame that society tells us distinguishes success. When leaders allow that definition to permeate how the members of their team characterize success, then the likelihood they will live up to their full potential plummets.

It is not only essential for leaders to fight off society’s definition. It is even more critical they convince others to not allow popular culture to shape their views of what success is really all about. 

Good leaders purposely talk about big-picture abstractions like visions, excellence, and success. They ask others to think deeply about what those ideas mean to them and to rebuff what they read, watch, and learn on social media. 

When team members commit to the success of being the best at what they care most about, they are liberated from the unhealthy and singular pursuit of profile, wealth, and status. The end result is team members with a growth mindset and a fixation on achieving excellence. 

It is always a good idea not to let society or media define what we believe or how we should view the world or an issue. Homogenized thinking is always of a lower quality and is often wrongheaded. 

Good leaders don’t leave the possibility of weak thinking to chance. They shape meaning by emphasizing the qualities underlying success and driving a narrative that people are empowered to define success in more realistic and personal terms. 

Your success as a leader depends on it.