Pop into any bookstore and in the business section you’ll find at least fifty current books promising ‘instant success’ or the ‘4 steps to achieving your dreams’ or the ‘easy guide to getting everything in life you ever wanted’. A bright, cheerful picture adorns the front cover, often the author, who tells you that this book contains the secret that you have been seeking.

Distilled from many years of real life experience, I thought it time to let you know that there is no short-cut to your success. Sorry. There are a whole lot of myths and legends but as Seth Golden points out in Permission Marketing, “There’s no such thing as an overnight opera sensation. Great firm’s don’t spring up overnight. They’ve been built the same way – bit by bit, step by step, little by little.
Is there a road to success?

There are many – and you may find that one of these great delusions promises so much more than someone else.

Many people start their journey along the ‘opportunity-leverage-productivity’ route. Parents seek and strive for their children to get into the best schools, gain excellent grades and hence be assured of a place at the best universities to gain a degree which will enable you to leverage your qualifications into a decent position and a fulfilling career. All you have to do is work hard, work harder and work some more – and you will succeed.

I believed it all too – then the company went bust, I was out of work and, at the time, no-one was hiring.

Attend a few events and be inspired with the latest ’secret of success’ seminar. Now all that is needed is the luck to meet exactly the right person at exactly the right time and get that deserved break…

It’s easy to let yourself drop back to ‘impossible’ and start to criticize anyone and everyone who appears to be succeeding in the very space you should be, because you really are far more deserving than they are…

I just haven’t met the right people yet. So sign-up for another networking group, exchange business cards, remember the adage ‘givers gain’, meet lots of new people. One of them, surely is the right person and I will be there at the right time. All I need is to be recognised for the brilliant, hard-working individual that I am and I will have my reward…

M. Scott Peck in ‘the road less travelled’ starts: “Life is difficult”. What is most surprising, is that, for many people, this is a revelation! Go to any business networking event, or meet a potential client – especially during the current economic situation and they will be moaning incessantly about the enormity of their problems, burdens or difficulties as if life should be easy.

Perhaps you are struggling on your journey to achieving your ’success’ and you may be suffering the consequences of one or more of the nine common delusions about achieving success. Depending on how much you believe your ’success’ is down to what you do (cause) and how much is down to external forces over which you have little or no control (effect) determines where you might be:

It’s impossible!

Particularly for those just embarking on their journey, ’success’ is a place far away. We may have wonderful dreams about it and a delightfully crafted goal. But as the days, weeks and months go by and ’success’ doesn’t appear to be any closer, many people throw in the towel. More budding entrepreneurs than I can recall have given up – life without a salary is just too tough.

When we’ve given up because ’success’ is impossible, we’ll then criticize it. Anyone who achieves success whom we deem less worthy is the subject of our scorn and contempt – “they don’t deserve it!”.

It’s a mystery to me…

If we survive the ‘impossible’ stage, seeing others achieving yet success continues to elude us we search for the secret.

We need to find the magic formula, the silver bullet or the golden key.

Retuning to that bookshop to find ‘the’ book that will change our lives. So many promise that you can achieve success in business, life, management, health, diet and they are snapped up.

Business people are constantly looking for quick fixes to problems:

• To sell more, we need the sales messages and techniques that instantly convert a cold call into a lifelong customer.
• To produce more, we need the unique leadership skills that magically and massively increase performance.
• To maintain shareholder value we need to increase profitability by increasing sales and reducing costs simultaneously. Either that or we cook the books to make it look as though we did.

Lady luck?

OK, so there’s no absolute secret to success. Sure we can learn from others, but they didn’t really do it instantly, it took time. But essentially, they were in the right place at the right time. No more than luck.

So if success is down to luck – all I can do is hope for it. One day my ship will come in. Next year, when the current economic crisis is over. The dice will fall my way.

May as well buy lottery tickets.If you’ve waited for ‘lady luck’ long enough and still on the journey, by now you may believe that luck only comes to those who create it for themselves.

All I need is a break!

If only…

Everyone has a story about someone they know who got their break. The telephone sales guy spotted in a mall by a movie producer and became an instant star. The busker in the subway ‘found’ by the record label. The crazy inventor who made gold from apple seeds.

But, if all you do is wait for it, when your opportunity comes your way, you won’t be ready for it.So you’ve not had fortune turn up on your doorstep. The 43 steps to instant success didn’t quite work out as expected. That anticipated call from the client you’ve not met didn’t come. Your website is getting plenty of ‘hits’ but turning those into business isn’t quite happening.

What I need is leverage.

We look for an angle to exploit or for leverage over someone else.

They’re successful. They do the same thing as me. Surely I can hang onto their coat tails and ride along until I’m on my feet, then I can set up on my own again, take the best customers with me and …

All I need to do is work harder!

OK, so you’re in charge of the situation now. It’s not about luck or any special formula. It’s all about hard work.

The best thing about working hard and producing results is that it feels rewarding.

Talk to anyone who has achieved success in their business, and I’ll bet they worked hard for it. They just kept going. Putting everything on the line and never giving up.

So that’s the real secret? Well, yes and no. Those people you know who are really successful in their business or career. How’s the rest of their life? Is there a chance that they are neglecting important relationships? I know of no-one on their death bed saying “I wish I’d spent more time at the office.”

Hard work itself doesn’t bring success – you may be in a dead-end job, or your fabulous new product will remain unwanted forever.

So I haven;t attended the right event yet…

Most people take the middle road towards their success. A route that depends much on self-effort, yet recognizes that the outside world has a role in my success too.

A huge number of people believe that success is an event, so they schedule for it. They attend the seminar by one of those fabulous speakers and just know that after this, they will have both the secrets of success and have made connections with like-minded people who will help each other achieve success.

The most common form of event in companies is the ‘training event’. Apparently, the two-day workshop on strategic business leadership is going to equip you with all the knowledge, experience and determination to make your business the incredible success is deserves to be.

That ‘rah-rah’ motivational event might just be the tipping point of a decision to move on, but success is a process not an event.

I just need better connections…

This is the massively growing space for business people.

We’ve all heard the phrase, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. So we network for success. No longer is this the restrictive domain of the ‘old school tie’, the golf club or the masons. Networking is accessible to all – and the world becomes your oyster.

New technologies allow us to easily expand out network beyond any previous borders. I can network with people across the globe and in my local chapter – over breakfast, lunch, coffee, in a virtual world, in a chat room, a forum. And surely, if I connect with enough people, I’ll get to meet the ‘who you know’ that is going to make that difference.

The right relationships certainly help in achieving your ’success’ but connections alone neither improve life nor guarantee ’success’.

Remember Billy Carter? No?

No-one can network himself to success unless he has something to offer in the first place.

So I just need to be recognized…

As we network with more and more people to increase our visibility we want to be recognised by more and more people for our talents, our special ness, our difference. So we strive for success by being recognized.

For the great business people, it might be the cover of Time magazine. For the scientist or academic, maybe the Nobel prize. The writer for the Pulitzer. The movie star an Oscar. The musician, a Grammy.

Most people would settle for a lot less. Walking into a room full of people and being called by name to come over and ‘let me introduce you to…’ A client who recommends you to a friend. A collaborator who endorses you. A boss who thanks you.

At this time of year, many people have already given up on those promises and resolutions. Wonderful, well meant plans during a period of  over-indulgence, eating too much, drinking perhaps a little more than is wise. And we then the refrain, “I’ll make my resolution to change in the new year”. But, habits are difficult things. Most often the term is associated in a derogatory sense. i.e. these are bad habits. Any smoker will tell you! There are good habits of course, but for the moment, let’s work on the basis that the habitual way you are playing includes some bad habits that you’d like to be rid of.

So, first a warning!

Every single thing that we do (good or bad) started with a positive intention – and usually some aspect of a habit retains some form of original positive intention. We, as human beings, ONLY do something positive. So, no matter what your habit, there is something positive in it for you – if we can, we want to retain that aspect.

So, remember, everything that you do has a positive intention for you – this applies to everybody else on the planet as well. Someone who smokes often obtains physical pleasure, others say it helps reduce food cravings, some claim reduced stress. Whatever the habit, there was, at least originally, a positive intention.

When you step up to the tee and go through an habitual routine telling yourself that the last time you played this hole you sliced it into the woods, or “I always top it in the bunker” – you have, believe me, a positive intention… even though you are setting yourself up to fail. Or perhaps you have the mantra “I never win tournaments, I’m just not good enough” running through your head – it is to protect you from winning! Obviously your unconscious mind is clear that you can not win a tournament because your egotistical nature would cause your spouse to up and leave you after recounting the winning stroke for the 1000th time.

So, how do we rid ourselves of habits? Well, it can be a lengthy process:

See, if you get rid of the ‘H’, you still have ‘a bit’.

You get rid of the ‘A’, and you still have a ‘bit’.

You get rid of the B, and you still have ‘it’.

To get rid of the ‘I’, you have to look to the ‘T’ and choose what is central to your life, your game and not at the effect of the whims and fancies of your feelings, other people or the environment.

If you truly want to improve your game, there are going to be some sacred cows to slaughter.

Local and international research has found that there are eight key drivers that can improve the productivity, efficiency and profitability of any business. They are:

1. Creating a productive work culture based on shared values. Positive relationships between staff, teams and managers are the foundation of improving workplace productivity.
2. Shared Goals and Vision. Productive organizations know where they are going, what they will achieve and how everyone in the organization contributes to achievement and success.
3. Show positive attitude and superior alignment. The skills and knowledge of people are a company’s biggest asset. To put it simply what people know and can do is the difference between success and failure. Making sure that the right resources are optimally used creates profitability. The attitude that people show each day radically impacts an organizations ability to align their resources effectively and efficiently.
4. Influencing, networking and collaboration. Productive workplaces keep abreast of new ideas and technologies and network regularly with others. Effectively influencing stakeholders is key to revenue, collaborations and overall business success.
5. Nature of leadership and management. Research shows leadership needs to be developed at every level of an organisation, not just amongst managers. The flexibility of individual leadership style is the difference between an engaged or involved workforce and a high-stress, low morale, ‘jobsworth’ inefficiency.
6. 6. Outcomes and tactics. Productive workplaces have structures, systems and processes that are well-organised and adaptable. Successful organizations find the optimum balance of (urgent) tasks and (important) goals.
7. Learning and Review. The organisation that continually learns and shares is agile, flexible and successful.
8. Measuring what matters. Productive workplaces understand and measure the things that make the biggest difference to their business, whether it’s customer satisfaction, employee morale or feedback from suppliers. These indicators make it easy for everyone to share goals and work towards them.

All of these drivers are the responsibility of the organisation’s leadership. At CELSIM, we have more than 20 years experience in developing targeted development for individuals that impacts the organization.

In designing appropriate development interventions, our approach is to uncover the needs of the organization in the business environment, and the personal development needs of the individuals.

Finding the best balance that addresses these needs within your budget and your timeframe results in an effective solution.

Our paradigm is experiential learning because this accelerates the learning process and enhances immediate, sustained business impact.

You are invited to undertake the GAINMORE^TM DNA (Development Needs Analysis) for your organization to help understand the most pressing business development needs. We will then follow up with you to recommend an approach that will make you and your organization more successful.

Contact us to start driving your profitability forward.

Copyright © 2009 CELSIM. Rights Reserved

A short presentation that provides an overview of the GAINMORE™ model, what it means and how it works as a personal learning and development model. Join the GAINMORE Advantage Learner Toolbox Now!

A MindMap overview

Most people would accept that the ability to learn, and the ease of that learning, makes a difference in life. But, is someone who is more able to learn, more easily and in many different situations, better equipped to be a better leader?

Lombardo and Eichinger call this “learning agility”, and suggest that learning-agile people exhibit common traits: They:

• think critically and examine problems carefully, making fresh connections with comparative ease.
• are very self-aware, know and leverage their strengths effectively and know how to compensate for their weaknesses.
• enjoy experimenting and are comfortable with change.

• deliver results in through team-building and personal drive.

Learning agility is manifested in several ways. For example, there’s mental agility.

Learning-agile people have and use more tools for problem-solving. They use the emotional and logical sides of their brains equally well and easily. They can prioritize the urgent and the visionary and strategic issues.

Learning-agile people have results agility.

They show personal drive and can build teams. From this team-building ability they also develop their people agility. Comfortable with themselves and with diversity, they balance intra and inter-personal skills effectively. They will tend to be open-minded, non-judgmental about ideas and other people. Able to deal with and embrace change, they know which battles to fight and establish consensus when appropriate.

Lastly, they are conflict agile,

Learning-agile people know when to collaborate and when to compete. They know when to accommodate others and when to avoid conflict altogether.

Assessing learning agility

How can you identify learning-agile performers in your organization and position them for success within your organization?

A learning-agile person can be expected to exhibit success when dealing with new or difficult situations. You can expect them to volunteer for new experiences and will likely rise to informal (or formal) leadership roles in teams.

Once identified, deliberately try and move them out of their area of apparent expertise to a new area. Observe how they perform and how they relate to new colleagues, to new leadership styles, to a customer-facing role or to the back-office. Watch carefully for how they deal with different personalities and attitudes and people of different backgrounds.

Lombardo and Eichinger use a formula of diversity, adversity, intensity and complexity of experiences, combined with a willingness to learn as a formula for success. Learning-agile people will excel at:

• Turnaround projects – problems that need fixing
• Startups – starting a program, product, system or facility from scratch.
• Cross-functional moves.
• Line-to-staff moves — learning how to influence without authority.
• Changes in scope of projects and changes in scale or size.

All of these experiences requires the person needs to acquire competencies rapidly through the experience, feedback and integration of knowledge, skills and abilities.

Seriously consider how you might identify your own learning-agile people. They have the potential to succeed exceptionally in your organization.

Why identify learning-agility?

Michaels, et al (2001) in “The War for Talent studies” found just 7% of respondents agreed their companies had enough talented managers! Just 3% agreed with the statement: “We develop people effectively.” Sessa & Campbell, (1997) found that a third to three-quarters of new top executives fail in their first appointment! A third of Fortune 500 CEO’s have been replaced in the last 10 years (Bennis & O’Toole, 2000; Charan & Colvin, 1999). Such results have many causes, but one implication is that organizations have great difficulty in spotting and nurturing talent that has staying power once in key positions.

Someone with “high potential” is a person who has an open willingness and ability to learn competencies required for first-time, challenging conditions. They deliberately choose to learn and review their outcomes and make adjustments in their behaviours and skills to improve performance.