4 Guaranteed Strategies for Career Success (part one)

Over the course of my career, and in particular during the research and writing of The Career Playbook I have spoken with countless CEOs, leading thinkers in leadership and careers, top HR professionals and college advisors. Having a success and fulfilling career rests on many factors which are all described in The Career Playbook. As I speak to people on corporate and academic campuses, I know that careers on very much on the mind of many seniors, people who recently graduated and are considering where their careers are going, and parents. So this week, in anticipation of the next week’s release of The Career Playbook (pre-order now) I would like to offer 4 Guaranteed Strategies for Success, one a day, starting today. No matter what kind of career you are looking to have, following these ideas as as close to guaranteeing success as you can get. And please, follow strategy #1 and share these strategies with as many people as possible. 

Success Strategy #1 - Focus on the Success of Others

If I could guarantee one single piece of advice to be success it would be: 
Success is achieved by making those around you successful. 

Richard Branson, billionaire founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways, offered me this advise to give to aspiring young professionals. “This may sound simplistic,” he said, “but always look for the best in others. Be compassionate and praise the people you work with.” Those who conduct themselves like this, he said, “will get on with others and by extension, get the best results.” 

Read carefully what he is saying; it's not just what he does, caring about the success of others is what his highly successful companies look for in their employees. Right now, it may not seem like focusing on the success of others is more important than your individual performance, your performance and the quality of your work really do matter—especially when you’re trying to get off to the right start in a new job.  In my research and professional experience, most highly successful business leaders are not overly self-centered people. The most successful top executives spend as much time thinking about the success of their company and their direct reports as they spend thinking about their own success. This provides a big opportunity since the majority of young professionals self-report that they spend more time and energy thinking about their own success. At the same time, they estimate that top business leaders care about their own success to an even greater degree. But in our survey, top leaders self-report that they care more about the success of those around them than their own success. 

People crave leadership and direction. They enjoy working for companies with bold, clearly-defined aspirations, and organizations where team behavior is governed by a strong sense of ethics and shared values. Most important, when a team’s members are focused on each other’s success, creativity reigns because people will feel free to be honest and question authority without retribution. Each member of the team feels just as accountable to each other as they do to the leader, and the work environment is marked by loyalty and exceptional strong performance. 

In the early stages of your career, you won’t have the power to set your company’s culture from the top-down. But there are still ways that you can focus on the success of others. You can help create a trustful working environment by making sure communications flow freely and by pitching in colleagues need help.

Next up: Success Strategy #2 - Don’t Quit (and Other Lessons from Navy SEALs)

The Career Playbook: Essential Advice for Today’s Aspiring Young Professional is on sale now. 

Amazon: https://amzn.to/1PSz64j
Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/1EYNWAX
BAM: https://bit.ly/1u2Bv7A
Indiebound: https://bit.ly/1zbtRIn
Google Play: https://bit.ly/1BSxTT8