Nothing Fails Like Success - Dr. Stephen R. Covey

This is a curious phrase. A paradox as it were. When I first read it, I thought to myself: “how can that be? How can I be a failure by becoming successful?”

?It Didn’t Make Sense

Until I did a little further reading and then understood what Dr. Covey meant: Becoming successful is not the same as maintaining your success. Becoming successful can be the very thing that causes you to lose your edge, lose your hunger, and lose the mind-set you had that got you to the top.

?Success can be toxic You can become drunk with success and your ego takes over. You start making decisions detrimental to the long-term sustainability of the very success you have worked so hard to achieve.

?Author, Ryan Holiday writes:

?“When we are aspiring, we must resist the impulse to reverse engineer success from the others people’s stories. When we achieve our own, we must resist the desire to pretend that everything unfolded exactly as we’d planned. There was no grand narrative. You should remember—you were there when it happened.”

?That is the truth to my success and story…I just happened to be there.

When I founded the Latino coalition for Community Leadership (LCCL) in July 2003, I had no idea what an “intermediary nonprofit organization” was. And I didn’t have a “vision” for a national organization. My idea at the time was simple, let’s “get money to give money” to the organizations that deserved it due to the real work and life changing results they were accomplishing mostly with volunteers on a shoe-string budget.

?However, as every nonprofit founder knows…aside from having a desire to create an organization to meet the “community cry” (as I call it)…you need money. And to obtain money (grant funding in the nonprofit parlance) can be a difficult and frustrating task.

?Thus, the fact that our very first grant was $10 million dollars from the U.S. Department of Labor —when I had no experience with federal funds, no staff, no building, and no idea how to create an intermediary organization—was a mindblower in itself…

?Little did I know then that our unorthodox beginning would eventually grow into the successful organization we have become. Today we are recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor (and others) as the “go to” intermediary in the country.

?Our mission to find, fund, form, and feature nonprofit organizations in marginalized communities meeting the needs of individuals and families, has become a model for Federal, State, Philanthropic, Private and Community Foundations, to partner with for grant making that has proven to obtain better results and more accountability for their nonprofit grant making portfolio.

?The Seduction of Success

I am no longer at the helm of the LCCL having turned over the torch of leadership to my successor in July 2023. And I am very proud of the success and accomplishments of our staff at the LCCL. Yet, ours is only one of many success stories…However, that is not my focus here…

?What I want to share with you—getting back to this curious phrase, Nothing Fails Like Success—are some of the principles I studied and learned over my twenty-year tenure at the LCCL and shared with my staff with success preservation and sustainability in mind. I hope they will be of value to you wherever you are in your success story.

?Three Great Book Mentors

Jim Collins is known for his two great books about organizational success, Built to Last, and From Good to Great. In addition, he wrote a third book, How the Mighty Fall. This third book he wrote after discovering that some of the mighty companies he wrote about in his first book, Built to Last, had in fact “fallen”.

?In this book he shares wisdom learned that all successful companies and organizations (individuals) should heed:

?1.??????? Collins, From His Book, How the Mighty Fall:

Collins shares the following question by an Executive of one of the most successful companies in America:

“When you are at the top of the world, the most powerful nation on earth, the most successful company in your industry, the best player in your game, your very power and success might cover up the fact that you’re already on the path to decline. So, how would you know?”?

2.??????? Five Stages of Decline:

·????? Pride born from success: “We’re successful because we do certain things” vs. the correct mind-set, “We’re successful because we understand why we do certain things, and we also know under what conditions they will no longer work and need to change.”

·????? Undisciplined pursuit of more: Taking for granted that we can jump into areas where we can no longer be excellent and grow beyond our ability to hire the right people in key positions.

·????? Denial of Risk and Danger: Ignoring the truth. Censuring, canceling, or explaining away negative data. Staff in Authority blaming setbacks on external circumstances instead of accepting responsibility. Vigorous, fact-based discussion for high performance disappears.

·????? Grasping for Salvation: Anxiety driven, desperate to find a silver- bullet solutions. The thought that a charismatic visionary leader will save us. Deciding to try a bold untested strategy, a radical transformation, a hoped-for blockbuster product, a dramatic cultural revolution, a game changing acquisition…instead of going back to the principles that made you successful in the first place.?

·????? Irrelevance and Death: A result of remaining in stage 4 too long.

?3.??????? What is the answer to avoid decline and the failure of success?

·????? Study failure…not just success.

·????? Get the right people on the bus:

1.??????? They fit the org’s core values.

2.??????? They don’t need to be micro-managed.

3.??????? They understand that they don’t have a job, but rather responsibilities.

4.??????? They fulfill their commitments.

5.??????? They are passionate about the organization and work of the organization.

6.??????? They have a “window and mirror” mind-set (meaning when the team is successful, they give credit to others (window). When the team fails, they take responsibility (mirror).

?In another book by Author, Christian Stadler, Enduring Success, What We Can Learn from the History of Outstanding Corporations: (Those in existence for more than 100 years)

?1.??????? Align strategy with your environment.

2.??????? Exploit before you explore (meaning solidify your home base at what you are excellent at doing first before taking on more projects).

3.??????? Be conservative in and beyond your finances.

4.??????? Remember and share both victories and mistakes.

5.??????? Explore into related businesses (Stick in the genre that are related to what you have been successful in).

6.??????? Change in culturally sensitive ways.

?And finally, a third book, Mastery, by Author, George Leonard:

1.??????? As the Executive, love the process of practice: Always working on self and improving your skills…but it’s not for the result…it’s for love of the process of working out.

2.??????? On those you hire or are already on your staff…Love the slow learner (as opposed to the know it all and talented).

3.??????? Love teaching the beginner (she doesn’t have to unlearn things).

4.??????? Maintain the mind-set of being the underdog, small insurgent, not the incumbent.

?These are a few of the principles and practices that have helped me sustain success. I pray they will prove as valuable to you as they have to me.

?Until next time…

RRR