Successful people don’t do different things, they do things
differently.
Success is measure of the results achieved by someone in a given
context. However we often hear the phrase that meeting numbers isn’t enough. Its
how you achieve results is true measure of one’s success.
There is no dearth of examples and material on how to be
successful. This post is not about giving a list of right things or different
things you need to be successful. We will focus on few things which successful
people do differently.
Successful people mostly have impeccable Etiquette. Here is a
quote to help understand conventional meaning of etiquette - The cardinal
principal of etiquette is thoughtfulness, and guiding rule of thoughtfulness is
the Golden Rule. If you always do unto other as you would have done unto you,
it is likely that you will never offend, bore or intrude, and that your actions
will be courteous and indeed thoughtful. – (Emily Post’s Etiquette by Elizabeth
L Post)
However, successful people take thoughtfulness to another level,
and their golden rule reads something like – “If you always do unto other as they
would have wanted you to, it is likely that you will never offend, bore or
intrude, and that your actions will be courteous and indeed thoughtful.”
Key to understanding
what others want is Communication. To quote from my earlier post – “You can’t, not communicate. However, importance of listening keeps growing. Leaders will
need far superior listening skills. It’s much more than sensitivity. It is
about tolerance.” You can address someone as sir / boss / Mr /Ms
and still come across as rude or disrespectful. You can come across as warm and
respectful while addressing people as buddy / dude. It’s not only about what
you say but how you say. We are communicating all the time even when we are
not, a tweet, an email, and posts on social media everything counts. It’s
important to have measured and sincere approach. So many over hyper people end
up either with foot in mouth disease or worst they are blissfully oblivious to
self embarrassing impact of their communication.
“The first time you greet someone presents an opportunity that
will never come your way again: the chance to make a fist good impression. Your
appearance and manners play a part in forming these impressions, and they
continue to do so even when you meet or greet someone you already know.” (Emily
Post’s Etiquette by Elizabeth L Post)
Successful
people are disciplined in their approach. They strive for excellence day
in day out. Our appearance has tremendous influence on what and how our message
is understood. A tidy, tasteful and hygienic appearance implies that you
respect others but more importantly you consider yourself worthy of respect and
effort in dressing yourself up. This applies irrespective of your attire being
formal, casual, business casual, club wear or even beach wear.
Success
is 24X7 occupation. From our early teen till retirement an average person
spends 44-50% of their time on activities related to their profession
(including education time) and 28-34% time in sleep. It’s our behavior in
remaining 24-15% time which separates successful people from not so successful
people. Successful people commit 100% to whatever they pursue
or do.
You can
have this discipline and commitment only if you enjoy doing
what you do. “Pleasure
in the Job puts perfection in the work”- Aristotle. So light up your efforts
with passion and joy. “The only way to do great works is to love what you do” -
Steve Jobs
To sum up, Successful people have great etiquette, they
communicate with sincerity, purpose and discipline because they are committed
to and enjoy whatever they do.
Warm regards,
Pankaj
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