I am fascinated by successful people. I can’t really define success other than I think I know it when I see it. A few seemingly unrelated articles/quotes this week have really gotten me thinking:
1) In this week’s Economist is a terrific special report on talent “one of those irritating words that has been hijacked by management gurus. It used to mean innate ability, but in modern business it has become a synonym for brainpower (both natural and trained) and especially the ability to think creatively. That may sound waffly; but look around the business world and two things stand out: the modern economy places an enormous premium on brainpower; and there is not enough to go round.”
2. In a recent post entitled “Hit Em Where They Aint”, Uncle Bill talks about a “young, bright, pretty, perky” girl he met who was successful because she was competing against people who “were fat, balding and boring. Her career and her salary took off.”
3. Finally, also pointed out to me by Uncle Bill was advice I had read in a Ben Stein column about how to “Succeed in Hollywood – or anyplace else”:
There's No Such Thing as Being Too Likeable
Remember how it was in high school? The friendliest, most self-confident kids got to be chairman of the student council and had a crowd hanging on them. Well, it's exactly like that in real life in Hollywood (or anywhere else). Men and women gravitate to those who are likeable and easy to be around.
Think of your own bad self. Who do you like to be around? Sourpusses or friendly, encouraging, smiling people? That's how it is in the workplace, too.
Your likeable self is the self who gets ahead. Remember it, and win in Burbank, Beverly Hills, or Bergen County.
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