N2Growth on Leadership: Success as a Risk Factor

How to make sure one success leads to another—and not to ultimate failure

Is your success serving as a catalyst for even greater success, or is it merely a temporary state precariously positioned and ready to implode with the slightest change in circumstance? As strange as it may sound, success can often be the precursor to failure. Success without perspective, purpose and focus can actually cause more harm than good.

How often do we see seemingly successful people fall from the ivory tower for no apparent reason? We’ve all witnessed the lottery winners who hit the big one only to have their new-found wealth derail their lives, instead of solving their problems. We’ve seen the same thing with young politicians who dream of changing the world, only to find themselves corrupted by their own egos once they arrive on Capitol Hill. How about the professional athletes who sign multi-million- dollar contracts out of school, only to squander their chances with their off-field shenanigans and find themselves out of the league after only a few years, with nothing left to show for their success. And finally, how about the executives or entrepreneurs who rise to the top, get the title and the paycheck that go along with it, only to run their companies into the ground and eventually lose their position.

Nothing dulls the senses like a taste of success. A chance encounter with success can often lead to a feeling of being invincible, which in turn can lead to arrogance and the belief that success will itself breed success in any situation. Once a professional starts to believe their own rhetoric, trouble is not far behind. The reality is that past success in and of itself does not necessarily serve as an indicator of future success. In the text that follows I’ll pose some questions and put forth some thoughts that will help you navigate your own success.

The key to leveraging success is self-awareness. Ask yourself:

• Are you straying from the formula that led to your initial success or are you staying focused on playing to your strengths?
• Are you becoming casual in your approach to decision-making or are you using your success to create an environment that leads to even better decision making? As you’ve heard me say before, while it takes many great decisions to land in the C-suite, it only takes one bad decision to fall from grace.
• What about talent management? There will be no shortage of gravy-trainers looking to ride the coat tails of your success. You can either surround yourself with people who will stroke your ego and tell you what you want to hear or find people who will tell you the truth. Show me a poor executive and I’ll show you one who a) ignores the advice of staff b) acts in isolation by making decisions in a vacuum, or c) surrounds him/herself with the proverbial “yes-men” in order to only receive the answers that will support their positions.
• The key is to not let your confidence get the better of your common sense. World class executives and entrepreneurs make extensive use of mentors and aggressively seek out advice by making it safe for their staff and advisors to provide honest input and feedback.

Bottom line: Initial success can be a launchpad for future success or the beginning of the end. In order to best manage success it is necessary to use the fruits of your success to surround yourself with best-in class research, toolsets, in-house talent and third-party advisors. Consistently upgrade your knowledge base and improve your business practices such that you will become more efficient and effective. If you rest on your laurels you’ll likely find yourself on the outside looking in wondering what happened to the initial success you worked so hard to attain.