Note: Running Fridays in FromGregsHead.com, is a continuing series of tips brought to you by Greg Price. These run Saturday mornings during the BusinessMaker’s Radio Show on KPRC 950AM. Audio files can be found on the PKF Texas – Entrepreneur’s Playbook® page of the PKF Texas website.
Recently we have seen some failures in various sectors of our economy, financial institutions, the auto industry and mortgage banking to name just a few. Yet many of us turn to our political leadership to solve our problems. It’s easy to play the victim and say someone else is responsible for our woes. But I submit we cannot, and should not, look to others to solve our problems.
I submit many of us need to take a step back and think about an exercise Fred Kofman has used to demonstrate what’s really important in our lives. First, think of three characters you admire. They can be real people or fictional characters. Now think of key personality traits that make each of your chosen characters admirable to you. My characters are: Abraham Lincoln, John Adams and George Patton. I admire Lincoln’s courage; Adams desire for freedom and self awareness, and Patton’s tenacity and passion for defeat of tyranny.
Now compare these traits to what our society and other elements of the media define as success. Kofman’s research suggests, and I concur, that it rare you will find anyone who is selected because their qualities are power, wealth, youth, beauty, pleasure or fame.
Your behavior in all kinds of situations can reveal the quality of your character. Kofman suggest that you are more likely to be successful when you focus on the result of process versus an outcome. While outcome is important, how you achieve that result is important to integrity of your own personal character. And while winning is important, it’s more important how you win. And this leads us to my future topic…Success beyond success.