"In this election year, we as voters attempt to measure the many qualities of candidates. Ultimately, we are looking for one quality above all: success. We weigh the past successes of one candidate against another and try to judge who will be successful in the future.
Of course, we each have our own definition of success. But most would agree that we are looking for lasting success — success that will have a continuing impact and improvement on our lives, families, businesses, communities, and country.
With this in mind, there is little surprise in this election year that one of the latest offerings from the esteemed Wharton School Publishing contains a foreword by a politician — Senator John McCain. Success Built to Last: Creating a Life that Matters is a book "that will make a difference," according to the Senator. "I don't think you achieve lasting success unless you add another ingredient to the mixture," he writes. "And that is to serve a cause greater than yourself."
Well spoken, Senator. It is an idea that definitely cuts through the endless negative campaign ads in an election year where they have been particularly vicious.
It can be argued that the authors of this book are campaigning for a type of long-term success that is often overlooked in business. This is the premise for this new book, a thought-provoking, often moving, collection of conversations with hundreds of remarkable people. There are politicians, CEOs, billionaires, poets, psychiatrists and presidents. There are the famous as well as unsung heroes who have nonetheless had a heroic impact.
Serving a cause greater than yourself requires collaboration, as the diversity of the book's authors illustrates. Perhaps best known is Jerry Porras, coauthor of Built to Last, the bestseller that attempts to redefine business success. He teams with Stewart Emery, considered one of the fathers of the Human Potential Movement, and Mark Thompson, listed by Forbes Magazine as one of America's top venture investors.
Together, the three authors seek out a definition of success based on the lives of remarkable people, as well as the organizations they often help to create. What they uncover in over 200 interviews is straightforward: people from around the world who have made a difference of some kind are those who have lived a life that mattered.
Long-term success, the authors argue, has less to do with finding the best idea or business plan and more with doing what matters to us as individuals.
They suggest that it is at the personal level that creativity begins and that the potential for enduring organization emerges.
The language of leadership, like politics, has been abused and trivialized. The authors describe their struggle on how to best refer to these successful people. They chose the terms "Enduringly Successful People" and "Builders."
Builders may have humble beginnings, but become defined by their creativity. They often see themselves simply as people trying to make a difference doing something that needs to be done. They are simply ordinary people doing extraordinary things that matter to them.
The message here is that each of us has it within him or herself to live an extraordinary life. To do so, you have to integrate your personal and professional lives in ways that make a lasting difference.
The authors make it clear that they do not present the people they chose to interview as role models. They admit there are often-contradictory ways to evaluate success. Their idea is to promote a discussion you need to have with yourself about the definition of success.
The authors do give a fantastic variety of people as examples. Many talk about the pleasure their work gives them. In an interview with Warren Buffett, he explains how "success is getting what you want and happiness is wanting what you get."
"I always worry about people who say, 'you know, I'm going to do this for ten years. I really don't like it very well, but I'll do ten more years of this and ' Buffett says. "I mean, that's a little like saving up sex for your old age. Not a very good idea."
This is a great study for learning how successful people have found their own definition of success and how you can too. So after you've marked your ballot for the candidates you hope will be the most successful, pick up a copy of this exceptional book and vote for your own personal success.
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