The One Secret to a Successful Career
You dress for the job you want. You have perfected your elevator sales pitch. You make direct eye contact and smile when you shake hands with a medium-firm grip. You have memorized all 16 Myers-Briggs Type Indicators, the Four Cornerstones of Effective Leadership, and have read Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence…twice. YourLinkedIn profile level is All Star. Your personal brand includes a color, custom logo, business cards, web site, blog, and a brand statement that would have impressed Maya Angelou. You are always hungry for anything that might give you that extra edge. In fact, this hunger is what drove you to click on the provocative headline of this post. So here you are reading, skeptical, knowing that there cannot be one simple secret. Yet, you read on anyway.
In my early days as an enlisted member of the United States Air Force, I once had the opportunity to have lunch with the 15th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Rodney McKinley, the highest ranking enlisted member in the Air Force at that time. No, I am not name-dropping, CMSgt McKinley had no idea who I was then, and he has no idea who I am now. During the luncheon, a junior Airman asked CMSgt McKinley what it took to make it to the top. The other people around the table began to salivate in anticipation of The Great Success Secret that was about to be unveiled. CMSgt McKinley set down his fork and visibly stifled a reaction of annoyance. After a moment, he said, “That is the single question that I am asked the most. I hate that question.” While the young Airman’s face turned 50 shades of red, CMSgt McKinley smiled and went on to explain that his journey to the top never was a goal; it was just a combination of doing the right thing, knowing the right people, and being in the right place at the right time. As all of the eager faces around the table slowly changed to looks of disappointment, what CMSgt McKinley was saying slowly began to make sense to me. He explained that he lived his life by principle. He never pursued positions and power. Instead, his conduct and reputation preceded him and presented opportunities that he did not need to seek out. He said that any success that he had must be credited to simply getting up, attempting to do the right thing, and then repeating the process. Every. Day.
Sure, you already knew this. I don’t admit to myself often, but I know it. We all know it. We look for the Quick Fixes, the 10 Tricks, the Five Simple Steps, the Three Secrets. But the one TRUE secret to success? Perseverance. Thomas Edison, the grandmaster of perseverance summed this up simply, “The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are hard work, common sense, and stick-to-itiveness.” A more eloquent musing was penned by the great author and poet Rudyard Kipling in his poem If:
“If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same”
You are going somewhere. Is it where you want to be going? Set goals. Identify whatever it takes to get there; resources, education, milestones. Take action. Every day. Persevere.
