The Seduction of Smart People

"Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose" - Bill Gates

Success, both personally and professionally, can sometimes become intoxicating. So much so that we can begin to believe that we are better than we truly are. The monetary rewards of our hard work, the praises of those around us, and the status of our position can lead us to believe that we have arrived. When we achieve great success and finally grasp what it is we have worked so hard to attain, we can come to believe that we’ve done what we’ve come to do and there is nothing more to prove.

When we allow ourselves to believe our own press, we place ourselves at risk of becoming a different person than the one that brought us to this level of excellence. We see it all the time with elite athletes, artists, entrepreneurs, and politicians. Examples abound of athletes that come into the sport on fire only to flame out after they receive a big contract. The same can be seen in the recording industry. All you must do is Google one hit wonders or look at bands that grinded for years and finally achieved a high level of success, only to breakup shortly thereafter and fade away.

Success can make us comfortable. When we become comfortable, we risk not doing those things that got us to the top of our game in the first place. It is then that complacency and compromise can creep into our daily routines. It is at this point that we may begin doing things that lead to the creation of bad habits.

Success And Emotions

People who have been able to sustain success for an extended period understand the impact of emotions on their decision making. They also understand that emotions play a big part in the lives of those they influence. Emotions can drive behaviors and cause us to make decisions that are sometimes unwise. Left unchecked, emotions can lead to quick decisions, clouded judgment, uninformed assumptions, and poorly drawn conclusions.

The positive emotional energy that comes with success can lead to an inflated ego, causing us to believe we are self-made. This belief can lead to a lack of empathy, understanding, and a disconnection with those who have helped us reach the pinnacle of success we have come to enjoy.

Successful People Listen

The wise thing to do when our emotions are high, and the appetite of our ego is inflamed, is to listen. It is at this point that we need to listen intently. It is those around us who may see things that we can't see because of our emotional state. Others may see the thing that, when brought to our attention, can keep us from stepping off a cliff. However, those we choose to listen to must be people we trust and are unafraid to provide unbiased and objective feedback.

When we sever the communication lines that were active during our climb to the top, we cut our safety line and risk a rapid descent. This can lead to poor decisions and result in a fatal impact as we unknowingly step off the edge. Successful people know when they are too close to a situation and are at risk of making a bad decision, especially when it involves emotions. As a result, they ask for advice.

Successful People Seek Clarity

Successful people work at lifting the fog around decisions so that they can more clearly understand the situation and therefore increase the odds of making a good decision. Even though they are very capable of making decisions on their own, they understand that the best decisions come through the counsel of others. They also understand that consensus is not always possible. They know that someone must be the decision maker.

High performers consistently weigh all the information provided and then make the decision that they believe is best for everyone, which includes the organization or department they lead. Sometimes the decision made is the one that they would have made absent counsel. However, most times it will be a decision that was altered because of the advice they were given. They have learned, most likely from failing to do so, that listening to others and accepting the feedback they are given, good or bad, is a best practice and a great safety net.

Failure Is a Great Teacher

Failing to listen and check your ego can lead to failure. While the thought of failure can elicit fear in each of us, it is also very humbling and can serve as the catalyst for righting ourselves. Failure can force us to evaluate our current actions and return us to the behaviors and practices that ultimately led to our success.

By opening our eyes to the behaviors that led to our failure we can experience greater success after the failure than was had before. This is most likely how we got to the top of our game in the first place. We failed our way to the top. The problem is that we forgot that we likely failed more times than we have experienced great victories, and it was those failures that taught us and led us down the eventual path toward success.

We learned from years of trying that failure only helped us when the experience was evaluated, and changes were made. We discovered through those trial and error moments that repeating past behaviors was inevitable if we did not evaluate our experience.

Those who sustain success know when to press pause, check their ego, check their emotions, and invite trusted colleagues, friends, and family into the conversation. While intoxication may feel good, it is seldom a good idea to experience it for too long. Like all addictions, when we allow ourselves to become so intoxicated by success that we fail to do those things that brought us to achieve great things in the first place, we position ourselves for an eventual and potentially deadly fall.

Randy Stepp is a Principal with Renaissance Leadership Group. RLG is a full-service business and development company driven by a purpose to help business owners realize their dreams of independence and freedom.

Visit Renaissance Leadership Group at www.renaissanceleadershipgroup.com to learn more.