Your best
Inspiration comes in many forms. A favorite for leaders is stories of high achievers. We read their stories and find strength in what these individuals have accomplished and, more particularly, how they overcame the challenges they faced.
Ruth Gotian Ed.D. has devoted years of research to studying the highest of high achievers. The result is her newest book, The Success Factor: Developing the Mindset and Skillset for Peak Business Performance. Among the super-achievers are astronauts, physicians, and Olympians. Gotian has deduced lessons from these individuals and, in the process, giving us mere mortals insights into what it takes to persevere and what it means to succeed.
In a recent interview with me, Ruth Gotian shared her insights beginning with her research that she started as part of her doctoral studies and her work as an education director at Cornell Weil Health System. She interviewed high achievers and noted four elements that stood out among everything. These four elements are:
· One, intrinsic motivation, that is, love what are doing;
· Two, commit to hard work over the long haul;
· Three, build a strong foundation rooted in practice; and
· Four, open to learning from other sources: reading, listening, teaching, and experience.
Life stories
Gotian tells a beautiful story about Neal Katyal, former acting Solicitor General of the United States and now a law professor at Georgetown University. Katyal has tried more than 45 cases before the Supreme Court, an impressive feat given that most lawyers do not argue even one case. Katyal’s approach is an exercise in preparation as well as simplicity.
Katyal does three things before presenting each case. One, he builds a binder with questions and answers. While he may not reference it during the oral argument, the preparation helps him stay focused. Two, he practices in front of a moot court multiple times. And three, as Gotian explains, “the night before the opening arguments, he goes to his children's room and starts explaining the case to them in the simplest of terms. Because if a child can understand it, if it could be that simple, he's trimming all the fat away, and the court will understand it.”
The disciplined approach to learning is fundamental. Gotian tells the story of Curtis Martin, one of the greatest running backs in the history of the National Football League. Through success and failure, as Gotian says, Martin asked himself, "What can I learn from this experience? What do I need to tweak? What do I need to change? What do I need to learn? And he reimagined how he does things over and over again, all the way to the NFL Hall of Fame." Post-football, Martin applied those questions to his career in business.
Practical lessons
Gotian can weave a good story; she also provides practical lessons. The learning process, especially for adults, differs from person to person and over time. “And what works for me today is not going to work for me always,” says Gotian. “It's not going to work for me when I have a transition. So, I need to know how to pivot.” The book provides options for how to apply learning skills to changing situations.
Lasting lessons
Gotian has two takeaway lessons that she has learned from studying high achievers. “First, do something important. Not just interesting because if it's interesting… to you. That's a hobby. If it's important, it will have an impact, and the impact will have a ripple effect.” And two, “to make that work happen, you have to fear not trying more than you fear failing.”
Taken together, achievers are just like you and me. Human beings are subject to the same frailties and foibles as the rest of us, but they have within themselves the determination and the will to achieve their goals despite adversity and defeat. In doing so, they fill us with the hope that we too can find success in what we do.
