Two Dangers of Embracing Your Success - by Dave Anderson

When you become successful the natural tendency is to embrace the things that got you there. This seemingly logical thinking can present several problems because while some aspects of what you did to get to where you are will help elevate you to where you want to go, there are other components may actually inhibit your climb to the next step. Here are a couple of examples that illustrate how past success can work against you:

1. The leadership style you assumed to get you "here" probably isn't what will be required to get you "there." For instance, if you're turning around a failing department, chances are good that you will have to be a one-person show for a period of time: making every decision; solving every problem and having all the ideas. You may also have to assume the role of a mini-dictator if your back is against the wall, time is running out and you don't have time for consensus. These practices are often necessary and effective when you're saving a sinking ship. However, if you persist in this style after things begin to stabilize and move forward you will be too dependent upon yourself and fail to build the team necessary to reach higher plains. In other words, what got you "here"—your own energy, drive and talent at executing—may not be what it takes to get you "there"—the multiplication of your leadership through a highly developed team that can move the bar faster and farther than you could ever dream of doing on your own.
2. The second potential pitfall of embracing success is that success can make you unteachable. You may be tempted to point to your success as a permission slip to discontinue your leadership education--convinced that you know enough about what you're doing and will take what you learned once upon a time and stretch it as far as you can. In fact, if you can find some extra time you may be tempted to write it down; build the manual and document your formula! After all, you can't argue with success, right? Wrong again because the skills that got you "here" may not be the skills that get you "there." This is especially true in an age where business is increasingly dependent on new technologies; new competitors emerge overnight; products and services quickly become outdated and employees, in general, are more difficult to manage by virtue of their sense of entitlement, questionable discipline and a "happy feet" tendency to jump ship at the drop of a dime and test greener pastures elsewhere.

It's become so common that I'm no longer surprised during my leadership seminars when I ask a group of highly paid professionals in leadership positions if they read leadership books and get blank stares in return. If I could read their minds I'd bet big money I'd hear conversations like this bouncing around in their brains: "I'm already a leader. Why would I need to read leadership books? Doesn't this guy know that we had a record year last year and that I made more money than I ever had before? Obviously, I know my stuff or I couldn't have achieved such a feat. Now, Golf Digest and Field & Stream ; that's more my style." Frankly, if ignorance were bliss these folks would be the happiest people on earth because they're too proud, foolish or clueless to understand that what got them "here" won't get them "there" and it's just a matter of time before they become irrelevant as leaders. I wouldn't allow someone with this attitude to play amateur hour with my business any more than I would employ a doctor, attorney or CPA who had stopped upgrading their own skills and had pledged allegiance to yesterday's methods.

This might be a good time to evaluate your leadership style and your dedication to further your leadership skills. Determine if you are relying too much on what got you "here," then pinpoint what you may need to change to get you "there."