What is it that makes some people excel in their careers while others, equally talented, never quite reach the pinnacle of achievement? In their book The 5 Patterns of Extraordinary Careers, Spencer Stuart consultants Jim Citrin and Rick Smith determined to find out.
Surveying thousands of top executives, they discovered five powerful factors common among high achievers which, above all others, appeared to determine career success: understanding the value of you; practising benevolent leadership; overcoming the permission paradox; differentiating using the 20/80 principle of performance; and finding the right fit (strengths, passions and people).
The five patterns too dismiss the notion that exceptional achievement is often the result of luck but proves it to be a culmination of consistent performance and opportunity.
In the next weeks we'll look at each of the five patterns and show the benefits to be gained by adopting them.
At first blush, career success seems to hinge upon personal performance and outperforming others around you. That’s what many people believe is the route to promotion. Most see climbing the corporate ladder as a treacherous journey - the higher you climb, the more cutthroat and nasty the environment.
Not necessarily. Happily, the facts show that the most successful individuals populating the top rung of the corporate ladder are more often those who can attract top talent and inspire them to exceptional levels of performance. When we examined the experiences of hundreds of top performing executives, it was apparent that they were the beneficiaries of the talents and performance of their peers, subordinates and superiors.
In our survey we asked people to describe a particularly successful executive they knew. "Extraordinarily successful executives," it turns out, were not perceived as overly self-interested. Quite the opposite was true. Nearly 90% were described as being concerned about the careers of their subordinates as much or more than their own careers.
Further, just four percent were described as being most concerned with their own careers. The aggressive, "take no prisoners" executive represented less than one in 20 of the top executives we identified. Our research clearly demonstrates that a leadership approach focused on the success of others is truly a significant pattern among successful executives. We call this Benevolent Leadership.
It’s easy to know when a benevolent leader is in charge. Information and authority flow freely. Honesty abounds. People feel free to question authority without retribution. Creativity reigns. Each member of the team feels just as accountable to one another as to the leader. With a benevolent leader, the environment of work is changed for the better.
A leader is best when people barely know that he exists. He is the teacher who succededs without taking credit. and, because credit is not taken, credit is received.
Lao Tzu, 6th century BC
Benevolent leaders may have various interpersonal styles – some are humble and self-effacing, others are charismatic, and other still are demanding task masters. But regardless of style, they all create an environment of open communication, honesty and confidence, delegating both minor and critical tasks. Moreover, they demonstrate how the success of the team directly benefits each team member.
This fact by itself is not unusual. Nearly all of us have worked with exceptional teams at some point in our careers. We may have been rewarded for our association with a truly outstanding boss, or recognized for the superior performance of our subordinates. What is unusual about the most successful professionals, however, is the consistency of this occurrence. They almost always seem to be surrounded by other top performers.
Perhaps most importantly, when the leader’s attention is focused squarely on the success of team members, strong results, organizational performance and employee loyalty are a natural result.
The benevolent leader maximizes performance through facilitation, eliminating barriers for subordinates and leading with authority, even though, at times, appearing to be just one of the pack.
In today’s skeptical business environment, where one crisis after another has come to light, the Benevolent Leadership approach is more important and appropriate than ever. People long to work in an environment where bold aspirations for success are clearly defined and commonly shared, and team behavior is governed by a strong set of ethics and core values.
We have all watched with horror the recent parade of executive misconduct, greed, theft and fraud that has lined the pockets of CEOs while their unassuming employees were wiped out, left only with the baggage of their previous employer’s tarnished image. Employees have trusted their business leaders with the health of their companies and the strength of their investments. Sadly, in many cases, this basic level of trust has been betrayed.
In the end, it is the ability to create an environment in which subordinates, peers and even your superiors want to work – a place where they feel they can maximize their own personal success – that maximizes an individual executive’s chances of greatest personal career success.
This extract is taken from The 5 Patterns of Extraordinary Careers by James M. Citrin and Richard A. Smith, published by Random House.