As the host of the national Success Wave podcast, I have the opportunity to interview some incredibly successful individuals. Whether it is Jodi Berg (CEO of Vitamix), Mitch Kroll (CEO of Findaway), Dan Flowers (president and CEO of Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank), Erik Wahl (artist and The New York Times best-selling author), Mike Golic (formerly with ESPN), Bill Wills (Morning Host, WTAM 1100) or one of the many other podcast guests, they all seem to share some common characteristics.
These commonalities also explain much of why these individuals have enjoyed substantial success in their lives and can provide all of us insight as to how we might become more successful personally and professionally. So, here are the top 10 characteristics I found in those who stand out in the crowd, lead by example and make an impact at work, home and in the community.
1. Successful people define success. They know what success means for them, which may change over time as they gain more experience and mature. Highly successful individuals reassess their success definition along the way as they use it as a measuring stick and guidepost relative to their actions and decisions.
2. They know, believe and love what they are doing. This alignment of knowledge, belief and passion is the essential makeup of a successful individual. They recognize that they must have all three of these to achieve their goals.
3. Successful individuals don’t follow the crowd. They think differently and creatively, inspiring others to do the same. Successful individuals are not afraid to stick their necks out and take risks. They also have a high tolerance for rejection and criticism because when you stand out from the ordinary, there is a tendency to be ridiculed by those who prefer to conform and go with the flow.
4. Failure is embraced. It may seem counterintuitive, but successful individuals recognize that they must fail quite a bit to learn and get better. We all know that we learn from mistakes and not from our successes.
5. They work hard and work smart. In addition to the guests I have on the Success Wave podcast, the successful individuals I have met in my career all have a high work ethic but are rarely workaholics. They understand how to manage their lives and don’t let their career lives manage them.
6. They have confidence in themselves. Not to be confused with arrogance, successful people exude confidence in what they do and how they perform. That confidence is a direct result of hard work, knowing their craft and experience.
7. Successful people surround themselves with other successful individuals. Top performing individuals like to associate with other top performing people to learn, collaborate and be inspired by new and different thinking.
8. They are happy, but never satisfied — with anything. That is why you find successful people continually striving to achieve and excel at higher and higher levels. They attempt to squeeze everything they can out of a day and then improve on that effort tomorrow.
9. Successful people are selfless. They tend to put others first and do not seek credit. Successful individuals let their actions do their talking. In addition, they are happy for others’ earned success and do not allow ego or envy to get in the way of assisting others at work or in the community.
10. Integrity is highly valued. Being honest and having strong moral principles are key elements of their success.
My guess is that you might have a few other characteristics or ideas on what makes a successful person. Regardless of what our respective lists might look like, perhaps we can agree that individuals who earn a high degree of success in our society are admired, followed and inspirational.
As we all know, the pandemic has thrown us quite an unexpected curveball. Life is certainly a bit more challenging, to say the least. Achieving success in anything has become more complicated and difficult. Yet, the characteristics and traits highlighted here are what we might need more of today to change our way of life to continue to be successful in and outside of work.
Pat Perry is host of the national Success Wave podcast, business book author, keynote speaker, former ERC president, columnist and NEOBusiness Hall of Fame member.