HOW DO YOU SPELL IT?

Of late, we’ve been pondering success. 

Maybe because of sitting through relatives’ graduation ceremonies, where speakers always tell captive audiences to “do their best, make their mark, give back.”

Or maybe because of the annual Bloomberg Businessweek round-up of commencement quotes, coupled with a many-paged special on success.

Either way, it prompted us to stop.

Those profiled in the mag have little in common.   Except all are originals, in their own way.  The Fault is in Our Stars John Green created a unique conversation with teens – direct, sympathetic, intelligent.  Shaq of Shaquille O’Neal fame fastidiously manages his brand, a peculiar kind of goofiness … sort of an oversize fun kid attitude.  Max Temkin and friends launched Cards against Humanity, a decidedly non-Internet game encouraging people to spend time together, sans Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, and other e-distractions.

The other share-able attribute?  Again, each person gives back.  In different ways.  It might be product or time or a particular philanthropy.  What mattered most was the act of doing things for other people.

It’s what Robert Greenleaf meant when he talked servant-leaders in the 1970s.  Those execs who put people first, help them develop to their highest potential, and share power.  The top of the pyramid, he felt, has to show caring attitudes and actions, building a solid foundation for performance for both the individual and the organization. 

In these uncertain days, we feel, giving is vastly under-rated.  It’s part of our definition of success.  And yours?

THE TYRANNY OF LISTS

Almost every month in the year unveils the latest top 10, top 50, or top 100 list.

 A few weeks ago, Time magazine profiled its 100 world influencers, from Secretary of State Hilary Clinton to comic actor Kristen Wiig.  The Wall Street Journal routinely anoints people to watch and calls the year’s hits and misses in different industries.  Fortune has an iron grip on two of the most coveted:  “most admired” and “best places to work.” 

All of which spawn trade and local media cover stories on the “best” and “worst” and “on the fence.”

Sure, these kinds of headlines sell magazines and newspapers.  Any editor worth his/her stock options would tell you that.  But spare us.  Please. 

Behind what seems like an innocuous pastime, one that might be credited, in part, to Richard Blackwell’s Ten Worst Dressed Women’s list (now going strong via the Huffington Post) is an amazing industry.   What does it mean to achieve these somewhat elusive accolades?  Hours and days and weeks are spent crafting the right prose for award – er, list submissions.  Weighty binders stuffed with testimonials and factual documents crowd judges’ desks.  Real-live business firms specialize in managing and/or measuring entries, helping validate the winners. 

Truth:  How much weight do ordinary folks, like you and us, give to these lists?  How much does it influence our choice of whom to work for and where to invest? 

As a very random and definitely unscientific sampling, we asked some of our younger relatives and friends’ kids about their college choices.  No surprise these days, tuition cost was number one for selecting post-high-school institutions.  As were location and environment, where their friends were matriculating, and whether the higher form of education offered courses and majors in their fields of interest.  [Okay, sometimes the school’s party-party reputation factored in too.]

Then we showed them different publication rankings.  Sure, they’d seen them.  On the other hand, not one of the teens really cared.  [Their parents did, though.]  Said one:  ‘I wanted to find a good school, close to home, where I could get a ROTC scholarship and support for my dental degree.”

Wouldn’t it be great if that kind of pragmatism infused American businesses?  Then list-making would revert to its original purpose:  A bona fide way for individuals and teams to schedule and track what was accomplished – or not.