Chapter 1

Success Is a Planned Event!

People believe the only alternative to randomness is intelligent design.

—Richard Dawkins¹

Mission Statement

In order to devise the right plan, intelligence needs to be gathered, conditions on the ground need to be assessed, decisions need to be made.

Excuse my impudence for saying so, but if you want more out of your work life, then there is no more important place you can be than right here, reading this line in this book, right now. Everything else in your life can wait, even for a little while, and most certainly will be there when you put the book down. What being here now tells me is that you’ve decided it’s time to take a more productive, committed, engaged, and possibly a more proactive role in architecting your success. In doing this you are dramatically improving the odds that being recognized, rewarded, and promoted is within your grasp now, or in the near future.

Whether you know it or not, reading these words reaffirms a commitment you’ve made to yourself, your family, your colleagues, and even your friends because you’ve made a determination that the status quo isn’t working for you any longer. Or maybe you’re not quite at that realization yet, but you’re close to deciding there must be a better, more enriching, more satisfying, more lucrative work life than the one you’re experiencing. It’s okay. You’re not alone. But sometimes, pulling the switch and acting on your desire is a challenge.

It’s true for many of us that we often don’t seek to go from point A to point B unless we’re unhappy at point A. Complacency and a lack of quality motivation affect us on so many levels. Our careers often suffer from a lack of informed planning and direction that can make a significant, lasting, and profound impact on our lives. I’m not just talking about your earning power or your title. I’m talking about the kind of fulfillment and joy that come from being in the right company, at the right time, doing something you’re good at.

Having a success plan makes sense. The fact that you’re reading these words tells me that the idea of designing a plan for success resonates with you. After a long week at work don’t we often have a plan for Friday night? Perhaps it’s drinks and dinner, or maybe some take-out and binge-watching the latest hit series on Netflix. Either way, there is forethought and execution (i.e., a plan). Sadly, it’s true for many of us that it’s easier to figure out brunch on Sunday than it is to decide what to say to your boss on Monday.

Success at work doesn’t have to be something that happens to others. Successful planning doesn’t have to be fraught with doubt, worry, and self-judgment. For all the people out there who seek a more profound life full of wealth and recognition you need to realize there’s always someone else who’s got more money and more accolades. Your success isn’t in the getting of things; it’s about living the life of your dreams, no matter what they are. So, in the spirit of really going for it, there are seven concepts (“isms”) that I’d like to address. Seven seems to resonate, like seven days of the week, the seven seas, and seven colors of the rainbow.

1. Success is a choice.

Tamara (my name) combined with the suffix -ism (a distinctive practice, system, or philosophy) has made for some pretty useful, if not handy portable sayings, that over time help reinforce the bigger theme and materials I’ve designed to help you be more successful.

“ism” isn’t a four letter word!

These “isms” are about how you step up to truly maximize your potential to get ahead. Simple is memorable. Mantras turn into missions. They are the “ear worms” that will earmark your trajectory from cubicle to corner office. Before I go on to my second Tamara-ism, I think you should know a little something about me: I love these short, quippy, easy-to-remember sayings that sum it all up, quickly and succinctly. I’ve even trademarked some of them. At my core, I’m a teacher, and if there’s one thing that has motivated me to create a set of takeaways that are easy to remember, it’s that my students—many of them executives—lose their focus and attention more easily than children running wild at Disneyland. We’re all guilty of starring in our own production of short-attention-span theater. There’s no judgment in being busy, having a full workload, and being distracted, so I had to adapt my game and my approach if what I was teaching was going to resonate and stick with my clients. In the spirit of sustainability, let me next share my second and perhaps most profound Tamara-ism with you. In fact, it’s so important that it is the title of this chapter!

2. Success isn’t a random act. Success Is a Planned Event!

It means that planning, anticipating, analyzing, and acting on opportunities can take you to new heights. Successful people do many of the same things consistently. Part of planning for your success includes taking stock of what others do who are successful. For example, most successful executives have energy and enthusiasm in overdrive. They often get up early and have energy to burn at the end of the day. Their enthusiasm is infectious. They jump higher and move faster than others. They also have a quality—call it a character trait—that makes other people want to be like them, or be near them. Their persona is captivating and inspiring. You too can be the kind of person who others look up to, admire, and respect. All of these qualities, by the way, might lead you into the realm of being recognized, rewarded, and promoted, which leads to another important factor that you need to know now.

3. You can only be the best you.

Trying on someone else’s shtick isn’t going to cut it, because these days being authentic and being transparent are buzzwords that matter the most. As Oscar Wilde said, “Be yourself because everyone else is taken.”² In today’s distracted and device-addicted society in which everyone is looking down, the need to step up and stand out has never been harder or more important. So I would add, “Be yourself and exploit your uniqueness.”

4. The past is history; the future is mystery.

I told you at the beginning of this book that we were not going to try and remake you into the image of someone you’re not. It’s crucial that, as we begin our journey together to help you devise Your Ultimate Success Plan, you understand the following: You already have everything you need inside of you to be a success. Think about it for a moment. This isn’t a motivational pitch I’m trying to sell you in order to boost your ego. Nor is it an empty sentiment designed to engage you at a rudimentary level. Helping you devise a success plan so that you can achieve recognition and get rewarded and promoted is the goal of this book. The path you’re going to follow, at least in part, is marked by your successes and failures up until this point. As self-help guru Wayne Dyer said, “The past is simply the trail you leave behind you.”³ True, the past might also be an indicator of future performance, but only if we allow it to be so. In the best case, the past should inform the future no matter if past behaviors are to be embraced and amplified or if self-limiting behaviors are to be identified and jettisoned.

The notion that your life experience has been the perfect testing ground for what might come next in your professional pursuits is based on my personal experience observing others. Let’s say it’s the by-product of my observations as an employee, executive, coach, mentor, and friend. What I’ve learned is: Your instincts, training, background, family of origin, survival skills, and unique perspective—all the qualities that shape you—are exactly the attributes that are going to allow you to shine and spotlight your success at work. The opposite is true for bad behaviors, or actions on your part that are limiting to you and others.

5. Implement vs. Complement.

The more you implement action that does not serve you and others (the more you are unwilling to look at the big picture and understand what’s going on around you), the higher the probability you’ll be doing things that don’t complement your new goal of being recognized, rewarded, and promoted.

It’s great to have a goal, and the subtitle of this book has been designed as a three-part plan to give you successive feedback on the work you’re doing. These three overarching “lanes” address the physical law that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction—meaning, if you do well, excel, up your game, learn the rules of the road (depending on the highway you’re traveling) put in the time, and add just a bit of luck, good things can happen for you.

6. Hope is not a strategy.

One of the defining aspects of whether or not good things will happen for you—and good things will happen not because you hope they do—is because you’ve worked hard to make the adjustments that are crucial if you’re going to make your success a reality. Part of what will determine the course of natural events in the future is being able to unleash the true talent, ambition, and winning personality that lie within you.

7. What you already know best, I can’t teach you.

For heaven’s sake, the first American in orbit was a chimp named Ham! You heard me. Our first astronaut was a primate. He didn’t actually fly the Mercury capsule, but he did sit there quietly. Good Ham. I think his mission profile was to stay alive and not push any buttons to crash the capsule!

The point is, we can teach almost anyone to do almost anything, except the most important attributes of being a great employee; work ethic, honesty, trustworthiness, integrity, human nature, communication skills, energy, enthusiasm, and innovative thinking are almost impossible to impart to another without a tremendous amount of effort mixed with frustration for good effect.

The reality check is that some of these innate gifts can’t be taught without a ready and willing subject who is able to show up and do the work. By “do the work” I mean it’s conceivable that anyone with the right attitude can take on and learn some of the beneficial qualities that some were born with and others adopted over time. The first step is having an awareness of what is important, and what is lacking. The key is to develop and reinforce positive traits, whether they are from birth or acquired, that can serve you 24/7. Think of what I’m saying in even simpler terms: Natural-born (or in some cases acquired) talents and personality traits, when combined with teachable skills and learned fundamentals, make for a winning combination that will eventually reap you a tangible benefit.

Your manager can teach you the payroll system, how designs load into that sleek file-sharing system, and how new accounts are opened for clients, but none of these factoids is nearly as important as the skills and abilities you show up with on day one that are the product of your character and life experiences. What you really know and can use to your advantage, and what will benefit your organization, are what you brought to the table long before you were hired. Your guts and your smarts count. So does your ability to read and disarm a foe. Your aptitude of turning deficit to advantage, your sense of right and wrong, and your talent with others all count big time.

These are skills/isms that elevate being an employee to an art form. In that rarefied air is where greatness and great jobs lie. You have value and skills that transcend the workplace. By aligning your natural abilities with your career path, you improve the probability that someone in a position of authority will recognize your strengths and reward you accordingly. Let’s make these seven stick and start looking deeper.

As the great ad man David Ogilvy once wrote, your unique value proposition has everything to do with what you love and are passionate about doing and would do even if you weren’t getting paid. But for now, however, I suggest that you do get paid. Further, I want to up your compensation. Translation: I want you to be recognized and rewarded for being the best you you can be. This is all about you, and a celebration of your talents and abilities is the best place to be as we bring our planning phase into focus.

Answer this question: What do you love to do? Write it down. Answering e-mail, tweeting your friends, and posting pictures on Instagram only count if you’re in marketing! Maybe you’re great at math, or you’re a terrific writer. Some people have a gift interacting with people. Others prefer animals. Are you great in the kitchen? Some love to take photos on shimmering mountaintops; others are capable of producing financial spreadsheets of such depth and perfection that they should be framed. Not everyone is capable of doing everything, and this is never truer than it is at work.

Some might argue that being successful begins and ends with doing what you love. In our world we’re going to broaden the definition just a bit. In order to make a success plan that sees you being recognized, rewarded, and promoted, let’s agree on some of the tenets that define success.

In fact, because we’re developing Your Ultimate Success Plan, now’s as good a time as any to really decide what success looks like. I’ve outlined three main aspects that comprise the prevailing notion. It’s not perfect, nor is it meant to be definitive. It’s just my way of wrangling a broad subject into manageable morsels.

Wealth

Monetary success is not the only way success can show up in your life, but it’s not a bad place to start! It’s obvious that most of us are seeking some form of financial independence that allows us to the live the “good life” on a purely personal basis. For some, wealth means having a great place to live and a surplus of food. With wealth you can pay the bills on time and pay down your debt. You can invest in the present and future without worrying about your principal. You can run up credit cards bills or put them away forever and pay off your debt every month.

Many aspects of success through wealth are common for all of us. For some, material success might also mean having that Ferrari or Lamborghini in the garage. For others it might indicate a closet full of the holy triumvirate: Prada, Fendi, Gucci. It might also mean that you’re free to travel anywhere in the world, to wine and dine to your heart’s content. Material wealth is often an indication that something has gone very right in your life, but as famed manager, producer, and executive David Geffen once said, “Anyone who thinks money will make you happy hasn’t had money!”⁴

Position

To do well in a business environment and to be successful at work usually means you’ve done many things right. You’ve proven yourself capable, you’ve demonstrated excellence in numerous ways, and you’ve impressed the powers that be to the extent that you are entrusted to lead other employees. In this regard, success typically means you’ve got a title and a nice office. You’ve also got a number of direct reports (people on your staff working under you) and you’re being held accountable for the work product your group delivers.

You might have even been promoted a few times. Though promotion doesn’t always lead to material wealth, it does often lead to an increase in visibility, viability, and prominence within an organization. Politics become more pivotal. Are you happy? Do you like your team and do they like you? Does your direct boss respect you and treat you with grace under pressure, or is he or she a bully who is prone to unfortunate behavior? Position is a worthy notch on the success belt, but it doesn’t always come with material wealth, though the better you do within a company, the more perks you get to enjoy.

Honors

Awards and accolades of any kind are thrilling to receive. They don’t pay the bills, but they do afford you the luxury of leveraging their existence into a better deal, more responsibility, or a new role within your organization. We live in a “follow me” culture, where, as famed screenwriter, playwright, and novelist William Goldman said, “Nobody knows anything.”⁵ He was talking about Hollywood executives and how most of them (it’s a dirty little secret in Tinsel Town) wouldn’t know a hit movie from “a ham sandwich.” That is, until the terrifying shark, alien girl with a bow and arrow or a boy with an ability to play Quidditch becomes a hit. Then everyone is a genius and everyone knows everything. It’s the same with honors. Just the very idea that you’ve won an award or have been given recognition is, by all accounts, not a trivial development. Here’s a wakeup call: In business, winning an industry award presents you with a distinct advantage now more than ever.

With social media taking a more prominent role in business, having something to tweet about is important. It makes your clients and colleagues feel they’re doing business with an all-star. And because we’ve already said perception is reality, it’s important to realize what people think about you matters more than anything else. So, working hard for the money also means working hard for that little silver plaque that’s given out once a year. Your future boss is there too, watching and taking notice. She’s the one who’s next going to recognize, reward, and promote you. Most likely she’s going to accomplish this by stealing you away from your current place of employment. She might have had her eyes on you for some time. The word on the street about you might be more than solid. Or maybe she might be poaching you because your outfit is killer and you just destroyed her team at the annual ad agency awards. You’ve got to be in it to win it, and being seen is one great way to begin down the road of being recognized and rewarded.

There are plenty of other benchmarks for success including happiness and good relationships at home and at work. Being a good parent, or loving son, daughter, or sibling, all count toward success, in the grand scheme, but for our definition, Your Ultimate Success Plan is going to make you a business success, get you a corner office, and present you with a framed plaque.

You can’t always get what you want.

Take into account, at least nominally, that sometimes the best-laid plans don’t actually come to pass. It happens every day. Part of developing and understanding your plan is allowing for the following: Life isn’t always fair. As famously stated by Dale Carnegie, “Our fatigue is often caused not by work, but by worry, frustration and resentment.”⁶

There are many factors that determine your viability within your organization:

You might be working in the wrong group for a dreadful boss who’s jealous and hates anyone who’s better, nicer, more attractive, or more talented. We will address the horrible boss paradox a bit later, but this shaggy dog story is all too familiar to many of us whose best-laid plans have been laid to waste by a less-than-desirable situation. Usually this happens when an outcome—say, a promotion—doesn’t line up with a crucial expectation.

You might find yourself in a company where nobody leaves. It happens all too often. Sometimes companies large and small make it too attractive to exit, and with a trusted workforce they don’t ever encourage turnover. So, a promotion and anything more than a cost of living raise is out of the question. Maybe the reward is steady employment, a growing 401(k), and that silver plaque everyone wants.

Another factor that’s harder to quantify is age. Aging out is a problem. We do live in a youth culture, and though it’s against the law, there are times when younger, less-experienced executives get promoted over more seasoned, more accomplished veterans. It’s not pretty, but from time to time, it’s a fact of life. Maybe the reason given is “Your style just doesn’t mesh with the team.” Or, “We’re thrilled for you to stay on. We just think Chelsea has more vision for the senior director role.” Just because you get passed over doesn’t mean you have to go to the “dark side.” In fact, the opposite is true. If history has taught us anything, it’s that from deficit comes advantage.

Just because you have a plan doesn’t mean it will work.

As Dwight David Eisenhower once wrote, “… plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”⁷ Before he was a two-term president, Eisenhower was the five-star commanding officer who led the U.S. Army as part of the Allied forces, defeating the Nazis in World War II. Among his other achievements, Ike (his nickname) was the Supreme Allied Commander during D-Day, when the allies invaded France at Normandy Beach. This event was the beginning of the end for Hitler and the Axis powers. I’d say a fair amount of planning went into the war effort, but not all the battles he organized went as planned. As is often the case, when planning anything be prepared for those plans to change. In preparing for what is certain, we usually bump into uncertainty at an alarming rate.

Part of being recognized and ultimately rewarded and promoted says as much about how you handle setbacks as it does about how you manage achievement. Character can be defined in many ways, but the consistent winning traits include steadfastness, trustworthiness, integrity, honesty, and honor. Character is reflected in what we do and don’t do. Complaining and backstabbing are not the signs of good character and will often haunt a prospective candidate who is looking for more in his or her workplace.

Overcoming adversity, such as devising a new plan when the last one failed, is a wonderful trait, something that’s highly valued by management teams in companies across the globe. The new term is “strategic agility” and it’s being touted more and more as a leadership trait. Planning for success isn’t going to bring you success. But executing the plan, and acute mindfulness about what you should and shouldn’t be doing, is the first step.

In his seminal work, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey (he totally tapped into the power of seven) addressed the idea of what makes a successful person. He found that “…almost all the literature in the first 150 years or so focused on what could be called the character ethic as the foundation of success—things like integrity, humility, fidelity, temperance, courage, justice, patience, industry, simplicity, modesty, and the Golden Rule. The character ethic taught that there are basic principles of effective living, and that people can only experience true success and enduring happiness as they learn and integrate these principles into their basic character.”⁸

But beginning in the 1920s, perceptions of success were driven by externals more than internals—what Covey might call the “personality ethic.” We began to define success with a new set of parameters: personality, the image that is projected to the public, charisma, how the person connects to the public, and how individuals relate to one another. A positive attitude was also determined to be a factor. As a result, such homilies surfaced as: “Your attitude determines your altitude,” “Smiling wins more friends than frowning,” and “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”⁹

Success has many facets and the notion of it has evolved. Whether you’re beginning your road to riches, or are closer than ever, putting together a winning plan isn’t as easy or as hard as you might think. In order to effectively make a plan, context is important. You’re not going to play the same game in a botanical garden as you are in a roller derby rink. Knowing where you are at all times is an important and necessary component of devising a plan that will deliver on the promise of your new day.

   Test Yourself!