How to Define Success Around Making A Difference

How to Define Success Around Making A Difference

One of my clients, LinkedIn, has a mission of transformation: they aspire to transform individuals, the company, and the world.

I love this mission and I’m not the only one.

The people it applies to, all employees from the top down, appreciate itand live by it.

Thus, this mission has breathed tremendous pride throughout the entire organization.

This is because at the heart of the mission is valuable contribution.

Research shows it’s not money or a title that first keeps people in a job but the feeling that they have contributed something meaningful.

Most everyone wants to feel like they have made a difference in their company or impacted people’s lives for the better.

For this reason, contrary to popular belief, the feeling of being successful is not determined by wealth or power.

While these things are interesting to a lot of people, I have found from my experience talking with and coaching some of the most important business leaders around the globe that meaningful work, work/life balance, and being able to work a job that brings you joy are keys to success.

How to Define Success Around Making A Difference

In fact, achieving true success comes down to fulfilling 4 Ls:

Love: Do you have love in your life?

Do you have family, friends, children that you love and they love you back?

Learn: Are you growing your skills and competencies?

Are you continually challenged with new tasks, content, or projects?

Or, are you bored at work doing the same thing everyday?

Living: Are you making an adequate living?

Are you able to support yourself and your family, or those in your immediate surroundings that need help?

Leaving a legacy: Are you contributing something meaningful?

Are you leaving your mark on your company or loved ones?

If you don’t feel like your life is balanced in terms of the 4 Ls, you won’t feel successful.

Taking a close look at what motivates you (and others) can help you fulfil these Ls.

Motivation is complex.

People are motivated by different things.

If someone says they are motivated by family—what does that really mean?

Are they motivated because they want to impress their family, or provide for their family, or spend time with their family?

In order to be a good motivator for yourself and others, you need to cut to the core of what motivates.

In the 1970’s, psychologist Edward Deci ran an experiment showing how incentivizing students with money to solve puzzles actually made them less interested in working on them after being paid.

You will also enjoy our article on measure of success.

Meanwhile, another group of students who hadn’t been offered money, worked on the puzzles longer and with more interest.

This study showed the difference between two types of motivators–intrinsic which are tied to core values and extrinsic which are tied to external rewards.

Keeping in tune to your own intrinsic motivators as well as your employees will help bring you true success.

How to Define Success Around Making A Difference

According to Daniel Pink in his book Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us, there are three components to achieving optimal intrinsic motivation:

Autonomy: Our self-direction is a natural inclination.

Think of children who want to do things by themselves.

We all are born with an inner drive.

Mastery: We want to get better at doing things.

It’s why learning a language or an instrument can be so frustrating at first.

If you feel like you’re not getting anywhere, your interest flags and you may even give up.

A sense of progress, not just in our work, but in our capabilities, contributes to our inner drive.

Purpose: People who find purpose, the reason to get out of bed in the morning, in their work unlock the highest level of the motivation game.

Pink says that it’s connecting to a cause larger than yourself that drives the deepest motivation.

If you aren’t able to achieve your 4 Ls in your career by appealing to these three motivators, you can look outside your work to fill the void.

For example, you can volunteer for a cause you feel passionate about such as at a soup kitchen or animal shelter to leave a legacy.

Or, you can learn by getting a tutor, taking courses, or doing training.

For example, I recently picked up piano lessons to take on a new challenge.

Fulfilling these elements of intrinsic motivation will not only help you on your way to success but your employees, too.

And, if you’re able to motivate well, your employees will feel successful–and you will, too, by helping fulfill at least one of your Ls.