New Series: Simple Secrets to Success From Execs Who Know
WashingtonExec reached out to area executives to gain insight and share local “secrets to success” stories.
Norm Augustine has worn many hats, including retired chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin and former President Council of Advisors member for Science and Technology under President Clinton and President Bush. The current member of the U.S. Energy Security Council provided readers with four pillars to live by as well as his fourteen-word philosophy.
Augustine told WashingtonExec:
I suppose that before trying to identify “secrets to success” one should define what one means by “success.” To me, success means being happy in life and leaving the world a little better than when you found it.
There are of course many secrets to success … most of which are actually not very secret. But let me offer four qualities that stand out based on my own observations, particularly in the world of business.
First, maintain a strong moral and ethical compass. If people can’t trust you, they won’t want to follow you or do business with you.
Second, don’t focus on getting ahead. Ironically, the best way to get ahead is not to try to get ahead. Rather, it is to perform your current responsibilities to the best of your ability. Sir William Osler, considered by many to be the founder of modern Western medicine, put it in the following terms:
“I have had … personal ideals. One is to do the day’s work well and not to bother about tomorrow. It is … to it, more than to anything else, I owe whatever success I have had – to this power of settling down to the day’s work and trying to do it well to the best of one’s ability, and letting the future take care of itself.”
Third, take your responsibilities, not yourself, seriously. In this regard, selflessness is the coin of the realm. Too many CEO’s forget that when all is said and done they are simply hired-hands, albeit often well paid hired-hands.
And, finally, surround yourself with decent, capable associates.
My management philosophy can be summarized in just fourteen words: “Find quality people, tell them what you want, and get out of the way.”