After more than 30 years in the business world, I have had the honor to work with and manage some truly awesome people from all walks of life. I have boiled down my observations to three key qualities that help to define a complete person. They are traits that I aspire to. These words help to drive me every day to improve myself.
I call this my TIP for Success — being Trustworthy, Inspiring and Passionate.
Be Trustworthy
As a teenager, I was asked to caddie for Gene Littler at an Invitational Pro-Am tournament in my hometown — this was “Gene the Machine’s” first tourney after recovering from cancer surgery. He was considered golfing royalty and I was overwhelmed by the honor. The caddie master who gave me the assignment told me that the reason I had been selected for this job was simple: I had earned his trust. To this day, I have never forgotten that moment.
Being trustworthy is a building-block attribute. It is a paramount trait for anyone in life and work. If you are trusted, then you are considered to have integrity and competency, and are respected as a responsible “go-to” person. Being considered trustworthy by your peers and managers is essential in building relationships. Trustworthiness is rooted in consistency. Once people lose trust in you or your ability, it is very hard to earn it back.
Be Inspiring
Have you ever had a conversation with someone, perhaps a peer or a manager, and walked away feeling better than when the conversation started? Have you ever just watched someone work or interact with others and walked away feeling more positive?
Inspiration is the trait that draws attention — that draws others to you and makes them feel invested. Whether for thought leadership, friendship or just motivating others by action and virtue, being inspirational is an essential characteristic.
One of my favorite quotes on inspiration comes from Dr. Martin Luther King. He wrote, “If a man is called to be a street-sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and say, here lived a great street-sweeper who did his job well.” What more is there to say? That’s inspiration!
Be Passionate
To me, passion is the elixir of life, the special sauce, the DNA marker that binds vision with purpose. Nothing in life or work or leadership is more important than passion. If you do not have passion about what you are doing, that is most often a sign that it is time to chart a new direction.
Unlike trustworthiness and inspiration, passion has the distinction of being a much more visible attribute. People who are passionate about something are rarely subtle about it, whether it is about their work, their love of life or even their political affiliation. T. Alan Armstrong said, “…let [your passion] become you and you will find great things happen FOR you, TO you and BECAUSE of you.” With great passion comes the opportunity for great influence.
Becoming a more valued and successful person no matter what your station in life or your career is part of an ongoing process of development as a person. There are tens of thousands of books and journal articles in circulation on self-improvement, self-awareness and success. Being trustworthy, inspirational and passionate are clearly not the only qualities of a person that matter when it comes to defining the “total package” of a person — they simply set the stage for even greater opportunities to excel. It is what you do with those traits that matters.
Ric McCullough is vice president of sales and customer service for PSA Security Network. To request more information about PSA, visit www.securityinfowatch.com/10214742.
