10 Behaviors You Never See in Successful People

When you spend decades working with executives and
business leaders, you really can’t help but observe what
works and doesn’t work over the long haul. One thing
I’ve noticed, it’s not intrinsic characteristics or personal
habits that determine whether you’re successful or not.
It’s your behavior.
What do I mean by “behavior?” How you react under
long-term stress. Whether you meet your commitments
or not. How you interact with others. Your attitude
toward customers. How hard you’re willing to work to do
the job right. Whether you’re focused and disciplined or
scattered and distracted. That sort of thing.
Now, I admit to having known some pretty dysfunctional
founders and CEOs who did well for themselves for a
time. But sooner or later, usually when the pressure is
on and things aren’t going so well, they exhibit self-
destructive behavior that bites them in the ass. Sadly,
they often take their businesses down with them.
Related: Want to Be Successful? Quit Being So Positive.
If you want to make it big over the long-term, you might
want to take a good, hard look in the mirror and see if
any of these career-limiting behaviors describe you.
Naivety. Granted, we all start out sort of wide-eyed and
gullible, but the sooner you convert that to savvy and
skeptical, the better your chances of coming out on top.
The reason is simple: suckers and fools don’t win. Learn
to question everything you read and hear and always
consider the source.
Panic. High-pressure situations are common in the
business world. Things almost never go according to
plan and oftentimes they go terribly wrong. It comes
with the territory. If you can’t override your adrenaline
response and remain calm in a crisis, you’re sort of
screwed.
Fanaticism. Passion is a big success driver, but when
you cross that line and become over-the-top fanatical,
that works against you. I’ve seen it time and again. It
leads to a skewed perception of reality, flawed
reasoning, and bad decision-making.
Laziness. Those who are driven to achieve great things
also know one fundamental truth: It takes hard work
over the long haul. That’s why they’re always so
focused and disciplined. Most people are slackers .
That’s why most people don’t achieve great things.
Simple as that.
Quick-fix mentality. Steve Jobs said, “Half of what
separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-
successful ones is pure perseverance” and if you’re not
passionate about what you do, you won’t stick with it.
Too many people want instant gratification these days.
That’s not going to cut it.
Related: Considering an Online Business? Read This
First.
Acting out. Whatever feelings you have trouble dealing
with – jealousy, shame, inferiority, entitlement –
transferring them to people you work with and acting out
in anger won’t just make you and everyone around you
miserable, it’ll kill your career, too.
Selfishness. If you act like the world revolves around
you, you’d better have the talent to back it up. Even so,
being overly self-centered will diminish your
effectiveness. Business isn’t about you; it’s about
business. It’s about your customers’ experience with
your products. Remember who serves whom in the
relationship.
Living in the past or future. Granted, we can learn from
the past, but dwelling on it is self-destructive. Likewise,
you can plan for and dream about the future, but if your
actions aren’t focused on the present, you’ll never
achieve your plans or your dreams.
Lighthearted indifference. You hear phrases like
“whatever works,” “it’s all good,” and “no worries” a lot
lately but you’ll rarely hear them from highly
accomplished people. They may be a lot of things but
apathetic is not one of them.
Oversensitivity. If you’re so thin-skinned that any
criticism makes you crazy and every little thing offends
you, you’re going to have a rough go of it in the real
business world. There’s a good reason why business
leaders usually have a good sense of humor and
humility. It’s sort of a requirement. Don’t take yourself
so seriously.
One last thing. If any of this offends you enough to want
to write an angry flame comment, you’ve got at least two
or three issues to work on. Then again, look at the bright
side. At least you’re not indifferent.