Winners have a different mindset and a mojo that makes them stand out. But that doesn’t mean they don’t fail sometimes too.
Marshall Goldsmith’s successes include business and leadership books that have sold more than 1 million copies including. “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There” and “Mojo: How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back if You Lose It.” He serves as an executive coach for CEOs at household name companies and is a sought after keynote speaker.
Goldsmith’s got mojo and he’s sharing it and some winning strategies. He defines mojo as the “positive spirit toward what we are doing” that begins inside and radiates outside. That spirit requires motivation, knowledge, ability, confidence and authenticity among other traits. Confidence, especially is a basic ingredient to winning, whether it’s a new job or a major client.
In an interview, Goldsmith shares five of his strategies for success:
- Seek opportunities. Aim to win. “What I teach people is really focus on winning, not avoiding losing,” said Goldsmith. Too many people are worried or embarrassed by their mistakes. “Most successful people don’t fail less. They fail more,” he said. They accept failure because they know they’ve tried hard – and next time are likely to win.
- Be the optimist in the room. Make your optimism a “behavior that guides everything we do. It can be self-fulfilling. And it’s contagious,” Goldsmith writes in Mojo. People gravitate toward optimism, especially when it’s backed by a strong dose of reality. Optimism boosts self-confidence and helps advance our ideas and plans too, he says.
- Pay the price of success. “You’re going to have to work very hard. There is no easy ticket,” said Goldsmith. You may be working too many hours already. Still if you want a promotion or a new gig, you need to take on extra projects. You may need to go back to school. Or learn to use mobile apps effectively.
- Manage your brand, your reputation carefully. “You’re selling yourself – you have to sell yourself,” he said. And you need a clear crisp focused message as to who you are and where your work has the most impact. “It’s important to think about your online brand, especially today,” Goldsmith said. That means using care and some judgment on what you post on your Facebook, your LinkedIn status and on Twitter.
- Cultivate courage. “Demonstrate courage on the outside even when you can’t feel it on the inside,” Goldsmith says. “You need to show courage.” Think of your key moments like a Broadway play: When the curtain goes up, your knees don’t ache and your aunt didn’t just die. You’re a professional and “It’s show time.”
His BNET blog post also gives three annoying habits of successful people – including trying too hard to add value, because when they do they reduce the enthusiasm and commitment of their teammates.
If you feel like a winner in search of a new employer that will profit from your talents, Goldsmith suggests you make peace with ambiguity and accept that there are no perfect fit employers or jobs. Find work that is meaningful to you and that gives you room to grow.
