Inspired Ideas

One of my favourite hobbies is observing the characteristics of successful people. I’m intrigued by what sets these people apart from the rest.

When I am in a meeting and bored of drawing unicorns, I often observe the way these people interact and communicate. And what I’ve learned might surprise you.

What sets these people apart isn’t necessarily that they are brilliantly smarter then the rest.

I’ve spent a fair amount of time observing a wide variety of successful people from CEO’s to Serial Entrepreneurs and they all seem to have a few innate characteristics. The good news is that these are all things that you can learn and put into practice almost immediately.

The Secrets of Success:

1. Don’t run, stroll

Have you ever seen someone run in a business suit? It’s not a pretty picture. They do that weird half-run. The “look at me I’m not really running but really scared I’m going to be late” run. It looks awkward and it’s embarrassing for everyone. Don’t do it. Successful people stroll. They are in control of the situation. Always budget 5 extra minutes for wherever you’re going so you don’t have to run to a meeting or to catch a bus.

2. Greet everyone in the room

Successful people command respect when they walk into a room and they do it by greeting everyone regardless of their position or title. People often walk into a room and greet the people they know or even worse go straight to talk to the most senior people. Successful people say hi to everyone and they remember everyone’s names. They even say hi when they walk into an elevator full of strangers - the “I know I don’t know you but you should know me” type of hi. The point is you have to be able to remember people’s names. It makes people feel good. Don’t believe me? Read Dale Caranegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People”. I don’t make this stuff up.

3. Eat the cookies

We’ve all been in one of these meetings. There’s a tray of cookies at the back of the boardroom. You want the cookie. The cookie taunts you as you stare at it hoping for a washroom break or a pause in the conversation. But you can’t get the cookie because you don’t want to be the person that gets up just to grab a cookie. And sadly, everyone is thinking the exact same thing. Successful people get up with confidence and stroll over to the cookie tray. They do it with poise and never miss a beat. The really successful people bring the entire tray to the table. I wouldn’t suggest doing that your first time, I almost tripped and dropped all the cookies the last time I tried that. Needless to say I don’t have the courage to eat cookies anymore.

4. Run marathons

I am often surprised how successful people are able to find time in their schedules to workout every day. They have an ability to manage urgencies and make their long-term goals a priority - and their health is high on this list. ‘Nuff said.

5. “You’re just mad because I tell it how it is and you tell it how it might be…” - Diddy

Successful people have the ability to be completely candid. They are able to have what are seemingly difficult conversations and they make it sound and look effortless. This is probably one of the most difficult things to learn but it’s probably one of the most important. Jack Welch even has an entire chapter devoted to the importance of being candid in his book Winning. The best way to learn how to have candid conversations is to observe and listen to as many as you can. Ask if you can sit in on conference calls where you know the conversation is not going to be an easy one.

That’s all I’ve got. Please feel free to add your observations. It’ll make me feel better that I’m not the only one with this weird hobby of observing successful people.

- Nish

This post is tagged fast company, nish shah, secrets to success, successful people