by Patrick Tay

Created on: December 11, 2008

This is a rather challenging question to tackle because each of us defines success in so many ways.

Acquiring wealth is success for some of us. Being prominent in society is success for some of us. Being married and having children is success for some of us. Gaining knowledge is success for some of us. Rising up the corporate ladder is success for some of us and driving a prestigious car is success for some of us. As can be observed, there are therefore different ways of achieving success based on how one defines success.

To me, I feel that true success is enabling others to achieve success as well. In another words, I believe that we will truly be successful when we enable others to be successful. This can primarily be attributed to my outlook in life as well, which probably explains why I have previously been a Career Consultant and now an educationist. In this article, I will therefore be discussing the secret of success along this line of thought.

So, how does enabling others to succeed enables us to succeed at the same time? Before we delve into this issue, it will be good to explore the complete opposite philosophy (which is a perception held by many today, especially in the workplace): the only way that we are able to succeed is to impede or hinder the progress of others.

I believe that this misconception originates from the existence of office politics and politicking in the workplace. More importantly, the source of this misconception lies in the perception that resources are scarce and the Darwinian theory of "natural selection". The structure of the current workplace seems to reinforce this perception since the position of directors and CEOs are limited. The honour and prestige surrounding these positions are tantalising and seductive. Everyone wants to be sitting on the pedestal, looking down on the masses. Nobody wants to be the one at the bottom looking up. Everything wants to be kings, not subjects. Everyone wants to be at the top, not the bottom. Everyone wants to be prominent, not hidden. Over time, acquiring of success becomes a brutal competition, where everybody is willing to pay a high price to be at the top. However, for individuals with such mentality, even if they reach the top, they will not last for long. In fact, they will be ousted sooner than we expected, in the same way that they have ousted others.

However, there are some corporate leaders who have stayed at the top for a long time and respected by their colleagues, you may say.

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