Why does achievement matter

In a competitive world, where the achievement of results is highly valued, it is tempting to take it for granted that if you work hard, then success will follow. This article considers why this may not always be the case and looks at what we, as project and change managers, can do to bring the often divergent qualities of effort and success closer together.

There are plenty of guidelines on how to work effectively to produce results and successful projects, so why are we left in doubt as to how to make ourselves successful? Traditionally, management approaches have focused strongly on systems and processes. Marketing professionals know that to communicate really well, you have to understand the language and perceptions of your target audience before you start.

They talk about communication reflecting back the views and priorities of the intended audience, displaying an understanding of their perspective in order to gain trust. As project and change professionals, we understand that communicating information is critical to success, but we sometimes fail to realise the extent to which we need to address the underlying emotions and motivations of all involved.

To have our own success recognised, we first have to acknowledge the people whose opinion we value and who we wish to impress. Does pursuing this seemingly personal agenda run counter to our organisational goals or enhance their chances?

Neuro Linguistic Programming NLP , gives project professionals the communication tools needed to both make the project itself successful and to gain recognition for their own successes. NLP methods help people develop the skills needed to raise self-awareness and better understand different angles and points of view. For instance, the APM Body of Knowledge specifies open mindedness as a requisite skill, allowing managers to take account of the variety of views involved on a project.

NLP suggests that the meaning of communication is in the response we get, and demonstrates how we can come to understand the views of others and how they may interpret what we say.. While most people recognise that being sensitive to criticism is generally not a management strength, NLP shows us how to learn from the feedback we receive and regards this as important data to show how things might be done differently, and more successfully.

It reminds us that regardless of our level of professional expertise, there is no limit to our ability to learn: we can always benefit from mentors who display the skills that we would like to develop. Initially regarded as a psychology based theory that had no place in the pragmatic and process driven world of project management, NLP has been absorbed into mainstream learning for managers.

No career is a seamless progression upwards, and many of the participants were able to process the inevitable bumps in the road in a positive way.

There was pride in having withstood a range of setbacks, from failing to secure a particular promotion or having a grant application turned down through to conquering debilitating performance anxiety as a musician.

The capacity to pick oneself up, bounce back and carry on regardless was something that participants clearly valued in themselves and others. This was also evident amongst those who talked about forging a career whilst having a chronic illness or depression, or providing support to a family member who was experiencing difficulties.

Navigating adversity seems to have had the effect of sweetening subsequent achievements. There were individuals who seemed to thrive under arduous field conditions without running water or electricity, whilst others jumped into the unknown by taking a job in a different discipline or on a different continent. There was an appetite to seek out situations that were scary because they offered the promise of new learning opportunities and excitement.

To be a pioneer is also to take on the challenges associated with being the first, or one of a small number of trailblazers. This pioneering spirit showed up in various ways, including being the first in their family or school to attend university, being the first woman in a particular post, being the lone woman round a corporate board table or defying expectations by succeeding despite a lack of formal qualifications.

Being a pioneer was not exclusively linked to gender, but was often accentuated by the limited numbers of women in certain positions or subject areas. Some women also became more conspicuous having had a non-linear or unusual career pattern, such as pursuing academia late in life, making a significant career change, returning to work after many years away or being a senior woman in a successful job share.

Visibility brings with it a degree of scrutiny. It brings a sense of being a role model whether you like it or not, simply based on the fact that your colleagues, both men and women, will be aware of what you do.

Some of the women we spoke to were more at ease with this notion than others. At their best, role models provide evidence of what can be achieved, for example as a mother returning to work, a mature student, a woman in science or coming from a working-class background.

Some participants talked about wanting to set an example for their own children, or wanting to have a tangible impact by making a particular subject more accessible to a diverse range of students. Many of the women at Cambridge expressed a sense of achievement when talking about the effective use of power and influence.

Whilst there was clear frustration about obstacles in the way of securing leadership roles, when they got to positions of influence they wanted to do something constructive with their authority. They felt a pride in not shirking the responsibility that comes with leadership at all levels. This showed up in a range of ways, including stepping up as spokesperson for a major project like the Large Hadron Collider LHC , establishing a new programme for entrepreneurs, setting up a flagship clinical unit, leading an institution to full college status and helping to get a new sports centre built.

Leadership was not just found at the most senior levels or in the highest-profile projects. It was equally vital in the day-to-day exercise of influence to improve the working conditions of others, for example, by actively mentoring young women, turning around a failing department, bringing in technological advances or making sure a redundancy situation was handled fairly. Linked to the idea of exercising effective leadership was a strong interest in enabling the progression of others.

People described the vicarious thrill that came with helping team members, or junior colleagues, to establish themselves as successes. Offering support could take the form of mentoring, helping people to identify their strengths, creating a good working environment, inspiring passion in a subject, enabling someone to cope with a setback or simply being a great teacher. It was seen as a privilege to be in a position to develop others and as such was not something to be taken lightly.

Several women mentioned the pleasure of being thanked by those they had helped, but at the same time they were not dependent on such gestures of appreciation. It seems that this area of achievement is one that can be understated, and one that is experienced both privately and through the successes of others. Another man had the opposite experience. For the first man, the opportunity to be generative gave him a purpose.

For the second, the denial of that opportunity was a bitter blow. And for both of them—as for most people—unemployment was not just an economic issue; it was an existential one, too. Research shows that across history, rates of unemployment and suicide rise together. But work is not the only way to be useful to others. John Barnes, another man in that longitudinal study, learned this lesson the hard way. Barnes, a biologist at a university, was an extremely ambitious and conventionally successful man.

He had won prized grants like the Guggenheim fellowship, was unanimously chosen to be the chair of his Ivy League department, and was associate dean of his medical school. And yet, in the middle of his life, he considered himself a failure. To Erikson, the mark of a successful, growing adult is resolving this struggle. And that, eventually, is what Barnes did. When the researchers checked in on him a few years later, they found that he was focused less on his personal advancement and receiving acclaim.

Instead, he had discovered meaningful ways to serve others, by being a more involved father to his son, playing an administrative role in his university, and mentoring graduate students in his lab. How To: Growth Strategies. By Harvey Mackay — Contributing Writer. Dec 10, Related Content. How you can stir up a recipe for success.