The Corruption of Success
Over the past couple weeks I have been fortunate enough to be connected with some amazing individuals; I have also had some unfortunate interactions. It’s been an interesting study on what success can do to certain people.
Some of the people I have met passed the stage manager test with flying colors. In our email correspondence they were kind and, in our talks, they offered to help and connect me with other great people. They asked me about my goals and listened throughout our conversation. These people are all people who I’d like to see be even more successful and will consider them whenever great opportunities arise.
On the flip side of the coin, some of the people I have been introduced to have ignored the introduction, been rude to the person doing the scheduling, or just didn’t listen at all. One person even said that they were answering my email “as a favor” to the person who made the introduction and had “no need to meet with me.”
I’ve been thinking about why, for some people, success diminishes humility and I really think it has most to do with how we handle success and what came before that success.
This article about Russell Brand addresses what success can do to people. It’s up to you to avoid the trap of becoming bloated with your own success. It can be easy to feel like you don’t “need the little people” and this is where things start to get really bad. When you start to believe your own hype you can easily become rude, disconnected, and alienating.
Don’t choose a short-term high, fueled by arrogance, over long-term humility that can breed success.
The way I see it, if you are fortunate enough to achieve a very high level of success you have two choices: you can keep your humility and genuinely connect with people or you can showboat.
My money is on you if you make the first choice.
Excelsior!
