How many times we see eye-catching titles including numbers? Every day! Lose 10 pounds in ten days, earn 6 figures in 6 weeks, achieve your life goals in 10 steps…. You get the picture. We as humans are programmed to like bite sized pieces of information that we can apply to reach our goals. It is a great marketing approach and one that has proven its worth millions of times.
Therefore, in my studies, when I realized that it was possible to identify 3 adjectives to achieve success and that all 3 started with a C, I loved it!
Let’s delve in, shall we?
First let’s define success, which the Oxford dictionary defines as: the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. I like that, it can be applied to both personal and professional endeavours, and upon testing it is a definition acceptable to most of us.
So, how do we do it? How do we accomplish our aim or purpose? Is there a secret ingredient that most people who achieve success use? What is it? In my analysis of over 120 success stories, I have decided to distil this secret sauce into the 3 Cs:
- Constructive
- Collaborative
- Concrete
Having a constructive attitude, individually, as a team, as a company, as a family member is the most important C. The constructive trait brings one to look for a number of possible solutions to the problems at hand. The constructive trait lets one focus on how to make things better, not revel in how hard it is to face the challenge. Being constructive means being open to learning from experience and mistakes, means being able to grow.
Being collaborative allows an individual or a team to seek out other people’s competences and expertise to solve the problem. Being collaborative opens the playing field to other players. A collaborative attitude stifles presumption and self-righteousness and opens the door to feedback and suggestions. Being collaborative means being acceptable and appreciative of our differences, being able to achieve better results because of the differences, not use them as a hindrance.
Concrete, I would sing an ode to being concrete! While we all appreciate the importance of brainstorming on a regular basis, we must all strive to walk out of a brainstorming session with concrete and actionable steps to progress. We must all understand what concrete steps take us closer to our aim, what concrete actions bring our purpose closer.
Would you like to hear more about the theory of the 3Cs and how it can be applied to your business?
