This quote showed up courtesy of a Twitter feed. Whether or not the Dalia Lama actually said it is not point. This point hit home for me for three main reasons.
1. Personal Fulfillment
It is unlikely you will ever be truly happy if don't find happiness in seeing others grow and be happy.
This one is truly hard; especially if you are competitive or insecure by nature.
It is one thing to see your friends succeed and cheer them on, if you are doing just as well or better. But to see your friend succeed well beyond your own success is a different matter.
Call it jealousy. Call it competitiveness. Call it what you will.
If seeing that success makes you unhappy and hateful, you need to get over yourself or be prepared for a life of disappointment and unhappiness. There will always be someone more successful than you, either right now or in the future.
If you can share that joy and then use that to push yourself on to greater accomplishment that is fine; unless it becomes an obsession.
If you are in a work situation where you are on a team for a common goal ask yourself this, "Is it better to be the best person on the worst team in the world or is it better to the worst person on the best team in the world?" I think the bar is higher on the second team and even the least capable person on that team is more productive and successful than the lone superstar.
So building the entire team makes you better too!
2. Business Success
Whether you are a business owner, entrepreneur, manager or leader; you need to surround yourself with talented people and then help them achieve to their full potential.
Chances are some of these people are more talented than you, at least in certain aspects. In fact, you should hope they are as you need diverse talent for a business to succeed.
What do you do when one of those people has the potential to move beyond your level? Do you feel threatened and hold them back? Do you sabotage them in the company? Do you encourage them to move elsewhere? Or do you encourage their best and ensure they have a path to move beyond you, making your organization stronger in the process?
Great managers are happy to see their people exceed them. It means that the manager was able to identify talent, give the person opportunities to grow and ultimately help them be better. (If you are working for a great manager, cherish and appreciate it.)
If you are business owner, finding talent to take over may be essential to your succession planning.
The best coaches and mentors thrive on this, helping others be great at something.
3. Alignment With Our Mission
Our company mission is "To help people achieve their full potential; including living a fulfilling life."
In addition to the above 2 points, there are two additional realizations that come out of this quote.
- To achieve our mission, we have to accept as a company and as people within the company, that the people we help may become more successful than ourselves.
- That our fulfillment comes from helping people do exactly that.
Too many business owners started with only the goal of making money. I think that as an entrepreneur, aligning your business with your values and personal fulfillment means you will never regret having started it. In fact, you are more likely to succeed because of it.
This then leads you to achieve the mission for yourself.
