During another downturn several years back, I learned a new definition of success.

It was a time not unlike these times.  Many companies have folded.  Many people have been laid off.

In the eyes of the world, these companies would forever be tossed in the “failure” category.  After all, didn’t they run their companies to the ground?

I was, at that time, the owner of a public relations agency struggling to keep my clients and my employees.  While I was discouraged, I wasn’t defeated.  But I didn’t feel like “success” either, until I met professor Erickson from the City College of San Francisco, where I had signed up for a complimentary small business management class.

Professor, how do you define success?”  A dark-hair middle-aged woman at the front of the classroom raised her hand.

The grey-hair, balding professor in a navy suit looked up from his lecture notes and turned in the direction of my classmate.

Well, it’s simple.  Once you have learned and improved upon whatever it is you want to learn and improve on, then to me, that is success!”

That’s it?”  My classmate’s eyes opened wider and shot back instinctively.

Yes, that’s it.”  The corners of my professor’s lips turned into a smile.

I sat quietly, but my mind was processing that simple advice…

Once you have improved, then you are successful.  Yes, I think that’s what he just said.

Those simple words had a profound effect on me.

I began reflecting on some business challenges, but came to the conclusion that hey, I was still a success!  Why, because according to my professor’s definition, as long as one have learned or improved from an experience, one is a success!  So on that particular day, no matter what I felt about the state of my business, I was proactively sitting in a classroom, improving my small business skills.  So, I have crossed a small, personal success milestone!

After that, I started rewarding myself for little, personal victories.  Hey, I outreached to five prospective clients today.   Hey, I worked with our webmaster HelloAri to complete our website revamp.  Hey, I created a great marketing campaign today, etc. etc.  Soon enough, these personal victories grew and began manifesting as public ones, and we started winning more clients and awards.

Once you have improved, then you are successful.  Yes, that was what he said.

How refreshing!  Perhaps the secret of happiness lies in our perceptions of success.  Have you had days when you feel discouraged because you are so far away from reaching your goals?  Consider carving your goals into smaller pieces.  Say you’d like to run a marathon one day.  But it overwhelms you.  Why not start by going to the gym and runing for 10 minutes today and adding on the miles incrementally afterwards?  So long as you are learning and making progress, hey, you’re a success!

What goals are you working toward?  What successes have you had recently?  Do share.  Remember to see them in smaller pieces, so you have more reason to pat yourself on the back and more reason to celebrate.

Here’s to your success!

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This post is dedicated to my friend and former colleague, Christina Cheang.

Image by ToniVC via Flickr

I was in a fancy Chinese restaurant in the Lion City, sitting across from Christina C., a dynamo of a woman and the new Singapore leader of our international public relations agency.  We were deep in conversation as the waiter filled our cups with Puér tea and served us plates of steamed sea bass and herbal black chicken.

I was wrapping up a two-week business trip.  My life in San Francisco seemed so far away.  Well, literally 8,500 miles away.  Yet my mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, twirling about everything I needed to do before I left, and everything that awaited me when I return.

“How am I going to find the time to do everything?”  I said as I wolfed down the sea bass and emptied the tea cup.  “Within the next week, I’ll be making five presentations.  Two here, and three back in San Francisco.”

Christina looked at me through her stern, maternal eyes.

“Slow down, Sharon.  Don’t you know that time is elastic?”

“Time is elastic?  What do you mean?”  I rested my chopsticks, momentarily.

“Well, you and I think that we only have 24 hours a day.  But have you ever been so engrossed in something that you lose track of time?”

“Well, yes.”  My eyebrows arched higher as I leaned toward her.

“Have you ever felt like hours have passed, when in fact, it had only been minutes?”

I nodded.

“You see, when you are inspired to act on something, you will always find the time and energy to dive into what you’re meant to do.  And when you get ‘in the flow,’ time becomes elastic.”

Inspired, I returned to my hotel room that night and whipped together a powerpoint presentation in under an hour, pleasantly surprising myself.  I experienced first hand the meaning of “time is elastic.”

Christina C. taught me an invaluable concept, and I have often reflected on those three simple words since our memorable dinner almost two years ago.

Tonight, I saw the Michael Jackson movie “This Is It” for the first time.  Those around me lamented that it was such a shame that he died so young.

Then, suddenly, the three words, “time is elastic” popped to mind.  I started thinking about his lasting impact on music, and on the millions of people around the world.

The “King of Pop” may have passed on, but his music will live on in our hearts and minds for a long, long time.  Michael Jackson has forever outlived his 50 years and succeeded in stretching time to its maximum elasticity.

I could almost see Christina’s smile as I pen this today.

“Great, you get it now.  Time is elastic, grasshopper.”

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I will never forget him.  He was a senior executive at Dell Computers.  A former Longhorn, he had come to speak to our group of wide-eyed college seniors at the University of Texas at Austin, about our future careers, of course.

A tentative voice at the back of the room posed a question.  “I…, I know internships are very important, and I’m an intern now.   But I don’t think I’m learning anything because they just have me doing little things, like faxing, copying, filing and other menial tasks.”

I will never forget what this professional said in response as his gaze fixed on the intern.  “If you remember nothing else from my speech tonight, remember this, “Nothing is beneath you.”

My ears perked.  Fellow schoolmates leaned forward.  What did he mean?

The Dell executive continued,  “When I was a fresh graduate, I didn’t start out holding the vice president title that I have today.  My first position, and I still remember my route like yesterday, was as a mail room staffer for our company headquarters.  I sorted huge volumes of mail and carted them all over Dell’s offices and delivered mail to each and everyone – with seriousness, and a smile.”

My mind briefly entertained an image of him walking down a long and narrow corporate hallway, pushing a mountain cart of mail…

“You might think my job was menial, but I took every opportunity to remember faces and names, to show them my attention to detail, to show up day after day and be the most conscientious mail room staffer I can be.  And guess what?  I still spent the next two years in the mail room!”

A few of us chuckled nervously.

“But if you ask me today, is it all worth it?  I say to you a firm “yes.”  My career took off at the two-year mark and I am where I am today because I adopted an attitude early on that served me well.  Because I told myself, “nothing is beneath me.”

The speaker’s advice touched me profoundly and I took it to heart as I sailed through internships and on to real jobs over the years.  I have also had the privilege to share his story a few times during one-to-one mentoring sessions, or when speaking to college students at various schools.  Book author Michael Gerber also underscores a similar philosophy below:

The work we do is a reflection of who we are.  If we’re sloppy at it, it’s because we’re sloppy inside.  If we’re late at it, it’s because we’re late inside.  If we’re bored by it, it’s because we’re bored inside, with ourselves, not with the work.  The most menial work can be a piece of art when done by an artist.  So the job here is not outside of ourselves, but inside of ourselves.  How we do our work becomes a mirror of who we are inside.” ~ Michael Gerber, e-Myth Revisited.

Well said, Mr. Gerber, and thank you, Mr. Dell executive!  Your writing and sharing reinforced my belief that there is dignity in every job – from being a janitor,  to being a receptionist to being the president of this country.  Readers, have you had similar experiences as the intern or the Dell speaker?  How have you handled yourself in the face of “menial” assignments?  Would love to hear your thoughts, insights, takeaways, success or even horror stories!

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Are you an entrepreneur?  A leader?  A manager?  Or aspire to be one?  Then you must have often wondered how you can best manage and motivate those who work for you, and with you, to great results.

One of the most influential authors I have read on the subject of leadership is John Maxwell.  His teachings, stories and rules of leadership have inspired me and countless others.  In his book, Developing the Leaders Around You, Maxwell offers an easy-to-understand observation and lesson on leadership – leaders dream.  And great leaders share their dreams with others who can help turn dreams into realities.  Below is his simple four-step plan:

1. Dare to Dream: Have a vision that improve lives and change paradigms.  Have a desire to do something bigger than yourself
2. Prepare the Dream: Do your homework.  Be ready when the opportunity comes.
3. Wear the Dream: Do it!
4. Share the Dream: Make others a part of the dream, and it’ll become greater than you hope.

What is your dream?  Prepare it, do it and share it!  Wishing you much leadership success!

Image by Tattooed JJ - very busy via Flickr

I await each day with bated breath,

The quench of thirst due to water fresh,

The tingling of nose due to breakfast smells,

The “vroom, vroom” sounds as my car takes off.

Most of all, I love the “curtsies” that greet my mind.

No, they do not come in human form, of dainty ladies or sweet little gals.

To be honest, these curtsies are only imagined.

What greet the eyes are wondrous mysteries, priceless gifts,

Each day, a different one.

With trembling hands and hungry eyes, I peel each gift with gingerly care.

I polish each day’s experiences with sandpaper precision,

And practice my craft and refine my life.

So I can await another day with bated breath!

~ Sharon Sim-Krause

Image by Rennett Stowe via Flickr

One of the most uplifting, paradigm-shifting quotations I have read is an eloquent reflection on success, failure and courage, by Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States.

“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion, spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never tasted victory or defeat.” ~Theodore Roosevelt

I first read this quotation during my early college years, and still remember my eyes widening and my mind doing an about-turn.

You see, I used to tie success to outcomes.  Did I pass or did I fail?  Was that performance good enough?  Or was it bad?  Did I win?  Or did I lose?

But Roosevelt reminds me that there is a better way to look at success and failure.  Sure, we have aspirations.  A small group of us may even dream of becoming CEO of a Fortune 500 company, or a Tour De France champion, or a doctor who finds the cure for cancer, or someone with a glorious marriage.  And an even smaller group may realize some of these dreams and “know the triumph of high achievement.”

But what really matters, according to Roosevelt, is that we stay true to our dreams, get on “the arena” and “strive valiantly” even if “we err and come short.”

Liberating!  This means we don’t have to “win” with every dream and aspiration.  What matters more, is that we find the courage and devotion to give ourselves to a worthy cause.

So success or failure, does it matter?  Maybe not as much as we think, for in one courageous act, lies our victory – victory over fear, victory over self.

I had a boss once.  His name was Fred Hoar.  He taught me in small spades, and made me laugh in  big spades. These were some of his famous lines on PR:

* “In advertising, you pay for play.  In public relations, you pray for play!”

* Public relations has seven times the reach of advertising.  Advertising costs seven times more than public relations.”

Even after I left my old company and started my own public relations firm, he stayed in my life as my mentor and my firm’s advisory board member.  We met for our mentoring sessions regularly, often over a meal.  One day, we were sitting at an Italian restaurant when the waiter handed us the menus.  Fred took out his glasses, placed them on his nose upside down, looked down at the menu, then looked at me through those goofy glasses and said, “Things are looking up!” I laughed, instantly forgetting my troubles of the moment.

Fred was a Silicon Valley legend, having played important roles at seminal companies like Fairchild Semiconductor, Raychem, Apple and more.  He was one of PR Week’s top 100 influential PR people of the 20th century.  He was also a coveted public speaker.  Once, he started a speech with the following line, “My name is Fred Hoar. I know I have a challenging last name.  Well, I have four daughters, and I call this “character development!” The audience cackled.

These memories are still fresh in my mind, even though it has been more than five years since he passed away.  When he died, a friend said to me, “Fred’s PR DNA has been passed on to you and his mentees.  Make him proud and pass it on.” I look back now and wonder how many times I have quoted him in new business meetings or staff training sessions to underscore the value of public relations.  I think back to how many times I have literally fiddled with glasses over a menu, flipped them upside down and said to family or friends over a meal that “Things are looking up!”

I thank my lucky stars that I once had a mentor in Fred Hoar.  He taught me more than public relations knowhow. He taught me the value of laughter no matter the circumstances, and the gift of time and advice to those younger and seeking.

Do you have deep knowledge and skills in your industry? Are you a mentor?  If yes, thank you for making a difference. If not, why not start today?  Or do you long to learn more from a seasoned veteran in your field?  Then be a mentee.

A mentor-mentee relationship could be a structured one, like the mentoring programs offered through various professional networking groups.  Or it could be an informal one, where two individuals at a workplace pair up, one to mentor, and one to be mentored.  Do you know of a good mentorship program?  Have your life changed after you became a mentor or mentee?  Do share!