Different people behave in different ways after doing good work and hitting their version of a seam of gold. The way they then behave can determine whether or not they maintain success.
Some people think they have made it, down tools and stop doing the good things that helped them to hit gold.
Some people keep working and follow the good habits that helped them to hit gold.
Some people go into another dimension and do great work after hitting gold.
Great champions in sports, for example, have a track record of building on their successes after winning their first major prize. They may pause for a short while to regather their strength and plan their future strategy. They then work hard to achieve ongoing success.
Looking back, can you think of a time when you did great work after hitting your equivalent of gold? You may have done this after completing a creative project, winning a competition, gaining a sale, publishing a book or doing another activity.
How did you build on the success? How did you keep doing what was working and tackle the areas for improvement? What happened as a result of taking these steps?
Imagine that you want to follow similar principles in the future. You may start by setting a clear goal. You may aim to build a business, win a part in a musical, launch a product or achieve another aim.
You may then follow good habits to work towards the aim. You will keep doing the grunt work and the good work needed to reach the goal.
Imagine that you get your first hints of success. This could be winning your first customer, publishing an article or, when playing football, your team getting the first goal in a match.
Different people react in different ways when achieving the glimpses of success. Here are some of these approaches.
Some people knock off for
lunch after hitting gold
A young footballer may think they have made it after making their first team debut. A company that gets its first customer may think that everything will now be easier on the way to achieving success.
Reaching the first milestone can be a cause of celebration, but it is not a reason for taking your foot off the gas. There may be a long journey ahead and it can be useful to build on the initial success.
Some people reflect, recharge their batteries and
then continue doing good work after hitting gold
This is an approach I saw with successful sports teams. They followed a certain ritual after taking the lead in a match.
They educated their players: a) to buy time to pause – especially in the few seconds after scoring a goal; b) to refocus on what they were going to do next; c) to follow good habits and regain their rhythm.
Such teams kept following their guidelines – the principles they aimed to follow. This enabled them to keep controlling the game and work towards getting the desired results.
Some people go into another dimension
and do great work after hitting gold
One travel company I worked with in the early 1990s took this approach. It launched a new offer on the day I was due to run a workshop with their leadership team.
Starting the session at 9.00, we were interrupted by two middle managers. They said something along the following lines.
“The phones are going crazy. Literally hundreds of people are calling to make bookings.
“Some are asking if we can offer them a special price if they make bookings for several holidays over the next year. What can we do?”
The company believed the new offer would be attractive but had not counted on it being so successful. The leadership team decided to capitalise on hitting gold.
The Managing Director apologised to me. Cancelling the workshop, he said the leadership team members needed to start answering the phones. Before doing so, however, the team clarified:
The specific things they could and could not offer to customers who wanted to book multiple holidays;
The specific messages they wanted the staff to give to the customers and to give these in a way that maintained the company’s good reputation;
The specific things they could do to reward their staff at the end of this working day.
The leadership team acted as good models. They manned the phones, supported their staff and gave them tangible rewards. These included giving staff the chance to take their loved ones to locations offered in the new holidays.
The company increased its profits massively in the next year. Despite some of the extra work involved, the employee engagement and morale scores also increased.
Let’s return to your own life and work. Looking ahead, can you think of a situation where you may do good work to hit your version of gold? This could be in your personal or professional life.
How can you build on this success? How can you buy time to think and settle on your strategy? How can you build on what is working and also tackle areas for improvement? How can you go into a new dimension and do great work after hitting gold?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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