Great Leaders Celebrate the Successes of Others

One of The Leadership Gift™ principles I like to teach is a reminder: “Don’t envy others’ success.”

Good, basic advice we’ve all heard since we were kids. But what does envying others’ success have to do with leading and partnering? Plenty!

Envy displays and reinforces our assumptions about the scarcity or abundance of opportunities.

When I hear people speak with jealousy, envy, or outright antagonism about someone else’s good fortune, I’m saddened. Such comments suggest that when someone else receives an opportunity or success before we do, it’s evidence that the world we live in is unfair and unjust.

Embedded in such comments is the disabling assumption that the more success is enjoyed by our associates, the less success is available to us.

While this assumption has no objective validity, it is pervasive. And, worse, it acts as a filter over our perception that ensures we see what we believe.

Consider this story of utter resentment: my friend Steve scored a hole-in-one recently while golfing with some buddies. A week later, one of those buddies bumped into Steve’s older (and highly competitive) brother, who remarked with sincerity how sorry he was to run into the friend because he hadn’t believed Steve’s story and was afraid the friend might verify it.

The Leadership Gift  is a reflection of my vision to change the way people think and talk about leadership, teamwork, and responsibility at work, across society, and around the world. So I make a point to teach people to think of other people’s successes in a totally different way.

People applying The Leadership Gift fertilize the ground for unlimited success by always celebrating the wins and successes of others. Thus, they perceive — and create — a world of optimal abundance for themselves and others.

Get Started With This 5-Minute Stretch

This week’s stretch is simple and fun. When success comes to those around you this week, celebrate their good fortune with them and chant this silent mantra to yourself: Success surrounds me all the time.

Is this week’s post helpful? Are you faced with this issue at work? Share your insights or ask a question about this post in the comment section.

Christopher Avery, PhD, is a recognized authority on how individual and shared responsibility works in the mind and an advisor to leaders worldwide. For more on topics discussed in this post, consider his executive report Responsible Change, and download the Responsibility Process™ poster PDF in a more than a dozen languages. CEO’s desiring a culture of ownership may want to investigate the proven Managed Leadership Gift Adoption program.