So many of us seem consumed with success – especially in a social media driven world where we log on to any platform and are inundated with how ‘successful’ everyone seems to be.
If it’s not our friends, it’s our old mates from school. If it’s not them, it’s an advert or an article for the biggest house, the latest rags-to-riches story or 7 Ways to Success. Some people post a photo of their new car purchase, others will share a book they’re reading or have just published. Many share their college and graduation success and even a personal testimony to the journey of overcoming adversity.
I’ve done this, and I’m sure it’s possible that you have too. And I think that’s okay.
But along this journey I keep reminding myself to not become consumed with the idea or goal of success. Because success is a tricky, slippery animal that we never quite seem to grasp – and if we do – holding on to it is really hard!
So how do we achieve success without it consuming us?
Having read an article recently on some of the world’s most successful business women, one common thread was that they were willing to ‘wing it’. This, for me, is fundamentally profound when I see Instagram updates by the dozen of people leveraging the phrase; “Fake it ’til you make it.”
Sure, the general idea is the same, but as a word-man, the two hold very different pictures for me.
Fake it ’til you make it
If you have the chance to read through any of my other content, I hope that you might pick up that authenticity is a strong part of my message. Faking it… well, that doesn’t really sit well with authentic communication does it? If our heart and core motivations lack authenticity, any perception of success, I think, will be shallow and unsatisfying. If we’ve walked over people or crushed the dreams of others because we were simply ‘faking it’, we will struggle to find authentic fulfillment of our own.
‘Faking it’ could also speak to an arrogance or surrendering to ego. Something like – “I’m not willing to admit that I’m not sure about what I’m doing, so I’ll just fake it.” In this approach we won’t ask for help and we will limit our personal growth the growth of our teams. We grow when we can ask for help.
Or – “I’ll ride on the coattails of others to earn the titles, money and a reputation that I don’t deserve.” Leaders who take credit for the hard work of their team are leaders with a limited shelf-life.
Am I being too critical and too semantic? Possibly. But let me offer the alternative that the matriarchal leaders reminded me of and sits in the title of this article.
Be willing to wing it
Who have wings? Angels have wings.
Winging it gives us the space to be authentically and confidently unsure of how to do something. It communicates our commitment to trying again and again until we learn how to do it right. It lacks pretence, it repels arrogance and it makes us approachable.
It creates a secure space for others to work with us, and feel like they could wing it too – or if they’re ahead of us… we can learn something from them.
I know I’m just a word-person, but I really like the picture of ‘winging it’ way more than ‘faking it’.
When we’re willing to wing it, we can learn to fly.
