Link to the original Forbes article
Thomas Aronica is the founder and CEO of Biller Genie, a solution that automates accounts receivable to get businesses paid faster.
Power in all its forms can be intoxicating. And the power that comes with palpable professional success is no exception. In fact, it’s probably one of the most intoxicating addictions out there.
Any successful entrepreneur will tell you that the capacity to manage success, and the power and prestige it commands, requires graceful acceptance of the truth of who we are beyond our ego. And the failure to sustain a grounded experience of self will most often result in a self-sabotaging demise. Why? Because without your humility on board, you’re just asking life to teach you one of the most fundamental lessons out there. Saint Augustine summarized it best: “If you plan a tower that will pierce the clouds, lay first the foundation of humility.”
Power: The Seduction Of Success
What makes someone powerful? One of the most significant ingredients to power is the capacity to influence others. Being able to command the attention of others in a manner that facilitates a subconscious acceptance, or even agreement, on their part is what has led to some of history’s most transformative leaders (both good and bad). Why? Because humans at their core are a tribal species. We run in groups, and we function as a collective (even though it may not seem that way at times). This means when someone in our circle of peers has deemed another individual worthy of authority, we will often times respond in kind based on the powerful persuasion of group influence.
The logic behind all this is pretty simple. As is the case with any tribe, there are a tremendous amount more followers than there are leaders. We are no different. In fact, research validates that only 10% of the population actually qualify as natural-born leaders. And while 10% of 7.96 billion is still a relatively large number, you can see where I’m going with this. It’s harder to find leaders than it is to find followers, and once leaders emerge, their gravitational pull toward success naturally creates a following. And this naturally gives way to influence, which ultimately leads to power.
Therefore, when success has granted you enough influence to captivate an audience and establish a following, this in and of itself gives you a tremendous amount of power rather effortlessly because, as is the case with every innate tribal species, we tend to travel in packs.
Arrogance: The Ego’s Response To Power
Now, here’s where it gets tricky. And I’ve seen this in so many individuals I have personally watched throughout my career. The ego, when left unchecked, will often take power and turn it into arrogance. Lord Acton said it best in his famous quote: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.” Now, we’re obviously talking about a much grander scale here than your average C-suite executive, but as we know, history tends to repeat itself, and even corruption at a lesser level is still corrupt.
Just for the record, arrogance is defined as a predisposition to exaggerate one’s own worth or importance, often in an overbearing manner.
Humility: The Antidote To Arrogance
Why is humility so important when it comes to success? One’s capacity for humility is a direct measure of one’s capacity for respect. If you possess no humility, you will be able to offer no respect. And one of the most fundamental necessities in business, or any form of personal exchange for that matter, is respect.
So, what are some of the best tactics to wear success gracefully?
1. In my opinion, it has everything to do with staying grounded in the truth of where you started and who helped you get to where you are. If you ever think that your success was a given and you did it all alone, your humility is not on board.
2. Don’t ever project yourself as someone who has an answer for everything. Knowing what you don’t know is just as important as knowing what you do know. Anyone who starts venturing down that path of feeling like they should and do have an answer for everything does not have their humility on board. Humans are fallible creatures, and it’s important not to ever put yourself “above” being human.
3. Always move from a place of gratitude. It doesn’t matter if you clawed your way to the top and took every wrong turn just to get to where you are. Success is ultimately still a blessing. It’s not something you were entitled to, nor is it something that can never be taken from you. Moving through it from a place of gratitude is imperative to keeping your humility on board.
And finally, quoting someone besides yourself from time to time can also be helpful. So, on that note, I leave you with the words of Bill Gates: “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.”