The Measure of My Success

Henry Singleton was the founder of Teledyne and a strong leader with a charismatic personality. His persistent will and passion elevated his company to one of the fastest growing in America and created many admirers of his business acumen. In 1978, Forbes magazine featured his leadership and summed it up with a powerfully revealing phrase: "Singleton will win no awards for his humility, but who can avoid standing in awe of his impressive record?"

While this may have brought him financial gain and admiration from his colleagues, it isn't something I want said about me. I certainly want to see success and to be able to influence people positively, but I don't want to sacrifice humility to make it happen. I may be making this more black and white than it needs to be, but it seems I need to decide if I want my success to be measured by my solely by my accomplishments or by my character.

When you think about it in those terms it doesn't seem like a difficult decision.