Legacy As A Leader Part 3: Achievement
Achievement is the third of the 4 A’s, after altruism and affiliation. Achievement is often defined as, “a resulted gained by an effort.” When most people think of a sense of achievement, they think of tangible objects and titles, things like a new car purchased after a promotion at work, a vacation home by the beach, a position in the c-suite at work.
At Intelligent Leadership Executive Coaching® (ILEC), we think about achievement a little bit differently. Tangible success is certainly a part of it — it’s nice to see the physical payoff of your hard work, after all — but true achievement is much more than that. It’s about sustained greatness and reaching a point of clarity where you’re not only excelling on the outside, but excelling deep within as well.
All the money in the world — the cars, the houses, the titles — doesn’t mean much if it doesn’t bring you joy and a sense of meaning, and those two elements are rarely achieved by tangible items. They’re achieved when you’ve reached a point of clarity and are working toward your purpose—and bringing others along for the ride.
Achievement is much more about how you feel, and how you make others feel, than about what you have. When we are working toward our purpose and doing things not just for ourselves, but for the betterment of others, we are achieving. And when we are actively looking to help others improve themselves and excel in their own lives, we are increasing our own internal sense of achievement, as well as the external achievement we might be earning through the growth of our employees or organizations.
This concept can be jarring to some — as a society, we’ve been conditioned to measure achievement and success based on the elements that we can see and touch, rather than how our actions, relationships, and lifestyles make us feel. If you aren’t sold on this concept, we implore you to try it out — leaders have a great deal of influence on their employees and organizations, and if you take some time intentionally trying to build up those around you, we know you’ll feel the sense of achievement that goes beyond material items.
Achievement is an important link in the chain of the 4 A’s — achievement cannot come without practicing altruism and affiliation, and abundance cannot come without achievement. To master one, it’s best to work toward mastering them all — and we can help you do it. Reach out to us today and set up a plan to work with one of our coaches on incorporating the 4 A’s into your life.