Three Ingredients for Success

From a recent New York Times article (subscription required), the co-authors of the book “Success Built to Last” (Wharton School Publishing, 2006) write that “extraordinary people, teams and organizations are simply ordinary people doing extraordinary things that matter to them.”

Their premise? Successful people are “builders.”

Builders find lasting success when three essential elements come into alignment in their lives and work.

1. The first element is meaning. “What you do must matter deeply to you."
2. The second is a “highly developed sense of accountability, audacity, passion and responsible optimism.”
3. And finally, these successful people “find effective ways to take action.”