The Success Effect

HR professionals strive for success. We get advanced degrees, get SHRM certified, and enroll in all kinds of workshops and continuing education classes. I’m not sure that all this additional training is the key to success, but it’s better than not doing anything.

In addition to all this additional enlightenment, we also purchase the latest-and-greatest biographies by some of America’s top business leaders, hoping to gleam that little bit of insight that will get us that promotion or that raise we dream of. Yet, if you have ever read one of these biographies, you’ll often find that the all important details have been edited or left out.

Well, we finally get the details in John Eckberg’s book The Success Effects. This book contains over forty-seven interviews of some of America’s most successful business leaders in an unconventional question-and-answer style that reveals many of the details that are often left out of biographies. As a result, you learn the kinds of things that illustrate that there are several paths to success. Now, let’s look at some of their stories.

Good habits trump talent. This is the belief held by one of the world’s premier golf coaches David Pelz. In the first chapter “Good Habits,” coach Pelz tells Mr. Eckberg that he had hoped to earn a spot on the PGA tour. However, after twenty-two attempts to beat Jack Nicklaus, he finally gave up and focused his career on space and physics.

While working as a space research scientist for Goodard Space Flight Center in Maryland, he realized that there were a lot of other scientists smarter and better than he. Furthermore, he really loved golf and not space. Then, it dawned on him that he could use the scientific laws he had learned as a scientist and apply them to what he truly loved–golf.

I think my favorite response from Coach Pelz is when he is asked, “What was the pivotal point for you when you just finally said, “I’ve got to walk away from science and go back to this sport that has a grip on me?”

Coach Pelz responds by saying that he believes he didn’t become the great golfer he dreamed of because he practiced the wrong things. Sure he worked hard, but he didn’t work hard on the things that would make him the best golfer. Like most of us, he really didn’t know what things he needed to focus on to become a world-class golfer. As he says, “I’ve learned that when you practice something the wrong way, all you do is groove the wrong thing. If you’re a poor practicer, you will become permanently poor at whatever you are attempting to do.” 

As HR professionals, we often find ourselves focusing on the wrong things. For example, we may spend most of our day doing administrative tasks in order to avoid some of the crucial conversations we should be having with employees regarding their performance or failure to comply with company policies. Yet, if we are listening to our boss and our company leaders, we may find that administrative tasks aren’t nearly as important to the success of the business as employee productivity and performance. In essence, we are practicing the wrong things. And as Coach Pelz would say, “we are just going to get worse rather than better.”

If we want to get promoted and be more successful as HR professionals, we have got to become the best at what the organization wants us to be. Unfortunately, this may not be what we want to be the best at doing. If this is the case, you may want to consider doing something else or working for another company or yourself.

If you are interested in becoming a successful HR professional, reading the stories contained in John Eckberg’s book The Success Effect is a strong step down that path. It just like having the voice and guidance of 47 mentors at your fingertips. You will not be disappointed with this fresh take on personal and professional success.

About The Author

John Eckberg is a business columnist for the Cincinnati Enquirer. In addition, he is the writer and director of the website: The Printed Owl. His stories usually focus on issues related to career development, retail, and leadership and development.