The Secrets of Their Success - and Yours

We all want to be "successful." But what does it mean to succeed? And what does it take to succeed? We asked 15 undeniably successful business leaders and thinkers to answer those questions -- and offer hands-on advice for the rest of us. Wall Street billionaire Michael Bloomberg emphasizes the importance of outworking the competition. Leadership guru Warren Bennis offers his own success test. Author and athlete Bonnie St. John Deane presents a tough-minded definition of success. These 15 contributions represent a blueprint for personal success. What it is. What it's worth. What it costs.

Candice Carpenter

CEO, IVillage, New York, New York
candice@aol.com

Success is about creating value. And it doesn't matter whether you're financing a new company, launching a brand online, raising a daughter, or scaling a mountain -- the process of creating value requires some specific steps.

First, imagine what you want to see in the world -- something that doesn't exist. Then take out a blank sheet of paper and design it. It could be a company, a product, a garden -- anything. Second, inspire the people around you to become comfortable with the concept of "filling the blank page." Do this by example and by experiment. Third, stick with it through the hard times. You will learn that they are the best teachers. You will also learn that they are inevitable.

My character was formed by mountaineering. Enduring rainy slopes and cold bivouacs to spend an hour at the top of the world shaped my ability to handle adversity. If you are committed to creating value, and if you aren't afraid of the hard times, obstacles become utterly unimportant. A nuisance perhaps, but with no real power. The world respects creation. People will get out of your way.

Candice Carpenter has been president of both Q2, Barry Diller's cable network, and Time-Life Video and Television. She was one of the first women to climb Half Dome in Yosemite National Park.

Warren Bennis

Founding Chairman, Leadership Institute
University Of Southern California
wbennis@aol.com

I used to think I wanted to be a university president. And for seven godforsaken years I did just that. The problem was that I wanted to be a university president but I didn't want to do a university president. In retrospect, I realized, there was an unbridgeable chasm between my aspirations and what actually gave me satisfaction and happiness.

Based on that experience, I developed a four-question test aimed at anyone seeking "success." You have to answer with complete honesty, which means you have to have a fair amount of self-knowledge.

1. Do you know the difference between what you want and what you're good at?
2. Do you know what drives you and what gives you satisfaction? (Clearly, in my own case, I didn't.)
3. Do you know what your values and priorities are, what your organization's values and priorities are, and can you identify the differences between the two?
4. Having measured the differences between what you want and what you're able to do, between what drives you and what satisfies you, and between your values and those of your organization -- are you able to overcome those differences?

If you are, then success will be yours. In a nutshell, the key to success is identifying those unique modules of talent within you and then finding the right arena to use them.

Warren Bennis is one of the world's most influential experts on business and leadership. His most recent book is "Organizing Genius" (Addison-Wesley, 1997). He's writing a play on Victorian politics.

Robert Knowling

Vice President, Network Operations
U S West, Littleton, Colorado

Much of who and what I am, along with whatever level of personal success I've achieved, was shaped by my athletic experiences in high school and college. In particular, it was my high- school basketball coach who taught me two lessons that I still practice today. First, he had me write down specific personal goals before each season started. And he insisted that I look at them every single day. Second, he convinced me that a critical part of my success was helping to make my teammates better -- that I could win just as much recognition and have just as much fun passing the ball as scoring myself. Since I was the team's leading scorer, this reasoning was hard to swallow. But again, I followed his advice and good things happened: we won more games, my teammates liked me better, and I had more fun. I have applied those lessons throughout my entire professional career: Set your personal goals. Write them down. Look at them every day. Share credit with lots of people and experience the joy of their achievements. The results have been amazing.

Robert Knowling was the most valuable player on the basketball, football, track, and baseball teams at Maconaquah High School in Bunker Hill, Indiana. He led a major change program at Ameritech before joining U S West.