How can one achieve lasting success?

Bill Gates, John Chambers, Jeff Immelt, Jack Welch, Jeff Bezos and others … Over 200 successful people, not just from the business community but also from the world of politics and the arts. Stewart Emery, Jerry Porray and Mark Thompson have conducted a study to try to discover the secrets of lasting success. They studied the working lives and strategies of those who had made an impact on the world and sustained their success for at least 20 years.

“Built to Last” by Jim Collins and Jerry Porray became a bestseller in the business community. The book, which explains the secrets of visionary companies and the methods they have used to ensure lasting success, is still one of the most important sources for the business world.

Jerry Porray, one of the authors of this book, has joined with Stewart Emery and Mark Thompson to write “Success Built to Last: Creating Life That Matters”. This time the book explains the secrets not of companies but of people and executives. The book, which will be published in the USA in September, examines the stories of more than 200 successful people who have had an impact on the world and have sustained their success for at least 20 years. They are not only members of the business community but also artists and politicians.

One of the book’s authors, Stewart Emery, is a managment consultant. Emery founded the Belvedere Consultants company in 1988 in order to provide consulting services to high level executives. Emery is currently a member of the teaching staff at San Diego Global Üniversitesi, teaching “organizational values and authorization”.

We spoke with Stewart Emery about “Success Built to Last” and the secret formula of success

They Don’t Have Dıstınctıve Pasts
Our basic criteria were that these people had to have had an impact on the world in which we live and to have sustained this success for more than 20 years. I mean, none of them were overnight wonders. At the end of the research we saw some surprising results. First of all, we saw that these people loved their job. Many of them said that it was a compulsion. In addition, none of them allowed any mistakes they had made to have a negative effect on their self confidence. They always learned lessons from these mistakes and did not repeat them.

The Portfolıo Of Passıon Factor
Another characteristic of these people was that virtually none of them were charismatic. It was while they were talking about something which meant something to them that they became charismatic. Maybe they did not know much about anything else but they had a deep knowledge of what was important to them. They had an extraordinary amount of knowledge.

There were several things that these people loved. We called this the “Portfolio of passion”. They brought these passions together and used this as a starting point. For example, Steve Jobs studied calligraphy at univeristy. He combined this with something else he loved, namely computer technology.

They Have No Plans To Retıre
Another characteristic of these successful business people is that none of them think about quitting. When we asked them whether they thought about retirement, several of them looked at us as if we were crazy. They said: “What does retirement mean? This is my life. I don’t think you have understood me.”

Francis Castlebain is 92 years old and lives in New York. He teaches lessons in leadership to CEOs all over the world. He makes 50 speeches a year. He is very passionate about the work he does and the relationships which feed it. You look in his eyes and you see that they are shining.

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