Navigating the Balance of Success and Significance in Your Career

Success is great—but what if significance is the real game-changer? Early in our careers, we chase success—until we realize significance gives it meaning. In this episode, we dive into:

• How authentic leadership blends success with lasting impact
• Building a personal brand that truly matters
• Key questions to shape your success & significance journey

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey, welcome back to the Career Refresh. This is where we dive into strategies that you need to navigate challenges of leadership In this ever-changing world. I'm your host, jill Griffin, a leadership strategist and an executive coach, and, after a successful career in corporate, I've spent the last 15 years helping thousands of professionals achieve their goals, grow, scale and improve overall workplace performance. And that performance starts with yourself. And today I am digging in deeper on the relationship between success and significance. I think early in our careers we chase success and then at some point, all of a sudden, we think we may not be actually saying the word significance, but we're like what does this all mean? We realized that without significance, what are we doing here? Success and significance are two powerful forces that shape personal branding, and while success is measured by achievements what's in your bank account recognition significance goes beyond that personal gain and thinks about how you're creating lasting impact. And I've always been fascinated by this dance between these two, and I think it's really important for you to think through how you want to approach these two areas, as you are thinking through your leadership approach to your team and again ourselves first, and then how we're leading our team. So let's dig in. Figures like Howard Schultz, the former CEO of Starbucks, or Malala Yousafzai. Schultz, the former CEO of Starbucks, or Malala Yousafzai, the youngest ever winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, exemplify how success can elevate a personal brand, and I'm not saying either of them went after it as a personal brand. We're looking at it right, we're in the rearview mirror now. We're looking at it that way, but it's the significance that they've created that creates that impact, significance that they've created that creates that impact. So Schultz built a business empire that he prioritized ethical leadership, making sure that employee well-being was front and center. And then Yousafzai she was the one who turned the adversity into a movement for global education.

Speaker 1: 2:21

This idea of a personal brand isn't about external success. It's also about how you're contributing to something greater, and the most influential brands combine both, ensuring that both a legacy and something beyond. Personal accomplishments have the renaissance right. How are they resonating with all of us? And leaders who go about seeking a way of creating impact really need to think through how are they going to embrace this significance. So, while achievements build authority, it's the true leadership that is really about influence, or the purpose and how you're creating lasting change. Your personal brand is how you present yourself to the world, right, this is your reputation, value, skills, the impact that you're making, either within your team, your department, your company, your community, right, how it radiates out. And getting clear is where you're thinking about how are you fostering trust? Where are you inspiring others, whether they're teams or community, and how you are cultivating workplaces that drive productivity and long-term impact.

Speaker 1: 3:30

Both success and significance play a role in shaping all of this, but they do it in different ways. So if we think about success and really kind of like everybody's going to have a different perspective on what success means and that's what makes us all unique and original. But there's the perspective, there's context and then there's personal value. So if we're just like getting clear on definitions here, it's about success is really about that achievement that maybe it's wealth achievement, like what's in the bank account, it's the recognition, it's the award, it's the status, it's the career accomplishment and that's sort of the traditional definition. And then when you're thinking about success and I know if you've listened to other coaches or mentors, or even if your HR department is doing a learning and development push it's like well, what do you want? What do you want to create?

Speaker 1: 4:23

And that's where that personal definition of success is really, really important, and it has to connect with your own aspirations and values, and it may involve happiness, self-improvement, strong connections and relationships and go beyond just external achievements. But normally when we think of success we are in such a data-driven world that it is about the numbers and the success. The psychological definition may also include your non-negotiables, things like your well-being and the contentment that comes from achieving that personal satisfaction where you've overcome challenges or learned to pivot, how you're making meaningful connections. And then you know, when you think about how success connects in with your personal brand, it's going to build credibility and recognition. It's again those awards, the achievements, if you're able to accumulate wealth as a result of it. What is that wealth affording you, which therefore impacts your lifestyle and that of your family and friends potentially, and it all enhances how people overall perceived you. And this is all a personal decision of how you want to go about it. Being able to be able to talk to a successful track record is going to make you be a trusted expert on your inner field, on your LinkedIn profile, on your resume, if you're speaking at a leadership event or an industry event, right, it's being able to establish that authority. That's what we hear from right. Whenever we go to an event, it's always the person who has achieved the hardcore success that we have tangible data and numbers to talk about.

Speaker 1: 5:53

And I think an example of where success focus can become shallow is you know, you have a leader of a brand that has high achievements and everything is about the success and the sales, which, again, is important, but there's gotta be. Not every brand has to change the world, but if you can at least say that your workforce is balanced and healthy, then I think that's something you need to think about. There's room enough for brands that are creating impact and sustainability, and also people that are creating brands and companies that are putting a product into the world but treat their people well. That needs to be taken into consideration and you may decide, nope, it's just about the sale, but I would offer you, the treatment of your organization and the people in your organization is a big part of success. So success is totally subjective and it's going to mean different things for one person or another. So I think for you at this point, whether you're a notes person or a pen and paper person, I would encourage you just to pause and think through what does that success mean for you?

Speaker 1: 7:04

And then significance right, here's the dance. Significance is the importance, the meaning, the impact of something. And there's the general definition right, where we can then start thinking about where significance has a personal meaning the value or the purpose that something holds in your life. An inherited watch from your grandfather may have personal significance, right, that's what we're talking about there. It may also be the sense of thinking about your grandfather's legacy that gives you fulfillment to know that you're standing on the shoulders of giants, right? So there could be a personal meaning there. And then there's also that philosophical, the deeper meaning or purpose behind a life event or an action or the things that you're doing.

Speaker 1: 7:46

You want to be thinking through how this impact, this meeting and this value, and what do you want to do with it in your personal life or your community, or your company or your industry what do you want to do with it? So, when you think about significance with the personal brand, right, it's going to create purpose and legacy. It's going to focus on that impact, that contribution, where you're talking about some of those deeper values. It's going to definitely have an emotional connection because people are going to resonate with someone who stands for something, versus just going to resonate with someone who stands for something, versus just the basic part of success. Right, people are going to want to be loyal, whether it's by a brand purchase or whether it's by the people and leaders that we're around that are mixing both success and significance. And then you're thinking about, with significance, what is that long-term impact? So someone, if we're thinking about a leader, it's someone who not only mentors others and advocates for change and is also creating impact in their company. And, yeah, they're successful because they're reaching their numbers, and that's what we're talking about. And how are you a change for that longer, deeper, lasting value? So, the similarities when you're thinking about both success and significance and once again, this is where you need to use your brain, your thoughts the answers are inside you. And even if you work with a coach or a mentor, the answers are still inside you.

Speaker 1: 9:05

So you want to think, if you're blending this success and significance, it's achievement oriented, right, they're both striving for a goal or a purpose. There can be personal fulfillment. There's a sense of satisfaction, in addition to a hardcore, data-driven numbers fulfillment. There's the influence on others, people who are successful. Let me tell you they're going to have an influence on you because of the personal achievements. You're going to be inspired, you're going to see it as what is possible. It's the meaningful contributions of significance that often, when the two of those blend, make you really really powerful and really have tremendous amount of impact. There's growth and development both success and significant require effort, learning and the resilience, right, that grit to constantly be pivoting and learning and scaling yourself or the product or project that you're working on. So if success is about achieving something for one oneself, thinking about significance as the contribution beyond oneself, one can be fleeting, but the other one is going to create a lasting legacy and many people, as I said in the beginning, first go after success and then seek significance because they're getting that higher level of fulfillment.

Speaker 1: 10:21

So let's talk about some personal brands here so that you can kind of see how this fits together. Right, of course there's the queen, oprah Winfrey massive success, but also focused on making a difference. When we go back to Malala Yousafzai, she turned a personal struggle into a global significance, using her platform to fight for education, equality and human rights. As I mentioned Howard Schultz, he used business success to create a brand centered on employee well-being, with ethical leadership and social responsibility. We also have people like Michelle Obama, known for creating success but also focusing on meaningful contributions.

Speaker 1: 11:01

So, if your goal is a strong, lasting personal brand, success alone isn't enough. You're going to need significance to stand out and make an impact. So, friends, your homework after listening to this, if you choose is to think through what is the balance you want between success and significance. When does it dance? When does it balance back and forth? When are you leaning into more one than the other? It is a personal decision, and these are the great things for you to take to a mentor or a coach, and that, of course, is a great place for me to say I'd love to work with you and be your coach and help you really think through. What does success and significance mean for you? How does it impact your personal brand? How does it align with your leadership goals and your personal goals and yeah, your sales goals? Because cash in the bank, money in the wallet, those are great things to have too. All right, friends, until next time, embrace possibility, be intentional and always, always be kind. I'll see you soon.