PACKETONLINE News Classifieds Entertainment Business - Princeton and Central New Jersey - The Princeton Packet - 06/02/2006 - Caliper executives' book seeks out source of achievers' success:
PLAINSBORO — What makes top achievers so successful?
This is the question Herb Greenberg and Patrick Sweeney, co-authors of the newly issued book "Succeed On Your Own Terms," published by McGraw-Hill, tackled through interviews with more than 50 successful people.
Mr. Greenberg and Mr. Sweeney explained key points from their findings at a Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Doral Forrestal Conference Center & Spa on Thursday, saying, if nothing else, readers should take four points away from their book: come up with your own definition of success, recognize your defining qualities, seize your defining moments and love what it is you're doing.
Mr. Greenberg, who lost his sight early in his life from an infection, called the book, which was a two-year project, "a labor of love."
To write the book, Mr. Greenberg, who is the president and CEO of Caliper Corp., a human-resources consulting firm, and Mr. Sweeney, who is the executive vice president of Caliper, traveled to many cities and countries to interview successful individuals in business, sports, entertainment and politics.
"Their common ground," the book reads, "was that the moment you met them, you knew they were doing exactly what they were meant to do."
Mr. Greenberg's personal story, in fact, reflects in many ways what his and Mr. Sweeney's book tries to explain.
"Herb lost his sight," Mr. Sweeney said to the audience of over 200 business professionals at the Doral hotel, "but he isn't interested in talking about being blind. Instead, Herb wants to talk about his concepts."
Mr. Sweeney added, "He accepted certain things about the blindness, but not others. With that in mind, he formed Caliper, a company which focuses on looking at the potential of a person — in other words, what isn't seen."
The experiences of other people who have overcome obstacles to achieve great success are enumerated in the book, including Samuel Pisar, who survived the Holocaust and "reclaimed his life."
Also noted are Rebecca Stephens, who climbed Mount Everest; David Oreck, inventor of a lightweight vacuum who lost nearly everything he built because of Hurricane Katrina; U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a legendary civil rights activist; and Muggsy Bogues, the shortest player ever to play in the National Basketball Association.
The findings of their book — namely focusing on one's unique traits, self-awareness, seizing the defining moments and defining your own idea of success — can be utilized in the business world, the authors explained.
"It's a mistake thinking that money is the ultimate goal," Mr. Greenberg said. "Not one of the 50 people we interviewed pointed to money as their measure of success. Not one. So, when we look at goals, let's ease up on the money and focus on more psychological goals."
He added, if people are struggling, usually their goals aren't clear to them.
The authors pointed to important character traits like perseverance, resilience, willingness to take a risk, thriving on pressure, optimism, empathy, patience and confidence as being important for success.
"The real winners in this world are those individuals who know their strengths and are able to create situations that play to their unique abilities," the book reads.
"Sometimes," Mr. Greenberg said to the audience of professionals on Thursday, "you have to change the paradigm in order to succeed."
