"There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit."
- Ronald Reagan
Why is that profound? Because a huge number of people are possessed by a desire to take credit, whether it is deserved or not. The quiet achievers avoid many of the sharp elbows and make far fewer enemies because they don't care if they are up on the stage. They care about results.
Consider this variation: There is no limit to the number of victories you can achieve if you don't worry about appearing to be the winner.
Think of how often you've seen situations where, in retrospect, the supposed loser later fared far better than the person who was widely regarded as the winner. It may have taken years for that fact to be acknowledged and yet the real winner didn't care. He or she knew who had won and the proper target may have been a long-term victory instead of a short-term one.
Short-sighted competitors will never grasp that truth.
2 comments:
The trick is to get the credit while appearing to not try for it :)
Seriously, though - That brief statement can be almost an entire work view, and if you are interested in actually making a difference, being the person who doesn't have to bother with credit can make you far more effective.
Dan,
I think an important part of evaluating a team involves spotting the people who have that viewpoint and making sure they are rewarded.
Michael
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