Avoid the Success Assumption This week, Mitch Matthews takes a deep dive into something he calls, the “Success Assumption.”  If you don’t understand it, the Success Assumption is something that can hurt your ability to lead, love and communicate.  BUT if you do understand it you can build trust, understanding, and connection.  In the episode, Mitch walks you through what it is and he also offers you key strategies for avoiding it.      Listen To The Podcast:     The Success Assumption is something that can get in the way. It hurts your ability to lead and love others.  It’s something you want to avoid. If you don’t… it can tear at your ability to build trust with your team.  It can hurt your conversations with your significant other.  It can wreck connecting with a friend.   FIND OUT WHAT IT IS AND HOW TO AVOID IT Yup… the Success Assumption is bad news.  BUT… there’s also some good news. If you understand WHAT it is… and HOW it works…  you can use it to be a better leader, spouse and friend! It’s one of the most important leadership and communication concepts I’ve learned about in years!  And I want to share it with YOU this week. Scroll down and leave a comment.  I’d love to hear about a time when you’ve seen or experienced the Success Assumption!   Let’s do this. Mitch   Here are some show notes to those who like those types of things:   Time-Stamped Show Notes [00:00] Introduction to the success assumption with Mitch Matthews. [03:14] The success assumption. [06:00] Generational examples of the success assumption. [11:30] Professional examples of the success assumption. [13:51] Avoiding the success assumption. [18:00] Another angle for asking about success. [19:04] The righting reflex. [21:22] The success assumption and righting reflex from a parental perspective. [25:16] Relationships and the success assumption.   The Success Assumption Understanding the success assumption is particularly important right now because there are so many generations currently in the work force, but it has applications that go beyond management and leadership issues. “The success assumption is that each generation expects other generations to define success and work to achieve success in the same way that they do,” explains Matthews. In fact, what one generation sees as success, another generation might see as failure. For example, Matthews’ mother had been a stay-at-home mother, but when her children were in school, she worked to get a degree and a job. After her graduation, which Matthews’ parents saw as a success and an achievement to be proud of, Matthews’ grandfather took his father aside and started asking questions about whether the family was okay, if they were in financial trouble, or if they needed money. “My grandpa was actually very concerned,” says Matthews. “My parents had shared this good news to everyone, but my grandpa took it in a different way entirely.” For his grandfather’s generation, a wife having to take a job was a failure. However, Matthews’ mother had worked very hard to achieve this goal. “It caused a little bit of a rift for a while,” says Matthews. “It was a little bit of a discouragement, a little bit of a disappointment for my parents.” It was the success assumption at work.   The Success Assumption in the Workplace The success assumption recently harmed a tech company who was about to have public stock offerings. The company had been very generous with bonuses for its employees up to that point, but when getting ready for the IPO, leadership decided to give stock options instead of cash options to their team. Although the stock options were incredibly generous, they went over like a lead balloon. Leadership thought they were giving a great incentive, but the employees wanted cash. The definition of success was different for the team than it was for the leadership.