Paradoxical habits of wildly successful people

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LinkedIn Influencer Travis Bradberry published this post originally on LinkedIn.

You know what they say about opinions — everybody has one. If you want to see that truth in action, just Google "characteristics of successful people."

Some of the results will undoubtedly point to the famous Marshmallow Study at Stanford, which demonstrated that the ability to delay gratification is a key component of success.

But that's far from the only theory:

• According to Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, it all comes down to mindset. She conducted a series of experiments that demonstrated that, while the average person sees their abilities as fixed assets, successful people have, what she calls, a "growth mindset." In other words, successful people focus on self-improvement and overcoming challenges rather than seeing their mistakes as the products of insurmountable personal flaws.
• In another study conducted by Penn State and Duke, researchers assessed the social skills of 700 kindergartners. Twenty years later, they followed up and discovered a strong correlation between social skills and success. The children with the best social skills were more likely to have earned a college degree and to hold a full-time job, while the kids who struggled with social skills in kindergarten were more likely to get arrested, binge drink, and apply for public housing.

And the list goes on and on. So, what is happening here? Why are there so many different theories, complete with the science to back them up, about the traits that contribute to success? I think it's because most wildly successful people are complex — so complex that many of their defining qualities are paradoxical.

Rather than an "either/or" set of static characteristics, they're more likely to demonstrate both. This is a key to their success. Here are some examples of what I'm referring to.

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They're polite, yet completely unafraid to rock the boat

Successful people are, what I like to call, "graciously disruptive." They're never satisfied with the status quo. They're the ones who constantly ask, "What if?" and "Why not?" They're not afraid to challenge conventional wisdom, yet they don't disrupt things for the sake of being disruptive; they do it to make things better.

Still, they're polite and considerate, and they don't draw attention to other people's mistakes just to humiliate them. However, that doesn't mean they sit back and let people wander off in the wrong direction. They won't hesitate to speak up when it's time to change course.

They're deeply passionate, yet rational and objective about their work

Successful people are passionate about their work, but they don't let it skew their thinking. They have the ability to step back and look at their work with a critical eye and to accept their mistakes. If it's a disaster, they'll admit it, because they realize that it's better to try something different than to put out something subpar with their name on it. That sense of detachment also allows them to accept feedback from others without taking it personally.

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They're convergent and divergent thinkers

Convergent thinking is what's measured by IQ tests: rational thinking that typically results in a single right answer. Divergent thinking, on the other hand, is less precise. It's about generating ideas and asking questions that have no solid right or wrong answers. Both are important. No matter how high your IQ is, you're not going to be successful if you can't think outside of the proverbial box.

On the other hand, you need rational thinking skills to correctly judge whether your ideas have merit. That's why this particular paradox is so important.

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