Do you know what one of the key secrets of success is – what makes people successful in business, sport or any other aspect of their lives? Let me come back to that in a minute.

I was driving home the other evening and listening to a football phone-in programme on the radio. The main subject of discussion this particular evening was about the lack of success of the new manager at a local football club.

The team aren’t doing well three months into the season, and many fans are calling for the manager to be sacked.

This reminded me of almost exactly a year ago when fans of another local team, were calling for their manager to be sacked. He had an embarrassing start to his season but ended up being voted manager of the year due to his success.

There are many examples in sport where managers haven’t had a good start and gone on to greater things.

I seem to remember that when Sir Alex Ferguson started as manager of the mighty Manchester United, things didn’t go well for him. And of course; he ended up being one of the most successful football managers ever.

So the message is; if you’ve just started as a manager or a team leader or taken on a new management job; hang on in there. Don’t give up, have faith in yourself and you’ll be successful.

You may even have been in a management job for some time and have decided to introduce some new ways of doing things and you don’t immediately find success – don’t give up. (You might have been on one of my seminars and picked up some new ideas)

I joined four companies as a manager and it took at least six months for my way of working to have an impact. If you introduce new policies or procedures, it’s unlikely you’ll have success right away.

Give it time and don’t let other people pressurize you into giving up.

So the key secret of success I mentioned earlier is – never ever give up.

This is what separates the winners from the losers in business, in sport and in life.

If you have a mountain to climb either literally or figuratively and you reach an obstacle – don’t quit! Find another way round; even go back a short distance and come back at the situation from another direction.

Whatever it is you’re trying to do, whatever success you want – never quit! Make mistakes, fall down, get up, fall down, but get up and try again.

Remember what Winston Churchill once said – ‘Never, never, never give up!’

Related articles

• The Number 1 Secret of Success (motivationdoc.com)