The Success Factor: Developing the Mindset and Skillset for Peak Business Performance

What do astronauts, Olympic champions, and Nobel laureates do differently that allows them to achieve at such a high level?

High achievers share the same four attributes: intrinsic motivation, perseverance, strong foundation, constantly learning through informal means. The key to their success is that they do all four of these things at the same time. Based on research and in-person interviews with astronauts, Nobel Prize winners, and Olympic champions, The Success Factor outlines the approach that individuals aspiring to improve their performance can adopt.

Using these four shared attributes as a guide, The Success Factor helps you reach your peak by applying the lessons of high achievers in your own life: identify your passion using a Passion Audit; learn how and where to find a mentor and how to build a mentoring team; develop your own community of practice; pursue your interests through informal learning; manage your time and energy. The Success Factor comes with online resources that feature a downloadable Passion Audit worksheet, Mentoring Team worksheet, and Goal Audit worksheet. The book offers scripts for approaching potential mentors and a list of uncommon places to find a mentor, such as webinars, airports, and social media.

The Success Factor features exclusive interviews with high achievers, including such people as Dr. Tony Fauci NIH/NIAID Institute Director; Dr Mike Brown, Nobel prize winner; Dr Peggy Whitson, Former NASA Chief Astronaut; Maxine Clark, founder and former CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop; and Steve Kerr, eight time NBA Champion and head coach of the Golden State Warriors.

Dr. Ruth Gotian is a leadership coach, keynote speaker and social scientist who researches the most successful people (including Nobel laureates, astronauts, and Olympic champions) in order to learn about their habits. She resides in Westchester, New York and serves as the Chief Learning Officer and Assistant Professor of Education in Anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medicine. She is a contributor to Forbes and Psychology Today and is regularly published in Nature, Scientific American, Academic Medicine, Forbes, Psychology Today and Harvard Business Review. She has been named to Thinkers50 Radar for 2020.