How do we define success?
Lang on success
Transcript
I define success in—one word is "satisfaction." I think over the years I've always felt that I'm successful if I'm satisfied with what I'm doing, and where I am, and in large parts, a broad part of my life. So not just in work, but my family, personal things that I'm doing, that kind of thing.
I do also feel very successful when people think I'm successful. So I do like that kind of feedback loop. And I like being invited to do things because people think I'm important, and that kind of thing. So I definitely have an ego about all of that, and it does make me feel better. But a lot of times people will look at me—I'll get this experience of they think I'm really successful, and I feel like I've really failed at something. So integrating that external and internal, I think, is an art. It's not a science.
But for me, I feel very successful in the work that I've done. In spite of failures that I've had at different times, overall, I can look back and feel that I've made contributions.
One of the things that makes me feel very successful is I get emails these days from people who worked for me 25 years ago, who say, "This is the first job I ever had out of college, and you were such a great vice president," or whatever, "and I learned so much." And then I find out this person is a president of a company now, and think, "This is so cool," you know? "And you won't remember me." Well, I always remember everybody. [Laughs] Or I have old emails, and things like that.
So it's that kind of thing. That is very reinforcing of success. And I have three children who are adult children, and they're fantastic. And there were a lot of failures along the way with them, but I feel very, very successful there.