A 'C' Average....Really?

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In the last post, we looked at a quote from current Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. In this post, I want to look at a previous Secretary of State - Colin Powell. This evening, he was on Larry King Live. He talked about current affairs, as well as his own personal history. I was surprised to learn that this highly successful civil servant had a 2.0 GPA in school. Like so many, I wrongly assumed that he must have had an A or B average in school, in order rise to the ranks of a four star general, or Secretary of State.

During the Larry King interview, Powell explained that the one area where he excelled the most was ROTC - he got straight A's! More importantly, he has in other interviews, described this period as 'one of the happiest experiences of his life; discovering something he loved and could do well - he felt he had "found himself."' Colin Powell's experience is one that we can all learn from.

From this story, we learn the amazing things that can happen when you find your own 'niche'. We all have that place where we can excel, rising above the rest. Now, this is not a reason to slack off in all areas except the one that you love. However, it is a great example of the formula for success:

Success =

combining what you're good at (strengths/preferences)

+

what you love (your passions/values, etc)

This formula is a little simplistic, but it captures some of the key requirements for both personal fulfillment and professional success. We know that this was the case with Colin Powell. In the interview, he said that he not only got straight A's in his ROTC classes (a good sign that this was something he was definitely 'good at') but he also loved it.

When you think about your own search for a future college major, or the university you might attend or even a career path - start by asking yourself, 'what am I really good at AND what do I love?'. The intersection of these two data points may provide a good launch pad in your quest to make smart decisions about your own future.

I think that another important take-away from Colin Powell's story is that it's not just the straight A students that rise to the top - it's also the C students who find that one thing they do better than anyone else. No matter what you're GPA, the formula for success remains the same - find the one thing that you do well and that you really love, and then pour your heart and soul into it! You'll be amazed at how far you go!