CFC Blog #134: The Summit Isn't the Point
Rob has this awesome way of enlightening me with terms I have never heard of before, but am so glad I now know. He does this so frequently with his powerful writing. The term he talks about in this piece is very interesting, and reminds me of why, as I study to become an educator for children with special needs, it is so important to help foster intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation. In other words, our drive and enthusiasm must come more from within us in a way that is naturally satisfying, rather than from external rewards that are given to us. Thanks for sharing, Rob!
- Amanda
The Summit Isn’t the Point
Over the last few months, I’ve had the most interesting experience. It started when I had a colleague that I hadn’t talked to in a couple of years reach out and reconnect.
He had been a senior guy at a big technology firm, and he’d created a series of masterful marketing initiatives that propelled him from manager to VP within the course of 18 months. But he was unhappy. He ignored that empty feeling he had and began to simply work harder and longer to try and duplicate the innovation that had powered his meteoric rise. Within six months, he became convinced that it was internal politics that was stopping him, and he started picking fights with his leadership team. Ultimately, he began taking calls from recruiters, and ultimately took a slightly lower level job at a competitor.
In my work, I’d seen these (what I called) “miserable achievers” a few times with innovators. And on occasion I’d even felt it myself. But why was it there? You’ve just had this huge moment of success, and your inbox is filled with compliments from influential people in the company. Your Facebook post announcing your accomplishment has gotten, by far, the most “likes” and comments since you got married. Even your unemotional dad – who doesn’t have a clue as to what you actually do for a living – offered “big hugs”. There’s only one problem.
You feel kind of empty about the whole thing.
Don’t worry - turns out we’re not alone.
There is actually a reason that we feel this way. And, interestingly, it’s not always associated with the huge, exponential, life-changing successes either. In varying degree, a simple compliment on our outfit, to unexpected prizes, good grades, a big raise, or really any kind external validation can generate these feelings of emptiness - or disappointment…. But why?
Well as it turns out, it’s a self-preservation tactic based on our belief that whatever the validation, the success, or the “win”, it’s not reliable. We can’t depend on it. So, it feels like no matter what it is – it’s not going to be enough.
And if we’re not careful, like with my colleague, it can become debilitating. This is something that researchers call summit syndrome. Following some hard-won goal, those with summit syndrome follow an escalating pattern of feelings of emptiness, followed by disorientation about “what’s next”, and ultimately a decline in overall performance and productive behavior.
I’m happy to say that one of the reasons my colleague reconnected was that he ultimately ended up realizing that he could come off the summit and he gave himself a break. He’s now working at an agency and has been an innovation superstar over and over again for his clients.
The key for my friend – and the cure for summit syndrome – is to realize that this emptiness arises because the summit isn’t the point. Our self-worth must come from the fact that we are already deserving of the summit before we reach it – and even if we never do.