Define success in terms of the growth of Meaning Factcheck Usage

Forget the corner office and the big title. Real success? It’s about the growth of people who trust you. That’s the game-changer most leaders miss completely.

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Table of Contents

• Meaning
• Explanation
• Origin & Factcheck
• Context
• Usage Examples
• FAQ

Meaning

This quote flips the script on traditional success. It says your achievements are meaningless unless they’re built on a foundation of trust and have actively helped others grow.

Explanation

Let me break this down from experience. Most of us are conditioned to chase metrics—revenue, market share, personal accolades. But here’s the thing I’ve seen over and over: those are just outcomes. They’re lagging indicators.

This philosophy makes trust your primary asset and people’s growth your key performance indicator. When someone trusts you, they’re open. They take your advice. They take calculated risks. They grow. And when they grow, your team, your company, your entire sphere of influence grows with them. It’s a virtuous cycle. It’s not about being liked; it’s about being effective by being credible.

Quote Summary

Context	Attributes
Original Language	English (3669)
Category	Career (192)
Topics	growth (413), success general (86), trust (147)
Literary Style	reflective (255)
Emotion / Mood	motivating (311)
Overall Quote Score	67 (29)

Origin & Factcheck

This wisdom comes straight from the folks at Dale Carnegie & Associates, published in their 1993 book, “The Leader In You.” It’s a distillation of the core Carnegie principles for a modern audience. Sometimes people mistakenly attribute it directly to Dale Carnegie himself, but he passed away decades before this book was written. The sentiment, however, is 100% pure Carnegie.

Attribution Summary

Context	Attributes
Author	Dale Carnegie (408)
Source Type	Book (4032)
Source/Book Name	The Leader In You (86)
Origin Timeperiod	Contemporary (1615)
Original Language	English (3669)
Authenticity	Verified (4032)

Where is this quotation located?

Quotation	Define success in terms of the growth of people who trust you
Book Details	Publication Year/Date: 1993 (first edition) ISBN/Unique Identifier: 9781501181962 (Gallery Books 2017 reprint); also 9780671798093 (early Pocket Books hardcover) Last edition. Number of pages: Common reprints ~256 pages (varies by printing).
Where is it?	Final chapters on purpose and legacy, Unverified – Edition 2017, page range ~200–224

Context

In the book, this idea isn’t presented as a soft skill. It’s framed as the fundamental engine of leadership. The context is all about moving from a command-and-control style to an influence-and-inspire model. It’s the practical application of “How to Win Friends and Influence People” for anyone in a position to lead, whether you’re a CEO or a team lead.

Usage Examples

So how does this actually work in the real world? Let’s get practical.

• For a Manager: Instead of just demanding a report, you sit down with a junior employee. You explain the “why” behind it, you give them the resources, and you create a safe space for them to ask “dumb” questions. Their successful delivery of that report—and their newfound confidence—is a direct measure of your success.
• For an Entrepreneur: Your success isn’t just your valuation. It’s the contractor who trusted your vision and grew their own business because of the work you gave them. It’s the early employee who developed new skills and became a leader in your company.
• For a Mentor: Your legacy isn’t what you accomplished alone. It’s the person you coached who now confidently runs their own department or launched their own venture because they trusted your guidance.

This is for anyone who needs to get things done with and through other people. Which is pretty much everyone.

To whom it appeals?

Context	Attributes
Theme	Principle (838)
Audiences	coaches (1277), executives (119), mentors (105), principals (4), team leaders (26)
Usage Context/Scenario	annual letters (1), board reports (2), graduation speeches (30), OKR reflections (1), season kickoffs (1), values rollouts (2)

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FAQ

Question: How do you measure this kind of “success”? It seems soft.

Answer: It’s not soft at all. Track the tangible outcomes of growth: promotions on your team, successful projects led by people you developed, lower turnover because people trust the environment you’ve created. These are hard metrics.

Question: Doesn’t focusing on others’ growth slow you down?

Answer: It’s the opposite of slowing down. It’s an investment. In the short term, yes, it takes more energy. But in the long run, you build a team that is autonomous, innovative, and fiercely loyal. That’s a massive accelerator.

Question: What if someone betrays that trust?

Answer: It happens. But building a system based on trust doesn’t mean you’re naive. It means you set clear expectations and boundaries. One betrayal doesn’t invalidate the strategy; it just means you manage that specific situation and continue to operate from a principle that, statistically, delivers far better results.