Melinda Gates is arguably the most influential businesswoman and philanthropist in the world. She runs the most extensive private charitable organization and is among the world’s wealthiest women. As a very successful woman, there are a lot of lessons to be learned from this great figure.
Growing up, Melinda was always at the top of her class. She graduated as valedictorian from a private preparatory school, Ursuline Academy of Dallas. Afterward, she graduated with her master’s degree from Duke University.
Subsequently, she has led a prodigious career in business and computer science. Melinda Gates has written a book and was awarded several times for her humanitarian work. Time Magazine also featured her as the Persons of the Year. Furthermore, she has pledged to give away most of her wealth in her lifetime to charity causes.
With such astounding achievements under her belt, there are several success lessons to be learned from Melinda Gates.
1. Leadership
Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates
Good leadership skills are hard to come by. They take time and patience to develop, and not everyone can be a good leader. However, Melinda Gates offers brilliant advice that can make anyone become a better leader; love. To Melinda, love is an essential trait for a leader to have.
True leaders share empathy with others and connect to the root of problems in the workplace, the political landscape, or the world. In her book, The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World, Melinda writes,
“Love is the most powerful and underused force for changing the world.”
In today’s world, this leadership trait of spreading love is a phenomenal success lesson to be learned and carried in our daily life.
2. Do Things Wholeheartedly
“I’m wholehearted about whatever I do.”
– Melinda Gates
To live wholeheartedly is to devote 100% of our efforts to our choices. We can all spare extra time and effort towards the things we want to accomplish in our lives.
Whether in the workplace, our relationships, or our communities, we can do it if we put every ounce of our willpower into focusing on what we want to achieve. We all will become more productive and positive individuals at the end of the day.
Indeed, living wholeheartedly, as Melinda does, can lead to the success we want.
3. Giving Back
“If you are successful, it is because somewhere, sometime, someone gave you a life or an idea that started you in the right direction. Remember also that you are indebted to life until you help some less fortunate person, just as you were helped.”
– Melinda Gates
Everyone knows Melinda for her humanitarian acts and the amount she devotes to giving back to the world. Because for her, there’s nothing more rewarding than giving back and making a difference in people’s lives.
Melinda goes on to say that giving back isn’t all about money. It’s about helping those less fortunate and using your unique talents where they can best serve others—volunteering locally—or simply helping out a neighbor in need. These are all forms of giving back that any of us can partake in, and they require no money, just our time and effort.
The more we give back, the more we find a sense of purpose and accomplishment. It makes us happier, more engaged citizens of our community and the world. It also gives a sense of who we are and where we fit in.
When you help those less fortunate, it’s often a wake-up call. You’ll realize how lucky you are to be in your place in the world. It can further drive you to give back more. Especially when you see how far the gap is between the fortunate and the less fortunate.
One of the greatest success lessons to be learned from Melinda is that nobody is too good to give back.
4. Be Ambitious
“What great changes have not been ambitious?”
– Melinda Gates
Taking risks often leads to the most significant changes in the world. Such an ambitious attitude towards life and finding an unwavering dedication leads to success.
Applying ambition to our work and personal life is another excellent success tip from Melinda Gates. By being ambitious, we can channel our inner drive and stay motivated to work towards our goals and more significant things.
Melinda Gates is very passionate about her work around the globe. Particularly for empowering women in all countries. One of her goals is to supply 120 million women in developing countries with contraceptives. Such a goal is truly ambitious, but we see her working wholeheartedly to reach achievement.
Be ambitious. That’s a good lesson to be learned from Melinda Gates.
5. Take Action
“The world is full of what seems like intractable problems. Often, we let that paralyze us. Instead, let it spur you to action.”
– Melinda Gates
Another lesson to be learned from Melinda Gates is to take action. Instead of waiting for motivation, you must create enthusiasm and take action! Taking action leads to results, overcoming fear, and learning new things.
Don’t focus on the negative but look at the positive that can come from your efforts. We all have the power to change not only our own lives but the lives of those around us too. It all starts with action. Melinda Gates takes action in many ways.
Whether acting as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, delivering contraceptives to millions of women throughout the globe, or donating to causes that support gender equity, she is always striving to do better for humanity.
Undoubtedly through her inspiration, we can all work harder to take action and lead more successful lives to benefit those around us.
6. Stay True to Yourself
“Make sure you continue to trust what you know about yourself and stay true to what you believe in.”
– Melinda Gates
Through her life struggles, Melinda has found that trusting yourself and what you know and believe in is one of the keys to success. Subsequently, she has gone from being shy and introverted to one of the world’s most successful women.
Living through abuse in a past relationship had silenced her for some time. Until she learned to work through those hardships, we can learn from her the power of listening to your inner voice to overcome setbacks. Doing so can lead to accomplishing great things in life.
Being true to yourself and what you believe means having an honest relationship with yourself and those around you. It means being uncompromising in your beliefs and values. Besides, knowing who you are and what you want in life and remaining true to those standards can push us towards success. It’s a lesson that all of us should learn.
7. Connect with Others
“Connect deeply with others. Our humanity is the one thing that we all have in common.”
– Melinda Gates
Finding connections with others and nourishing our interpersonal relationships can help us find success faster. No one ever changed the world or achieved greatness without the help of others. It’s crucial for us all to be more engaged in our families, workplace, and communities.
As Melinda hints, we all have much more in common than we realize. When we consider this, fostering better relationships with those around us is much easier. It’s also much easier to reach out to strangers and make new friends, colleagues, and mentors who can help us on our journey towards success.
Mutually beneficial relationships make the world go-’round. And when we can offer compassion, empathy, and support, we’re much more likely to receive it back in return. Striving to connect with others deeply is one of the most beneficial success lessons to be learned from Melinda Gates.
Let’s Review
Melinda inspires us to lead with love and give back to others. There are just so much more lessons to be learned from her. Through ambition, action, staying true to oneself, and connecting with others, we can further lead successful lives by the effect those traits have on the people around us.
The mark you leave on humanity is your true measure of success. Regardless of a simple act like helping one neighbor. Or a giant act of humanity like empowering 120 million women in developing countries; you are already successful if even one life is made better by your actions.
“To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
This one quote has been Melinda’s definition of success since high school. Even Melinda Gates has her own way of getting inspiration and learning. Why not learn from her success?
