Success Isn’t Enough: Building a Work Life Worth Living, with Jeff Westphal

JR Lowry (0:00)

When people think about career success, what usually comes to mind are things like promotions and bigger paychecks and impressive titles and maybe building a company, and those things certainly matter. But I would imagine that some of you have reached goals that you've probably worked really hard to achieve, only then to find yourself asking afterwards, was that really it? And my guest today believes that that's one of the most important questions that any of us can ask. Jeff Westphal spent two decades as the CEO of Vertex and led the company through a 40x growth in value and from 75 employees to more than 1000 by the time of his retirement. By almost any measure, he'd achieved extraordinary professional success. But along the way, he also began asking himself deeper questions about meaning and purpose and fulfillment and what truly makes a work life worth living. And those reflections became the foundation for his new book, which is called A Work Life Worth Living.

In our conversation today, we're going to explore why achievement alone isn't always satisfying and how to build a career that's both successful and meaningful, what leaders can do to create workplaces where people thrive, and why these questions are becoming even more important as AI transforms the future of work. Whether you're just starting your career or questioning your next move or wondering how to make your work more fulfilling, I think you're going to find a lot to reflect on in this conversation. And ironically, Jeff is very big on reflection. So here's my discussion with Jeff.

Jeff, welcome and thanks for joining me today.

Jeff Westphal (1:25)

Good to be here, JR.

JR Lowry (1:27)

Yeah, glad to have you on as well. So let's dive right in. I know you've got this view and you write about it in your book that a lot of people feel successful on paper, but still feel like something is missing. And you experienced a bit of that yourself. So it'd be great to hear your own experience. And when you kind of had that first clue that success alone just wasn't everything for you, it wasn't enough.

Jeff Westphal (1:48)

Yeah, it's interesting. It's not like it wasn't enough.

I wasn't looking for more. I was succeeding to the extent that, you know, on paper, at a cocktail party at 28 years old, I would have felt like, hey, I'm doing as well as anybody here. And multiple promotions started at my father's company and sales were doubling twice. And I was leading sales and marketing, not all due to me, but still I felt like I was contributing meaningfully. And I was introduced by one of our salesmen's father-in-law's colleague.

He had become a certified 7 Habits Facilitator, covies 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. And I meet this very poised gentleman who was a former executive at DuPont, the big chemical corporation.

JR Lowry (2:36)

Sure.

Jeff Westphal (2:36)

And he says very nicely, why are you working so hard? And I was like, is that a trick question to have more sales? And he's like, okay, why are you wanting more sales? And I'm like, this guy can't be serious. Like, what do you mean? Of course you want more sales.

And he goes, well, I get that, but why do you want more sales? And I'm like, what is this? Like, I was literally confused. And this man is so calm, smiling at me.

And then he says, how do you intend to contribute to the greater whole? And I'm thinking, what is he talking about? The greater whole of what? And I'm like, I gotta know what this guy knows. He just helped me realize for the first time that my assumption that I basically knew what I needed to know was just completely off base. And he gave me the Seven Habits Book. And in it, I learned about seeking to understand.

JR Lowry (3:25)

Right.

Jeff Westphal (3:25)

And then I tried that with my wife when we were debating going away for the weekend. And I'm like, oh, I wonder what she's thinking. I'm leaning over the chopping block in our kitchen. And I'm like, what is she thinking? Don't try to convince her. And all of a sudden I'm like, oh, she's worried about the children. She's like thinking, like, how are they gonna eat? I'm like, oh, well, I'll figure it out. But she's like really worried. At the time we had a four year old, a two year old and an infant. And I'm gonna go camping for the weekend. And I'm thinking, no problem, just like when we were dating. And that was a huge epiphany. So between 28 and 30, between experiences like that at home and the questions this man was asking me, my whole world got turned upside down basically. And I started realizing that actually, instead of knowing a lot, I knew almost nothing.