Education is a steppingstone to success, but some of the most important lessons aren't taught in class. There are plenty of life lessons that we need to know, and the textbooks often do not have chapters on them. Here are some lessons you should learn in order to grow both in your career and in your personal life.

-- You can't do everything yourself. Control freaks make the job harder and foster resentment among the troops. Learn your limits so you can concentrate on what you do best and delegate the rest to people (or tools) capable of doing as good a job, or better.

-- You need to understand finance. No matter what field you're in, a basic understanding of how money flows in and out of your organization will help you stand out from your peers and enable you to make better professional and personal decisions.

-- You don't always get a second chance. Failure isn't necessarily fatal, but that doesn't mean you'll get unlimited opportunities to try, try again. Learn to distinguish between foolhardy gambles and reasonable risks. Do your best -- but be ready to move on if things don't work out. Failure is not falling down, but staying down.

-- Your attitude is paramount. Stay upbeat no matter what happens. Employers and co-workers respond to your positive energy and outlook. You'll be more motivated and productive if you approach your work with optimism and a can-do spirit. Your attitude and your aptitude will determine your altitude.

-- Take your work seriously, but don't take yourself too seriously. Starting your day with a good laugh is as beneficial to your health as it is to your mood. There is no place that needs humor more than the workplace. Human resources directors will tell you that employees with a sense of humor are more creative -- and much more fun to be around.

-- Everyone smiles in the same language. I learned years ago that one of the most powerful things you can do to have influence over others is to smile at them. A smile comes as standard equipment for everyone!

-- Your boss doesn't have all the answers. Listen to your managers, but remember that they're human, too. They don't always have the best answers, so be prepared to offer solutions. Your job is to help them get things done, not dump problems in their laps. Offer solutions and support wherever and whenever you can.

-- You never really know it all. Arrogance is one of the deadliest of all human failings and can destroy a business. It is the easiest to rationalize and the hardest to recognize in ourselves. Don't confuse arrogance with confidence, which allows you to perform up to the level of your capabilities. As I like to say about arrogance, I know that you don't know, but you don't know that you don't know.

-- You have to market yourself. You're responsible for your own success. Most of your managers and colleagues are too busy with their own issues to look out for your career. Look for opportunities to shine. Let people know what you're capable of. And be ready to prove yourself.

-- Beat rejection before it beats you. Rejection is -- and always will be -- part of business. For example, if it were easy to succeed in sales, everyone would want in. Rejection helps knock out the weak. You can't take it personally. People don't realize that in order to get the yeses, you must hear the nos.

-- Honesty is the best policy. If truth stands in your way, you're headed in the wrong direction. As the father of three children, one of my rules -- especially when they became teenagers -- was to tell me the truth immediately. That philosophy seemed to work for me, and quite frankly, I've always believed that telling the truth is the best policy. In business, it's the only policy.

-- You don't always get a trophy. Don't let ups and downs leave you down and out. Handling disappointment is one of life's challenges, and often an indication of how you deal with adversity at work as well. Achievers focus on the road, rather than the bumps in it, to reach their destination. Rough spots sharpen our performance. And more often than not, the obstacles can be turned into advantages. You just can't let your disappointment get in the way.

Mackay's Moral: You learn something new every day -- if you are paying attention.

According to various surveys, seven of eight people go home every night with a feeling that they work for an organization that doesn't care about them. That equates to 130 million people in the United States who go home feeling somewhat used and abused, and with a sense that they don't matter.

Enter Robert Chapman, CEO of Barry-Wehmiller, a leading provider of manufacturing technology, engineering and consulting solutions. He is a disciple of Truly Human Leadership, a leadership model that is all about people, purpose and performance. His vision is to send people home every night feeling fulfilled. Barry-Wehmiller has 7,000 team members through 58 acquisitions with $1.6 billion in sales.

Chapman is focused on allowing employees to discover, develop, share and be appreciated for their gifts. Employees are routinely solicited for their ideas.

In the company's leadership model, it attempts to shine a light in every corner of its business and look for the goodness in people. To help, it has created several award programs. One award is the Guiding Principles of Leadership SSR Award. Chapman is a car enthusiast and had a Chevrolet SSR truck that he offered to one of his plants. The winner gets to drive it for a week. The program worked and expanded, so the company now has 17 SSR trucks.

"Everybody is nominating people," Chapman said. "In a plant of 450 people, we had 120 to 180 nominees. Think of this: People took the time to talk about the goodness in other people."

For every nominee, the company sends a letter to the employee's home, saying, "Your husband/daughter/son/brother/mother was nominated for their goodness. And let me tell you what people said about them." Then it's a secret when the winner is picked. The family is invited to the ceremony as a surprise.

Chapman said he's interviewed about 300 people who have won this award around the country. They tell him it's so significant because it's from their peers. Award winners are often asked about their SSR truck by friends, and they describe the leadership award they won. And every time people say, "I wish I worked for a company like that."

Chapman was visiting one of the company's recent plant acquisitions in Green Bay, Wis. He asked an employee what he thought about the new leadership model.

He said: "I'm now talking to my wife more."

Chapman said, "I don't understand."

The employee explained: "Do you know what it feels like to work in a place where you walk in in the morning and you punch a card to verify that you came in on time? You walk to your workstation and people tell you what to do. They never ask you what you think. You do 10 things right, and you never hear a word. But you get one thing wrong, and you never hear the end of it. You go home and you don't feel very good about yourself. And when you don't feel very good about yourself, you're not really there for your family."

Another award program used by Barry-Wehmiller is the H3 award for heads, hands and hearts. Winners get to drive an H3 Hummer for a week. There's also an award for innovation.

The High 5 award provides employees with a dinner for the winning employee and spouse or family member. "We send a letter to the employee's home and thank them for making a difference in our company," Chapman said. "It's kind of like a high-five."

When the recession hit Barry-Wehmiller hard in 2008-09, Chapman had a tough decision to make. Orders dropped 35 percent. Employees were concerned about layoffs. He reasoned, "What would a loving family do if a family member was under stress? Everybody would take a little pain so that the family member wouldn't be devastated."

So the company and employee leaders came up with a plan where all employees would take off four weeks without pay. They could pick the time that would fit best with their families. The company also suspended its 401(k) match.

"Employees didn't feel they did it to make the company more profitable," Chapman said. "They felt they did it to save somebody else's job. It was a gift. It was not a sacrifice."

True to form, when the company rebounded quicker than anticipated, the company not only reinstated the 401(k) match, but paid back the missed company match.

Just another way to reward employees.

Mackay's Moral: People are judged by the company they keep. Companies are judged by the people they keep.

You learn how to be book smart in school, but you better not forget that you also need to be street-smart. There's an old saying about how the "A" students in school end up working for the "B" and "C" students in life. I've always been amused by that notion.

I succeeded because I have street smarts. Here are some street-smart ideas that have worked for me over the years. If one or two of them work for you, that's terrific.

Idea 1: Take time -- whenever possible -- to think about important situations that arise before taking any action. Unexpected problems come up in life. No matter what you are hit with without warning, memorize these six words -- "I want to think about it." All my life I've seen people react instantly to events that took them by surprise, and they opened their mouths and really hurt themselves. So practice: "I want to sleep on it! I want to think about it!" You won't be sorry.

Idea 2: Agreements prevent disagreements. Whenever you have a meeting of real importance, summarize your understanding with a brief note back to the other party. I guarantee this will save you from a lot of "he said /she said" ... "I thought you meant" ... or "We never talked about that." Nail it down before it nails you.

Idea 3: Leaks don't just come from faucets. Just remember that the walls have ears, or as I now say, the world has ears. Don't discuss private important business or personal matters where it can be overheard by other parties. Many deals have gone down in elevators. Smartphones and recording devices are everywhere.

Idea 4: Always let someone else set the table for you. Let other people talk you up. It will carry a lot more weight. The sound carries farther when someone else blows your horn.

Idea 5: Dial up your telephone skills. Never, never just leave your name when you call someone. Always leave the exact time frame you can be reached to avoid playing telephone tag.

Also, whenever you do reach a customer, client, VIP or key person in your network, immediately ask them, "Is this a good time to talk?" Don't blow a deal just because of inconsideration. I've received calls all my life where I was preoccupied, and the caller had no chance to be successful.

If you have an assistant who takes your calls, you will always make a solid impression if your assistant says you are expecting their call.

Lastly, and this is a tough one, but try to only take phone calls at a specific time of day. This is a huge time-saver. Of course, there will always be VIP exceptions.

Idea 6: Don't be boring. Don't be predictable. Don't be dull. Put some creativity into your life and business. For example, I have various types of letters that I use on a regular basis. I have unique and creative letters of "congratulations" and "thank you," and then I always add a personal message to them. I do a report card letter where I list 10 or so items and rank each item A+, assuming they deserve it. I'm a big proponent of putting a smile on people's faces, whether it's with creative gifts or personal notes.

Idea 7: Check out who is attending events to which you're invited. I often call the person in charge of an event to try and get a list of attendees and where they will be seated. The cocktail hour is usually not long enough to greet more than 25 percent of the crowd. However, if you have the seating chart, you know the exact table number, plus who's attending. Then you can zero in on the contacts you want to make. If you can't get a list in advance, arrive early and check the nametags to see who will be there.

Idea 8: Many times in life when you are faced with a difficult situation, you should try and apply this philosophy: If you can afford to buy your way out of a problem, you don't have a problem.

Idea 9: Call people who have experienced a setback, demotion or personal tragedy. Everyone calls people on the way up, but not so often on the way down. You will always be remembered for your kindness.

Mackay's Moral: A student of life considers the world a classroom.