A couple of things that have been percolating in my mind over the past couple of weeks have come together: the reflective post in which I shared a story of my career prompted me to think more about where I am heading and why; then I completed the review of my tech stack which made me focus on whether I have the right tools for the work I want to do and what that is… ; and thirdly I have been preparing for the next run of my hybrid working leadership course (incidentally, if you’d like to join us, register before 26 May), which includes a topic about how to find your own measures of success.
My Directors Report
I also should mention that I write my Directors Report for my business every 3-4 month, which is a good exercise in reflecting on and tracking progress, and also prompts me to articulate exactly what I have achieved and why that matters. Which is where the reframing idea comes in, because my report applies metrics of success at different levels.
I started with the measures I was familiar with from my years as a CEO, with Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs, related to financial goals, operational requirements and risk management. I set out a business plan that I review each year, and each year I review, update and refine short, medium and long term goals. This way of thinking gets me to focus on the performance of my micro business, which is useful but not everything I am interested in.
There is also a question of how well I perform and develop in my business, including the feedback I get from coaching or consultancy clients, the impact my mentoring and outreach work has, the research and publications I produce and the professional development I undertake. Many of the things I spend time on, such as attending events or writing a new book were not initially covered in my reporting, and yet they are important elements of what I view as success.
Partly why I track these elements is to have a record of how my career choices contribute to my personal KPIs, and how I can evolve year on year.
Before we go further, I just want to emphasise that I’m thinking about my career or my work as in professional practice. Over the course of my working life that has included paid work, funded work, unpaid work and everything in between. I don’t really conceptualise my work in terms of a main (day) job and side hustles, paid and unpaid work. However you think about these things, the approach can still work, you just need to adjust your mental picture accordingly.
Reframing with metaphor
I found it difficult to articulate all of this in the graphs or tables my report initially contained, and so I used a metaphor to help me reframe how I think about the different levels of success I aim to achieve and what they mean to me. What I came up with is a menu of drinks: a glass of water, a cup of coffee and a cocktail.
A glass of water (nourishing success)
The glass of water, big, cool and refreshing, is the biggest element. It contains within it everything fundamental that my work has to provide to keep me financially, socially, physically and mentally healthy. Contained in my glass of water for example, is money to pay the bills, to have a purpose and to have a reasonable work/life balance. Other things that I might include here is having a safe place to work and to have adequate benefits.
A cup of coffee (energising success)
Next up is an aromatic cup of coffee (or your preferred equivalent) that represents everything that gives me energy. Activities like attending events or collaborating with colleagues that spark my creativity, or projects that allow me to increase my impact and make a difference. In my case, I would include things like recording my podcast, blogging and writing in my coffee category, as all of these are energising elements of my practice, without being essential. I also find joy in the degree of flexibility I have, giving me time for walking the dog or going for a run during the day and that in turns allows me to work with greater productivity and drive the rest of the day.
A cocktail (sprinkling gold dust success)
For the cocktail (or mocktail!), I am thinking of a beautiful glass garnished with an umbrella and colourful fruit, a drink perfect for a moment of celebration! The cocktail embodies those special moments in my working life that make everything worth it. For me, I would include things like publishing a book, giving an exciting keynote, travelling somewhere new for an event, or having the chance to work with people I love and connect with. It’s moments that are sprinkled like gold dust over the years, giving everything an extra shine.
Success Reframed and Personal KPIs
I find it super helpful to think about what success means to me and how I can quantify it in this way, as it reminds me why things are important and what role they play in my life. If I get the things that nourish me and keep my life going in a very practical sense, things like saving for my pension or finding time to exercise, then that enables me to have more capacity to enjoy activities that I find energising.
Similarly, if the only things that feel good are big highlights that are few and far between, i.e. if my metaphorical work diet consists only of cocktails and the occasional cup of coffee, but the foundation is all wrong, then my work becomes unsustainable in the long term and doesn’t serve me no matter how glitzy the high points may be.
This kind of reframing also enables me to set out more specific personal measures for how what I do contributes to what I want to achieve long term, and to find balance between things that are fundamentally nourishing, energising and sparkly.
My personal KPIs are not about how well my business performs or how much I achieve, but how well what I do works FOR ME. How well does how I work, what I do and so forth contribute to my life in terms of nourishing me, energising me and bringing my sparkly moments of joy and inspiration?
