True Measurements of Success
Graphic created by pch.vector for freepik.com
We can’t achieve what we don’t measure.
When would you consider a business “successful?”
When it hits six or seven figures?
High percentage of yearly growth?
Making a top rated product?
Number of locations?
When would you consider a team member successful?
When they hit a certain number of sales?
Winning an industry award?
Growing the company’s client base?
Cutting costs to increase the bottom line?
What if we came up with new measurements for success?
Measurements that centered around the personal success, happiness, and well-being of our teams?
The World Health Organization has made burnout, or extreme work stress, an official medical diagnosis.
Studies show that stress is more associated with work than financial or family problems.
Research also shows that you are most likely to have a heart attack on Monday morning.
Why is it this way?
It doesn’t have to be.
In the past I worked for a company that made millions of dollars a year, but was the most toxic work environment I had ever encountered.
People were miserable and unhealthy.
Is that a successful business?
And this year it may be financially “successful,” but a work culture like that is not sustainable.
“You can’t sustain high performance without paying attention to well-being.” ~Jen Fisher, Chief Well-Being Officer at Deloitte
It’s time to rethink our measurements for success and create new ones that are centered on our values and the values of our team.
How many team members did you make happy today?
When was the last time vulnerability showed up in the workplace?
How often does the team get to experience joy and play during a workday?
Are there opportunities for personal growth?
Does psychological safety exist?
In the past these concepts were thought of as having nothing to do with work.
If your work involves humans (and everyone’s does) then these things have EVERYTHING to do with work because they have everything to do with our well-being as humans.
When we are thriving mentally and physically, our work will reflect that.
We cannot create these workplaces if we cannot envision them.
Start thinking about new ways to measure success within your business, and then create ways for the team to achieve success.
I’d love to hear what you come up with.
Need help?