Success is when preparation meets opportunity.“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”
― Michelangelo Buonarroti
Have you defined what success means for you and for the enterprise that you lead?
How will you measure success?
Some things to measure:
- The measurement of achievement – Setting and achieving goals such as sales, products, attendance, and other measurable outcomes.
- The measurement of engagement – Discerning if your team members, customers, and stakeholders are connected and engaged with their passion, and not just marking time.
- The measurement of harmony – Some leaders want to avoid conflict so much that they create an artificial high with happiness to create harmony. Conflict is the sign of energy and creativity. In music, there is consonance and dissonance. There is harmonic rhythm, in addition to the rhythm of the notes. Tension and resolution is a pattern of life. Embrace it.
- The measurement of profit – Getting the sale and making money is certainly the point of being in business. It’s not the only point. Focus on bringing value and serving clients. You will attract money if you have value and learn how to describe that value.
- The measurement of life – Are you happy? Are you enjoying life and business? If the businesses is not robbing your joy, that’s a good sign, however, there’s more to it. Define what you want in life, and then make it happen.
We create things to measure:
Cash flow projections…
Sales or income…
Balanced scorecard…
Time and energy…
Balance in life…
Commit to the future by committing to a process. Be sure that you will achieve success with the following:
- Commit to Success – Begin with commitment. Nothing else will replace commitment. That’s it…commit!
- Define Success – Define the life you want, and then build the pathway to get it. No matter what your enterprise is, commit to life for you and yours. At the end of life, you will celebrate what you did rather than mourn what you didn’t do.
- Schedule Success – Those who are successful do what others are not willing to do. This begins with discipline. Do what you say you plan, and do it daily. Plan it, then do it.
- Pledge to Success – You have a team. Maybe you work alone, but you have a team. Surround yourself with the best people and let them know of your plan to succeed. Be clear. Be sure. It’s like the pledge of allegiance.
- Be accountable to someone who matters and who cares – Goals are S.M.A.R.T. The “A” is for accountability. Share your goals with someone who matters. Be accountable to them, to your family, to your team, and to yourself. Accountability is sometimes the only thing that makes a goal work.
Why measure? What’s the point? Define your value, and then measure your value.
Commit to quality of life. Success is getting what you want and then wanting what you get. Be clear of the results for your enterprise. Also start out by defining the life that you want to have…and then proceed to make it happen.
Hugh Ballou
The Transformational Leadership Strategist
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(c) 2013 Hugh Ballou. All rights reserved.