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Every individual contributor, manager, leader, or business owner wants success in their professional world. We certainly don’t come to work to fail. Yet we often don’t have a clear vision of what defines our success – individually and collectively. With only vague ideas, success can feel elusive. If your definition of success is wholly designed by someone else and/or does not evoke personal motivation, you may find yourself chasing a to-do list and not building a satisfying work life.

The invitation is to be clear and deliberate about what you are creating – and why. Clarity helps remove barriers and focus our energies in a generative and inspiring way.

To guide me on my professional journey, I generated my own “manifesto” of what success looks like, capturing my driving philosophies and what I value. It guides how I want to show up as a professional and as an ambassador of my company. This tool is simple yet compelling and can be customized to every organization’s own DNA.

For example, my work is about cultivating authentic, thriving cultures. When I help teams connect and align, they are better positioned to execute in a more transparent and effective way. Watching my clients grow in their awareness and skills is immensely rewarding to me. In other words, when my clients experience breakthroughs, I feel successful.

Defining business success

Defining your business’ success is an exercise in naming what is most important to you in delivering your work. It will capture not just the direction you want to go, but how to get there. A clear picture of success gives you a better way to assess if business is working the way you intended. It integrates milestones and metrics as feedback mechanisms, or proof points. Does what you are doing leverage your strengths? Does it sustain you? And, equally important, are you pausing to celebrate the wins?

Often when I embark on a new client project, I will inquire as to what would be a successful outcome of our work together. I want to understand what they hope to achieve and determine what kind of impact we can make. When I understand what success looks like to them, we have a better chance of co-creating a program that will get us there.

Crafting a framework

While each business’ definition of success will be unique, the following six categories might help guide you in shaping your criteria:

1. Do good work
2. Build good relationships
3. Be aligned with your values
4. Have fun
5. Grow
6. Make money

• Do good work. I find there is intrinsic reward in a job well done. When I provide added value to my clients, I feel a sense of pride and the joy of service. It also is an investment in my reputation – and referrals. What does “good work” look like? Defining what constitutes quality in your product or service is an important starting point. If you struggle to consistently produce good work, you can examine your systems, protocols, communications, patterns, and habits to see how quality can be built into your processes and culture. For example, you can institute project debriefs with lessons learned, start actively soliciting feedback, and bring a focused mindfulness to your work.
• Build good relationships. Meaningful relationships bring a spark to a work project. It is collaboration at its finest. When we care about each other’s success and well-being and when we demonstrate trust and respect, we bring a different kind of attention and commitment to our work. Real conversations happen. We are honest, kind, open, vulnerable, and accountable. Good relationships bring out the best for the good of the whole. Treat conversations as a way to nurture a valued relationship, not as a transaction.
• Be aligned with your values. Living a professional life that is aligned with our values is more authentic and less burdensome. It frees us to come to our work with more purpose and integrity. I highly value the autonomy and flexibility that comes with being self-employed. I also get to be of service to my clients, cultivate potential, foster connections, and have candid conversations – all core values for me.
• Have fun. Let me just say that fun is a legitimate core value! Humor lightens the load and alleviates stress. It can be fun to rally the team behind a problem to solve it. Fun can also come in the form of making a breakthrough, overcoming a challenge, experiencing a learning moment, soaking up the appreciation from a colleague, or savoring the achievements of the day. I have seen clients play sports together, play trivia, compete in contests, volunteer, and do improvisation as ways to engage outside of work. These experiences can foster a tight, supportive work community.
• Grow. Business leaders who want continual improvement embrace a growth mindset, and foster a learning environment that values creativity, experimentation, curiosity, initiative-taking, feedback, and personal accountability. A growth mindset is the building block of resiliency and a tool for evolving. Believing we can change is a requisite to achieving change. Growth in this way is integral to any success.
• Make money. Profit is essential for a robust, financially-sound organization. How much money do you need to fuel the kind of organization you want to be? Are you infusing your team with the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and resources to financially prosper? Consider empowering your team with the kind of business acumen that helps them enhance the bottom line. When they know the numbers, they can make a difference. Create value for making money as a means to an end – doing good work with good people, where you are aligned, have fun, and grow together.

What’s your definition of work success? What would you feel proud to have accomplished, learned, created, or impacted? What would spark a bit of enthusiasm and flow into your day? With clarity, comes commitment, and with commitment, your success is in motion!

Karen Natzel is a business therapist who helps leaders create healthy, vibrant and high-performing organizations. Contact her at 503-806-4361 or [email protected].

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the DJC guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.