Defining Success

Eighty Seconds of Development

As a kid living in poverty, I defined success with wealth. The lavish lifestyles shown on TV were critical to my definition of success. I was a big fan of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." The wealthy uncle lived in a mansion with his kids, and eventually, his nephew from poverty came to be a part of the family. I have an uncle who played professional baseball. I dreamed he would come and bring me into his affluent lifestyle. That dream never manifested. But at an early age, success was defined by external motivating factors. That was a critical driving motivating factor to be successful and play in the NFL. That was, in part, that my definition of success was not mine. My definition of success was fictitious because it did not reflect my values.

Leaders should do a great job helping their colleagues allow values, not external motivators, to drive their success. Leaders can have performance assessments at the end of each year. During those assessments, leaders should ask bold questions about what success looks like for employees and consider asking about values and how they can help define success. Because knowledge is transferred, it is critical to help others define their success through values.

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