Every now and then during a 1–1 or performance review I like to ask: have you been successful? or are you successful?.
Curious have been the answers, so varied and so similar at the same time, with a common line: self-doubt.
Every time you ask me, Are you a successful person? My answer has been and will continue to be the same: YES.
It is necessary to understand what success is, which, by definition, is:
The satisfactory result of a performance
This is not saying much since the notion of success is subjective and relative. What may be a success for one for another would hardly be a consolation in the face of failure.
So, as managers, how can we develop successful people?, and even more, how do we align the success of each person with the success of the company? Simple: we define a framework.
Personally I love the scientific method and everything that has derived from it over the years such as CX, UX, Lean, Agile, etc; but for practical purposes I like to use the concepts of: Constancy, Perseverance and Resilience
Constancy: to be disciplined and methodical in obtaining results.
Perseverance: not to waver from pressure, fatigue, and discouragement from negative results.
Resilience: to transform any adverse results into positive actions.
The main purpose of every manager should be to guide people towards obtaining positive results; results that the company needs and that make sense to each individual.
It is then that the good practice is:
Make decisions based on important results that we can measure clearly and consistently, and on which we can influence immediate change.
The principles behind this are proactivity and responsibility.
Consistency and clarity will help us avoid the type of situations where it is "too late" (reactivity).
By being able to influence the result, we will promote the responsibility of those involved "my action oe inaction caused a certain result."
Along the way we will meet individuals who have a fear associated with the consequences and responsibilities of success.
This fear is that of not being able to preserve success, of not believing themselves worthy of their success, of being a fraud, or of social rejection for their success. Then, consciously or unconsciously, they hinder or ruin any possibility of success, they do self-sabotage.
We, as managers, will have to find a way to make them feel safe and motivate them to seek success, and the easiest way is through Empathy and Compassion, but that is a subject that I will try in another post.
In the end, we must help our people to understand that success lies in activities large and small, in the will to overcome adversity, in being aware of skills and abilities, and in the desire to improve and get ahead.
I have defined my success as: Have fun, Learn and Grow.
Then:
When I fail, do I succeed?
When the result was not what was expected, am I successful?
When after hours of trying and frustrating we don't get that feature, am I successful?
Yes, I am successful.