Ok, so, it turns out that not having someone else tell you what to do is hard.

I’m someone who has been programmed to believe success looks like THIS [insert money, influence, expertise, accolades].

I know I’m not alone in that, and learning how to create new ways of being and how to be at ease with things unfolding as they should has been a process, to say the least.

As a business owner, I do need to think about revenue. Contracts and clients are directly tied to being able to continue this entrepreneurial journey and pave the way for the vision I have for the future.

But I perhaps had not seen how myopic that lens can become until I had an excellent coaching session with my coach colleague Janet.

While discussing how I measure success, she casually commented, “Well, financials are always a lagging indicator.”

Record scratch. Pardon. Say more.

Contact me to talk about managing stress and preventing burnout.

We talked through how annual revenue is only one success indicator, and a lagging one at that.

And what are my leading indicators, the things that provide markers to help me assess whether I’m accomplishing what’s most important?

I identified three things:

• Ongoing advancement of my coaching and facilitation skills, in service of my clients

• Business development activities that fill my soul: building relationships and creating meaningful content

• Writing a book

That last one… let me tell you, the sparkling glow that I felt when I said it out loud. Phew.

And so! Over to you – what are your personal leading and lagging success indicators? What about for your team?

If your stakeholders, Board, exec team, leadership are all banging on about numbers – what are the other ways you can measure your value? What matters most to you?

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