Your Next Performance Review

Last time I wrote about Other People’s Success. Today, let’s look at your success.

The Blurb Queen

When it’s performance review time, you know the drill: Dust off last year’s template and hope that the reality of what you worked on this year somewhat resembles the performance measures on which you’ll be ranked.

During my corporate career it was not an uncommon occurrence for me to hear, “Hey, Ginny, can you send me that wording?” I’m not sure whether a keen ability to author performance review blurbs is anything to get excited about but nonetheless, it appears I possess this skill.

More than writing fluff, it’s being able to demonstrate progress and see the through-line from where you started, to where you are now, and to where you’re headed in light of what’s changed. This isn’t just for your boss and formal reviews. It’s important for you because in actuality, we review ourselves all the time.

Success is a Daily Concern

You administer your own performance review every single day. And when comparing the afternoon’s results to the morning’s expectations, you might be shortchanging yourself. Marking things “done” isn’t the whole story. If you’re going to evaluate your performance, make it about the things you can control: Your Behavior and Your Actions.

It’s your behavior — how you conduct yourself, how you treat yourself and others — that either sabotages or calls forth success. When approaching a challenging goal, you might ask yourself: What character strength of mine can I apply here? In the coaching world, we call this: Who You Are Being.

Combined with this, it’s What You Are Doing (your actions) that will produce results. For any goal, you can identify a core list of critical activities. Taking those actions consistently is the daily success to measure on the way to that ultimate desired outcome.

For example, imagine you’re in job search mode and are only measuring success with a single question: Do I have an offer yet? It’s likely this will produce anxiety and discouragement during the period (however long) that precedes the job offer. If you instead measure your daily activities (e.g., proactively setting up meetings, researching companies, communicating with your network, thinking of ways to creatively showcase your work), then you’ll be addressing the part you can control: your efforts. You can also assess: What’s my attitude? How am I showing up?

Acknowledging progress is about being successful on the way to your ultimate goal and it’s also where milestones come in.

A Method to Your Milestones

It’s those milestones within view that move you down the long road to bigger goals. And in terms of evaluating performance, recounting the milestones you’ve passed will help you realize just how much you’ve managed successfully thus far.

This Week’s Call To Action:

• Give yourself credit for making progress. Acknowledge victories both major and minor. Help your staff, friends, and family to do the same.
• For the larger goals, you’re working on, identify the milestones and then: What are those activities that when repeated, are certain to produce a successful outcome?

Keep Who You’re Being and What You’re Doing in the forefront and I guarantee your next performance review will not disappoint. That goes for the review that occurs in your head on the drive home from work every day, as well as the annual one you’ve got to complete on paper. Need a blurb? You know who to call.

“By taking the time to stop and appreciate who you are and what you’ve achieved – and perhaps learned through a few mistakes, stumbles, and losses – you actually can enhance everything about you. Self-acknowledgment and appreciation are what give you the insights and awareness to move forward toward higher goals and accomplishments.”
-Jack Canfield