We should never compromise human well-being for success - my 4 priorities.

May 8

My heart broke as I read the revelations uncovered in the Human Rights Commission report instigated by Gymnastic Australia into the mistreatment of their young female athletes. It was hard to read, difficult to fathom & a stark reminder of the extremes to which people may go, to achieve success. These vulnerable young women will never get their childhood back.

“How will they describe those years to their own children?” I wondered.

Reading their horror stories left me befuddled & wondering how does one reach the point where achieving success becomes more important than their well-being? How does that become OK in the eyes of the leaders who have the privilege of these vulnerable people’s trust?

There is a quote I stumbled across a few years back that instantly resonated. It kicks off Chapter 31 of My Beautiful Mess & ironically, is from retired UCLA Gymnastics Coach, Valerie Kondos Field. Affectionately known as “Miss Val”.

“When we are hyper focused on outcome, the human component of how we win gets swept under the rug.”

Whether you are a sporting athlete striving for Olympic gold, a student shooting for academic distinction or, a corporate athlete determined to outperform your peers, isolated judgement of performance presents risk. Risk to a person’s engagement in life through the neglect of one or more of their four well-being quadrants - emotional, mental, physical & spiritual. (Loehr & Schwartz, The Power of Full Engagement)

As humans we have an obligation to look out for our kin. No one wants or should want to see another suffer in the name of “on paper” success. It’s inhumane & non-discriminatory across industry.

The beating heart of this predicament, our definition of success.

Defining success and measuring performance by tangible measures alone risks fostering a “win at all costs” attitude & a culture that accepts human toll as a compromise for delivering results.

Achieve the wins, celebrate success, feed the ego & all is forgotten when that winner is replaced with the next. What remains, an individual who feels hollow as they are left wondering, “Who am I without that success?”

Isolated focus on performance outcome detracts from self-connection, the foundation of our well-being.

Sustainable, human-centric success starts with unpacking the layers of our aspirational result by broadening our lens & realising the growth opportunity the process provides.

Like an artist creating a visual masterpiece, we can invest in creating a human success landscape that transforms the black & white result into a colourful, layered, 3D picture that recognises & rewards the growth opportunity the process provides. Along with it, the self-connection it facilitates.

As leaders, how can we reorientate our definition of success to produce champions in life rather than champions in performance?

By ensuring our teams maintain a continual connection with self in their quest for aspirational result.

How can we encourage this in our performance orientated team members? Particularly, our corporate athletes?

These are my four priorities:

Defining personal values & passions

Front & centre of our success landscape are the values & passions that make up our individual purpose. While organisational values will create a sense of belonging & team unity, we should never lose sight of the role our personal values play in this context. They bring meaning to our lives, happiness & fulfilment to our work.

These innate qualities are the beating heart behind what we stand for. We are reminded of them each time we activate our boundaries to protect their integrity. They prioritise our connection to self, dissipating the stress that can come from focusing too intently on outcome alone. The difference? One can be controlled the other cannot.

Controllable measures of success maintain the motivation required to achieve our aspirational result.

Understanding Strengths & Preferences

The benefits of leading with strengths are endless. However, experience tells me they can be self-limiting if not considered in the grander scheme of the individual. It wasn’t until recently participating in an online course that for me, did it all fall into place.

Our strengths & preferences bring our purpose to life. This is what our customers & colleagues see reflected in our communications & habits.

Success comes from defining these outward behaviours & aligning them with the intentional reputation we are trying to foster.

Learning, Giving & Connection

Continual learning, giving & connection in the context of achieving our aspirational result feeds the ravenous appetite of our mental & emotional selves. Questions I like to ask of myself & clients, “To achieve my aspirational result….

What skills do I need to develop or improve?
What trusted connections do I need to make?
How can I facilitate these connections through giving?
What do I need to learn & how can I do this?
Who will benefit from the impact I make?
What will be my source of inspiration throughout this journey?

Reflection & Incremental Success Measures

While our aspirational result is always on the horizon, incremental measures of success based on learning, giving & connection keep us connected with our purpose & connected with ourselves. They drive our motivation to continue. I like to diarise times for continual reflection to acknowledge progress, lessons learnt & course correct when required.

We have nothing to lose by reminding ourselves of what we are gaining through the process.

In a world of shrinking professional chapters, I’ve embraced the mindset of producing champions of life rather than focusing on results. Both as a leader & for myself.

I consider it a privilege to work with my clients. I don’t expect them to be under my tutelage forever, I hope they get to experience the enrichment professional diversity brings to their lives.

Above all, they have my commitment to help them be the best human they can be, in the context of their role & in life. If I get that right, time & time again I’ve proven the aspirational results come, and along with it, human strength rather than human cost.

Peta x

Coach, Commercial Growth Consultant &

Author of My Beautiful Mess “Living through burnout & rediscovering me”

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