Steps, steps and more steps…Every day I look ay my Fitbit as I start the day, as I travel throughout the day and as I end it. How many steps do I need to take today? How many steps did I achieve today? Did I hit my steps goal for the day?
These physical steps are analogous to the developmental steps I also attempt to take daily to become more successful in my business and personal life. I share them just as a peer would share a story or business tip with his or her work mates – with the hope that you can find one nugget or step that resonates with you.
In fact, STEP has become one of my business acronyms – one of the sets of metrics that I follow on my “professional Fitbit.” It is a four-part equation that helps me gauge personal success. What is important to note is that I do not believe these are traits that are just gifted to some people and not others. These are skills that are identifiable and improvable.
Stability + Trust + Ethics + Passion = Success
Stability in a leader, manager, team or company means constancy and consistency, according to Mike Myatt, a contributor to Forbes.com. Mike also says that a lack of stability harms a company culture, stifles productivity, erodes trust and makes it extremely difficult to retain top talent.
I ask myself if my actions are contributing to the stability of my team and my company. What could I change or improve to provide more stability? Do people see me as stable influence? Can they count on me to react in a certain way, or are they fearful of who is going to show up today? Am I the stable person, or the one who flies off the handle at the slightest thing?
Trust is a building block or cornerstone attribute. It is a paramount trait for anyone who wants to achieve success in life and work. If you are trusted, then you are considered to have integrity and competency. You are respected as a responsible “go-to” person. Being considered trustworthy by your peers and managers is essential in building healthy relationships. Trustworthiness is also strongly rooted in consistency. Once people lose trust in you or your ability, it is very difficult to earn it back. How can I measure trust in myself and others? With trust, actions speak louder than words.
Ethics should be a success article unto itself. The most commonly discussed ethical values are justice, honesty, empathy, compassion, respect and responsibility. If you want to understand the true impact of ethics on leadership, on business and individual ethical aptitude – just read any book by John C. Maxwell or Stephen R Covey. Ethics are the success glue that holds everything else together. Develop a set of five ethics questions that you can ask yourself each day.
Passion is a key ingredient in the success recipe. If you do not have passion about what you are doing, it is time to chart a new direction. People who are passionate about something are rarely subtle about it – whether it is about their work, their love of life or even their political affiliation. One of my favorite quotes on passion comes from John Quincy Adams: “If your passion and actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
Success on this professional Fitbit is not measured in tens of thousands of steps – its measured in much smaller steps – in moving the daily needle and gaining incremental improvement in each discipline. Just asking ourselves a few monitoring questions each day can help each of us grow more successful in business and in life.
Ric McCullough is COO for PSA Security Network. To request more information about PSA, please visit www.securityinfowatch.com/10214742.
