3 Secrets to a Successful Self-Evaluation

3 Secrets to a Successful Self-Evaluation

Well, it’s that time of year again.

No, I don’t mean the holidays. I’m talking about performance review season!

I know, I know, just try to contain your excitement.

While sitting down to write a self-evaluation may not be the highlight of your end of year celebrations, this is your opportunity to advocate for yourself and the work that you have done this year. And here's how you can give it the thought it deserves.

A good self evaluation and your resume actually have a lot in common. They’re both intended to help you sell your skills and accomplishments.

And to help you do that, I recommend using the ARK method. ARK stands for Action, Result, Knowledge, and together, these pillars are the building blocks of a strong success statement.

When it comes time to craft your success statements for your self-evaluation, here’s what you’ll want to keep in mind.

ACTION

The action answers the question, “what did you do?”

Here’s an example of how you’d refer to the action in your success statement:

“I managed our office reopening by leading a cross functional team to successfully reopen our offices to employees.”

Now, the action is important, it’s the anchor that holds the rest of the statement together. But the most common mistake people make is that they stop at the action. The action is only part of the story.

RESULT

Next, you’re going to include the result by answering the question, “what happened as a result of the action you completed?”

You’ll want to be as specific as possible when it comes to sharing your results. Ideally, you’ll have a numerical metric you can point to here, but if not, describe anything that was achieved as a direct result of your work.

Here’s an example of the statement I shared above, but this time, with the result included:

“I managed our office reopening by leading a cross functional team to successfully reopen our offices ahead of our five week schedule and with positive feedback from employees. On average, employees rated their satisfaction with the service they received as a 4.7/5.”

KNOWLEDGE

Now, to really take this success statement to the next level, you’re going to answer the question, “What knowledge did you acquire. because of that action and/or result?”

This is your opportunity to not only show your accomplishments, but to also point out how you’ve grown in your role, or the new skills you have gained. This piece is particularly essential if you are seeking out a promotion. To achieve a promotion, you’re going to have to prove the contributions you’ve made and highlight how you’ve grown to achieve them.

Here’s an example of a success statement that uses all three of our ARK pillars:

“I evolved from an individual contributor into a project manager by managing our office reopening and leading a cross functional team to successfully reopen our offices ahead of our five week schedule and with positive feedback from employees. On average, employees rated their satisfaction with the service they received as a 4.7/5.”

FINAL THOUGHTS

If you treat your self-evaluation like a box you need to check, that is all it will ever be. But if you use it as your opportunity to advocate for yourself and tell the story behind what you’ve accomplished this year, it can be your ticket to that next level you’ve been reaching for.

Happy Performance Season!

The 3 secrets to Netflix's success.

It is fair to say that there has never been another company like Netflix. It has disrupted a category that was stagnant for decades and has revolutionised the entertainment industry, generating billions of dollars in revenue and captivated the imaginations of people from all corners of the world. As the world’s leading internet entertainment service with over 130million memberships worldwide it is a power brand to be reckoned with, although it hasn’t always been smooth sailing.

Netflix launched in 1998 as an online DVD rental service and in the early years went through significant reinvention. As co-founder and CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings established an unconventional approach to business from the very beginning, something he attributes to the brands success today. According to Interbrand’s Best Global Brands 2020, Netflix is positioned at No. 41 - up 24 places from 2019 and a whopping 41% improvement! In the Forbes Most Valuable Brands list Netflix has seen the most growth of any listed brand, at #26 it has seen a 72% shift from 2019 - no doubt largely influenced by the current global pandemic and our collective human need for escapism and joy.

Last month in a TED studio conversation, Chris Anderson, Head Curator at TED, spoke with Reed Hastings about his top 3 secrets to encouraging a culture of innovation and reinvention. As a distillation of an hour long piece of content here are my key take outs:

1. LEAN BUT BRILLIANT

Netflix defied business tradition and has cultivated a philosophy focused on freedom and responsibility, one that allows them to adapt and innovate as the needs of its customers change. “In the creative industry you want to inspire, motivate and excite people - that's a completely different business model to the way we have learnt to operate a creative agency” says Hastings in his reference to the idea of talent density versus volume or as the old adage claims, ‘less is more’! Keep your teams lean, high performing and pay them above industry benchmarks is the key insight here.

2. FREEDOM VS CONTROL

Netflix pride themselves on a culture that sets new benchmarks, values people over process, encourages innovative thinking over efficiency, and gives employees context, not controls. Sounds like potential chaos right? Hastings goes on to explain the learnings he has had on his CEO journey including the practise of "letting go of control". Netflix have no expense policies, no travel policies, no annual leave policies - the traditional virtues of hard work seems irrelevant in this new model where freedom and innovation prevail. “Build a fertile company that is focused on the long game” says Hastings.

3. CANDOUR OVER KINDNESS

While the Netflix approach was at first met with scepticism, Hasting’s unorthodox approach has now proven to be highly successful. In his conversation with Anderson, he opens up about his own challenges during his early career in wanting to be liked and how this prevented him from having frank and sometimes confronting conversations. He realised that his leadership approach but not what his team deserved or needed to move forward or grow. He now says he lives more honestly, in all aspects of his life and in recent years is focused on giving thoughtful and constructive feedback with positive intent - “…an honesty seeking CEO instead of a kind one" he says.

As our business community emerges into a new phase of being post COVID-19, I believe that more leaders will be adopting the principles Hasting’s discusses in his book “No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention”. While I don't agree with all of Hasting's perspectives, I have no doubt that leaders of tomorrow will shift their traditionally focused "factory" approaches to more liberated and creative business models that encourage innovation, divergent thinking and work/life balance.

Long-listed for the 2020 Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year and co-written by leading business thinker and author Erin Meyer, Hasting's dives into the controversial ideologies at the heart of the Netflix psyche and this TED conversation with Anderson is a must watch summation of his philosophical approach to business.

Written by Amber Bonney, Founder and Managing Director of The Edison Agency

The Three Secrets to Successful Relationships as a Leader

The Three Secrets to Successful Relationships as a Leader

Business can seem to be a complex environment with so many things vying for our attention; it's easy to see why leadership is one of the most challenging and rewarding roles. When we look at being the most effective leader the secret sauce to success is relationships. Developing our skills in building strong professional relationships has untold benefits for our people, our business and our life.

One of the most critical skills as a leader is our ability to understand people, what's important to them, what make's it essential to them and how they will feel when they achieve it. Whether it be our teams, clients, or stakeholders, understanding these three questions is a vital step in our ability to create a lasting beneficial relationship.

Our role then becomes how we help them fulfil their potential and achieve their goal and how we can meet the purposes of the business and our own.

The key is not to see these as separate entities but as intrinsically linked. When we help our teams to succeed, we succeed.

The first step to build and sustain any relationship is trust. To build a strong relationship with someone, you must first trust them, which means being vulnerable and honest with them. It also means being open to their feedback and trusting their judgment.

The second step is mutual respect. For any relationship to be successful, there must be mutual respect between the parties involved. This means respecting each other's opinions, ideas, and points of view. It also means valuing each other's time and effort and working together towards a common goal.

The third step and final step is communication. We need to be able to communicate with our team members in a way that is clear, concise, and effective. We need to understand their communication styles and adapt our own accordingly. It also means being open and honest with them, creating an environment of trust. Look for ways to collaborate. When we collaborate with our team members, we can share ideas, resources, and knowledge, leading to better decision-making and a more successful business.

When it comes to leadership, the most important thing will always be the relationships that a leader has with their team because that drives success. If you have good relationships with your team, you will more likely succeed as their leader. However, if you don't have good relationships with your team, it will be challenging to lead them successfully.

The Secret to Building Trust

If you can build trust, communication, and respect into your relationships with your teams, you will be well on your way to leadership excellence.

The secret to building trust is to be authentic. Be honest about your mistakes and learn from them. Model the behaviour you want to see in your team. When you build trust, people will be more likely to follow you, and they'll also be more likely to listen to your suggestions.

If you're not sure where to start, try these tips:

- Get to know your team members on a personal level. What are their interests? What motivates them?

- Communicate openly and frequently. Let people know what's going on in the organization, both the good and the bad.

- Be accessible. Make yourself available to answer questions and address concerns.

- Delegate tasks and give people the opportunity to take on new challenges.

- Provide feedback, both positive and constructive.

Building trust takes time, but it's worth the investment. When you have a team that trusts you, they'll be more likely to go above and beyond to achieve success.

The secret to good communication

Is building the right relationships with your teams.

Good communication must be two-way and starts with understanding your team's needs and goals. Once you know what they're striving for, you can begin to build a relationship of trust and mutual respect. From there, it's all about maintaining open lines of communication and always being available to lend a helping hand.

-Check that your communication is clear and not open for misinterpretation

Check people's understanding

Clarify your understanding

Keep it honest, regular and authentic

The secret to mutual respect

Understanding: When you take the time to listen to your team genuinely and communicate with them openly and honestly, you are showing them respect which they will, in turn, respect you as their leader. This mutual respect is the key to a successful, productive team.

If you want to build strong relationships with your teams and create a culture of respect:

Start by being an active listener. Make it a point to hear your employees' words without interruption or judgement. Respond thoughtfully and authentically to their ideas and concerns. If you can do this consistently, you'll soon earn their trust – and that's when the real magic happens.

A trusted leader can gain their teams' respect by building solid relationships based on communication, mutual respect, and trust. When you have this, you have the formula for leadership excellence.

If you can do these things, you will be well to becoming an excellent leader. Your team will respect and admire you and be more than willing to follow your lead.

What are some of your personal experiences with building trust within a team? We'd love to hear from you in the comments below!

Do you have any tips on how to build trust? Please share them with us! We're always looking for ways to improve our leadership skills. Thank you for reading, and we hope this article was helpful.

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originally posted here