Every year over the Christmas holidays I reflect on the year gone by. I set aside a full day only to look back on my performance at work. What did I do and how did I do? When did I perform well and when did I bomb? Where had I learned and where did I plateau? (“Plateau-ing” resulting in a more negative score than bombing – except if it was the result of stupidity or act on pure emotion).
On 26th of december 2018 I almost gave myself one of the best self-evaluations ever 🎇. The business had just reached a 5 million in sales, profits where at a record level, the team was growing and performing, we had successfully started rolling out our digital platform (which would prove to be vital in 2020 aka “the year of digital transformation”), new experience centres opening but most of all customers and suppliers were very satisfied, even happy.
So no real surprise my personal score did not drop below a 7/10 and mostly 8´s or even the occasional 9. Except for two parameters. They were at an all-time low. 3/10 for “self-development” and a 4/10 for “leaving my comfort zone”… Not good Wim. Not good at all…
It hit me hard. I was on a high because of all the “objective” business metrics. Even the “soft” parameters (but more important ones) were looking better than ever. And then completely flunking the 2 most important parameters… What happened? Is business success inversely related with personal development and risk-taking? That would go against everything I believed in.
Studying things closer I could also see that all the high scores where for things I had already done numerous times before over the last 20 years. Hiring, firing, launching a new brand or product, building a team, co-create processes, motivation, communication, marketing our value proposition, expanding our business and scope,… Then it struck me. 👊🏼 In the face yes.
I had been working on auto-pilot for the whole of 2018. Major personal fail 🙅♂️.
It kind of all made sense now. We had proven and refined our strategy. We had been executing well in a booming market. Everyone was doing what they did best. And we were enjoying the ride 🍾 more than we were pushing the accelerator…
That is when I knew I had to fire myself…⏏️
Complacency needed to make way for ambition and learning. Leaning back replaced by falling forward. Not just for me, but for everyone on the team.
I was determined to start 2019 with a growth mindset and a Big Secret Plan…🕵🏻♂️
Note: This is part I of a series of V stories this week on my entrepreneurial journey of the last 2 years.
Next up – Episode II – here.