Measuring career success
Have you ever thought about the universal, absolute meaning of career success? Is it possible to build up an ultimate algorithm that is able to rate someone’s success by given attributes?
I like spending time delving into people’s stories. I enjoy observing their views, watching their body language and hearing the tone of their voices while talking. Connecting dots between those and the content that is being retold, I build up my own reflection of their experience. Not only by using the imagination to visualize it, but also by observing their happiness level. Regardless of not always being able to correlate to their values, sitting next to someone who feels happy is inspiring.
It happened some time ago that one person reached out to me saying: congratulations, you made a great career success! Then I realized that I have never looked at my own career success from the outside till that moment. What did it mean, how was it measured? Did I feel as if I was successful in my career?
On the other hand, I’m a manager. My main focus is on building success and growth. Success of the team, department, individuals. However, meeting people from different industries who have various ambitions, preoccupations, success frameworks, and seeing them happy (or unhappy), while they’re retelling their stories, used to bring friction to my own definition of success.
What does it mean to have a successful career nowadays? Is it possible to map success to the job title, the status in the community, big house or a car?
How did they recognize my career as successful after all?
I really think that career success means none of the above. For the majority of people being happy means success in general and so in career. Having stories that inspire people to retell, the feeling of usefulness and accomplishment. Helping others.
Some people visualize mentioned sensations through their job title, the status in the community or a big house. But I truly believe that having everything listed doesn’t mean success if there’s no inner happiness.
