Did you hate corporate performance reviews? Let’s be honest, most of us have had a crappy performance review experience.
One of mine was when our CEO magically tried to add in 3 extra (seriously heavy) responsibilities during mine without me noticing and having to tell her that without a big raise that wasn’t happening. Not exactly fun in the middle of a review on your “willingness to be a team player” am I right?
However, I’m all about taking things I learned form the 9-5 and business school and translating them to the entrepreneurial world.
I was recently inspired to do this by one of our Leading Greatly podcast guests, Jena Abernathy. Jena is the author of The Inequality Equalizer, and told us that she did her OWN performance reviews before her superiors, and recommends her clients do the same.
I realized… why are we not translating this to entrepreneurship? I mean, I’m my own CEO and boss so I should surely be evaluating my performance right? Let’s not stay blind to where we’re killing it or where we could improve.
Let me walk you through a mini-performance review so that you can look at areas for improvement, opportunity, and over-delivery as well as give yourself some serious cheerleading and credit for the areas where you’re killing it!
EVALUATION AREA #1: ATTITUDE
We all remember what it was like to work with that co-worker with the really crappy, negative attitude. However, we need to ensure we’re not being that person to OURSELVES.
We can’t be our own cranky boss, demanding CEO, and rude co-worker. When we work for ourselves we have to be relentless about maintaining a great attitude (despite challenges) and to ensure that we’re showing up with that even when we don’t have someone breathing down our necks!
So I’d love for you to ask yourself…what kind of attitude do you bring to each day? Are you constantly focusing on what’s going right or what’s going wrong? How does your attitude impact those around you (including your clients)? Do you get a bad attitude if something goes wrong and let it shift your day? Are you able to quickly turn your attention to the positive and move forward?
If you had to rank your attitude in your business on a scale of 1-5 where would it be? If it’s not a 5… why not?
A good attitude is non-negotiable as an entrepreneur, and has more of an impact on our success, bottom line, and bank account than we realize. So ask yourself…what’s my review and if needed, what’s my plan for improvement?
EVALUATION AREA #2: INITIATIVE
Initiative is all about our ability to take charge, create opportunities, and go after what we want. This is highly valued in an employee, and I would argue even more valued in an entrepreneur.
Yet, some of us lose this in the entrepreneurial space. We get so caught up in downloading the next opt-in and trying to figure out how to do it “right” we forget to take true initiative.
We forget that it’s actually about rinsing and repeating and testing and tweaking.
Where can you take more initiative in your business? Where are you currently sitting on the sidelines? Where are you telling yourself that there’s only one right way to create success?
If you had to rank your initiative in your business on a scale of 1-5 where would it be? If it’s not a 5… why not?
Initiative is so crucial as an entrepreneur, so ask yourself… what’s my review and if needed, what’s my plan for improvement?
EVALUATION AREA #3: DECISION MAKING
The ability to effectively and efficiently make decisions is KEY for any employee and is HIGHLY valuable as an entrepreneur.
Yet some of us find ourselves in a trap where all we’re doing is making decisions or we’re making none at all.
We’re not managing our decision fatigue so we’re either shutting down or making poor, ineffective decisions.
You can learn all about my take on decision fatigue and how to manage it here.
But today what I really want you to ask yourself is… am I making decisions like a CEO? Am I protecting my decision-making energy and using it for the IMPORTANT decisions and not #allthedecisions? When I do make decisions are they effective and efficient?
At the end of the day… your ability to make decisions matters as do the outcomes that your decisions routinely create. Meaning just because you make decisions quickly, doesn’t mean they’re good if they don’t create success. And just because you create successful outcomes doesn’t mean you’re effective at making decisions if they take you forever to make.
If you had to rank your decision-making abilities in your business on a scale of 1-5 where would it be? If it’s not a 5… why not?
Now, I’d love to hear from you! How did you do in your own performance review? Which area do you feel strongest in? Which area needs the most improvement? Comment below and let me know!