"Money as feedback, not the goal"

Today's insight is from one of my coaches, who suggests looking at money as feedback, not as a goal, which is such a powerful way to approach your career.

How exactly does this apply to you, you might wonder.

The next title, the next pay grade, etc. are all things out of your control, especially when those goals are tied to how the wider economy and your particular industry is doing. Not just in the current moment, but say, for the next few years.

The metrics you should focus on instead are the value you bring to your organisation. The same way your organisation has to demonstrate the value it brings to each of the clients that hires it.

Your pay rise or promotion should be but a natural consequence of the value you bring to your team.

So how can you create, demonstrate and leverage that value so much that you should have no fear of achieving that title or salary (or fee if you run your own business), wherever you work or whomever you work for?

This value exercise is not something you pull together the night before your annual review, although if I was coaching you, I would help you prepare that.

But the majority of our work would instead focus on building your self-leadership, which will transform how you operate, strategise and communicate in your day to day.

The way to play the game is not by meeting what your organisation expects you to achieve, but in exceeding those expectations, so that you can deliver the kind of value that makes all the difference to them.

Just hard work will not get you anywhere - especially not in our age of AI. 

You cannot compete with technology when you are simply delivering what you are asked to do.

Self-leadership, on the other hand, makes you indispensable. 

Because after all, which company would not want to have or keep the kind of person on their team who is rising everyday to be better than they are? 

Raise your game, my friend.

Remember, the work starts now, not the night before your next review. 

So how can you build your self-leadership today?