I was recently speaking at a summit for high-performing EAs and one of the questions that was asked was, “How do you measure success?” That’s a tough one for us Force Multipliers (Executive Assistants and Chiefs of Staff), isn’t it?
For many other positions in an organization, the answers seem so cut and dry. For your sales team or your operations staff, the goals are pretty simple: hit your numbers. X number in sales volume per month or X number of leads generated per day or X ROI. Simple, right? Well, what about Force Multipliers? How do they measure success when so often their projects, tasks, and responsibilities are at the mercy of other team members?
Determine Your Goals, Define Your Success
As challenging as it sometimes can be to set clear and actionable goals for Executive Assistants and Chiefs of Staff, it is an incredibly important exercise. Force Multipliers’ goals can often be overlooked or maybe not even taken into consideration as we go about goal setting for ourselves or the organization. Yes, they may be closely tied to their Executive’s or company’s goals, in fact, they generally should be. However, you must get clear on—and establish a way to measure—your unique goals and contributions.
So, while I don’t have an exact goal or metric for you to measure success by, make sure you (and your Executive) have one. Discuss it and get your leader’s buy-in. Maybe it’s ensuring that the employee morale rating is at 90 percent at all times. Maybe it’s producing three new pieces of content each week to position your Executive as a thought leader. Perhaps it is simply that emails are caught up on and there are no outstanding action items at the end of each week.
How We Measure Success in Our Business
Executive Assistant
What does a win look like for my boss, Adam, and his Executive Assistant? It means that once Adam has handed off a task, idea, or project, the expectation is that it does not come back across his desk until it is complete. For Adam, the win is for him to be able to clear his head of those tasks and trust that his EA will take ownership and get it done. Because this measurement has been agreed upon by both Adam and his EA, she knows that she can measure her success by whether or not Adam is coming back to check in with her about something that he already delegated.
Chief of Staff
In my role as Chief of Staff, I measure success a little bit differently. First, I measure success based on whether or not Adam’s goals and the company’s goals are being met. For example, if Adam wants to donate a certain amount of money to non-profits through his Foundation this year, then whether or not we hit that is how I measure success. Or, if our goal for Livian is to hire ten Territory Leaders, then that’s my goal too. Sure, I may or may not be directly involved in either of these goals. But, I am involved in making sure the various companies are clear on their goals, they have the support and resources they need, they have clear OKRs and reporting structures in place, and I keep my eyes and ears out for opportunities to help achieve these goals.
In addition, I measure success by identifying gaps in the organization and bringing new ideas, perspectives, and solutions to Adam or other team members. And finally, I measure success by how much I am learning, growing, and contributing. Those final two are a bit more subjective, but to me and Adam, they are crystal clear. We have discussed how I measure success, and Adam agrees – which is a win for both of us.
Why is Measuring Success Important for Force Multipliers?
There isn’t a right or wrong way to measure success as an Executive Assistant or Chief of Staff. The point here is that you’ve taken the time to think about the question, determine the answer that works for you and your leader, put a framework into place (like this Force Multiplier Execution Plan) to keep track of your progress, and report it regularly.
While it can be difficult to determine how to measure success for Executive Assistants and Chiefs of Staff, it is not impossible. And it’s a worthy endeavor to undertake. Why? Because it helps Force Multipliers create a path for their career growth, gives them specific results to add to their resume, as well as gives you clear information when discussing a promotion or compensation increase. Measure what matters. Measure your success.
How do you measure success in your role? Are you and your leader on the same page about what success look like?
