This article presents a mixed message about taking in account your personal relationships as an executive. While a good article, I believe the topic would be better covered in a longer, more detailed piece. The following includes a few key points to consider with commentary:
Measure what is desired. Measurements are useful only to the point they define movement toward a clearly defined objective. Spend more effort on achieving a desired result, than measuring all the characteristics of achievement. Focus observation on key measures placing remaining effort in action.
Quality must proceed quantity. When interacting with other groups, make sure your efforts are actually desired and produce improvements in a relationship. Often measuring a thing causes us to focus more on increasing the measure, actually distracting us from our original purpose.
A strong self focus improves business. When you focus on one aspect of your life, you'll tend to prioritize other areas of your life. As you improve your self focus, inadvertently you'll improve the relationships around you. This could mean improving family relationships to remove outside stresses that keep you off focus at the office.
Tracking isn't improving. Just because you are accounting for soft-skills, doesn't mean you are increasing their value with the people around you. Seek training in soft skills including interpersonal communications, listening, problem solving, and building trust. You must also be sincere in your efforts to improve relationship quality.
Enjoy the process of reorienting focus on relationships. Have a clear purpose for improving soft skills, look for mutual objectives you can share with those close to you. Often people spend so much time designing the process, they don't consider why they are implementing it.
Celebrate relationship growth not the analytical measure. The value of the relationship is more important than your measure of time. There is no point to improving the quantity of undesired actions. Focus on successes unrelated to the measures and reinforce desired results.
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