Money & Power Aren't Enough; We Need The 3rd Metric.

Huffington Post

We've all bought into this male definition of success, money and power, and it's not working. It's not working for men, and it's not working for women. It's not working for anyone. ~Arianna Huffington

Arianna burnt herself out a few years ago- literally collapsed at her desk broke her cheekbone and required 5 stitches on her eye- so she was forced to look at what she had been doing to herself. She started a sleep movement and now is expanding this thought that life is more than power and money. Wellbeing is the missing element(s) that makes both men and women more joyful and therefore more successful in the end.

She recently held The Third Metric: Redefining Success Beyond Money & Power to introduce the idea and has been speaking and writing about it a lot lately and I applaud her message. My own burnout and that of many of the people I care about is the main catalyst for my work today. Exhausted whether we work inside or outside the home and even if we're successful in many areas of our lives we're often too depleted to appreciate the good fortune. And it's not just that we are doing this to ourselves, which would be bad enough, it's that we are parenting our kids that it is normal to be constantly busy and frantic. What kind of life is that for us let alone kids?

The graphic above was part of an infographic that was posted regarding this topic and what instantly popped out at me was how the new definition resembles a ME Map. Yup, I made The 3rd Metric about ME ;)    And while some might poo-poo the idea as fluffy and a luxury they should note how 8 out of 10 employees are experiencing workplace stress and it cost businesses $300BILLION a year. Gallup recently did a study that said only 30% of the US workforce is engaged with their jobs and that the cost is closer to $500B, but you get the point.

Something tells me this is going to be the hot new topic of conversation in business. The economy is starting to get better and whether next year or 5 years from now employees are going to start exiting companies that burn them out. The attraction for talent is going to include how they thrive and not just on the power and money that is offered up. If businesses brush this off not only are they holding back the engagement that could profit them now, they will be left with a stale and numb bench to work with then.