Defining Criteria for Assessment also known as making your success the self-fulfilling strategy… This is my absolutely favorite personal mistake to reflect upon.

Thinking about my early days in the corporate world, I was working with an ironclad assumption that nothing can or even should be done in terms of your personal targets — apart from patiently waiting for your boss to present those to you. The effects of my brilliant strategy were quite easy to predict: feeling powerless, demotivated at the very start of the year, craving autonomy and decision making opportunities&helli;' This approach was not doing any favors to me, my role or my company.

Fast forward to today — enriched with my 20+ years professional experience and all the hard work on studying power that followed, I now ask the following questions to my coachees whenever they fall in the same trap that I did at some point.

• What would your ideal target list look like?
• What you believe should be on your target list to help company move forward?
• What goals and projects will help you to showcase your talents and abilities?
• Which work-related tasks you genuinely enjoy and want to do more of?
• What elements would help you to get noticed for your next big role or would help your manager to justify your pay increase?

I think that you know by now where I am going with this.

The essence of this strategy is to influence/rewrite the criteria based on which you are evaluated (to use the corporate jargon - to make sure that the targets are set so that you will hit them). The idea behind it is to make sure that you are evaluated against the metrics that will make you stand in a good light.

1. Do not give up on a chance to have impact on your scores. The sure way to give up power is to think that you do not have any.
2. For the items which are externally driven (sales targets, KPIs) — ask clarification questions and negotiate. At best you would be able to lower the expectations at worst — you will signal early that the goals are excessive. It is also a great chance to clarify how the targets are set, what impacts them and how the final decisions are being made.
3. Take a pro-active approach and propose your own yearly roadmap. What are your ideas to pursue in 2023? What can be your trophy for the year? How can you combine your power building ambitions with corporate strategies and direction?
4. Check the goals of your direct managers and consider cascading yours to make it clear that you will be fueling their success. An employee who is helping them to reach their targets is automatically perceived as an ally and somebody to support.
5. Inter-twine your personal goals with the corporate ones. Example? Setting up a corporate podcast that would have you as the host.
6. Leverage the goal setting process as an excuse to look for new mentors and advisors. Asking for opinion or guidance of those high in power would make them feel appreciated and might form a perception of being co-owners of your potential success.
7. Treat it as your tool to make your work more meaningful, enjoyable and fulfilling.

Your Evaluation Criteria CAN and SHOULD be influenced. This point is much too important to let it go without even trying!