And Now What?
A coaching reflection on achievement, operational excellence, and what remains once success stops being enough.
A few weeks after publishing The Applause We Never Question, a thoughtful comment appeared beneath the article:
“This all makes sense, but what about organizations? What about KPIs, performance goals, evaluations, targets and competition? How do we stay connected to ourselves in environments that constantly demand results?”
It may be one of the most important questions for anyone trying to build a meaningful life while operating in the reality of corporate world. The question reminded me of a conversation from a personal transformation coaching session I had with a client a few weeks ago…
“I am probably the highest-paid man in Germany,” he told me.
I looked at him, slightly confused. “Did your child allowance increase? Or maybe you received some special government bonus?”
He laughed. “Neither.”
Then he added: “If you compare the work I do with the time I invest, I am probably among the highest-paid people in Germany.”
“That sounds fantastic,” I replied.
“It does.” Then he paused. “But there is a complication.”
“What complication?”
“The work no longer interests me. And the things that truly interest me don’t make money.”
For a moment, neither of us said anything.
And now what?
This is not the story we are usually prepared for. We are taught how to pursue achievement, perform, set goals and climb the corporate ladder. Yet very few teachings address what happens when we arrive. Or what happens when success solves some problems but reveals others?
One of the ideas that has been particularly useful to address these questions comes from Abraham Maslow’s distinction between Deficiency Values and Being Values.
Deficiency Values (D-values) emerge from what we need
Security. Achievement. Status. Recognition. Control. Success.
Most corporations naturally operate through these values — measured, tracked and optimized under the banner of operational excellence. According to The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance the primary purpose of a corporation is to conduct lawful business in order to generate profits, grow its value and efficiently coordinate economic production. No hard feelings and nothing wrong with that. Organizations need goals, profit, accountability, and operational excellence — they need performance. Without D-values, most profit driven organizations would not survive.
The problem begins when human beings start living exclusively through D-values.
D-values answer one question: “What do I need?” On the other side being values, or B-values, answer a different question: “What do I bring?”
What do I bring?
Different people bring different qualities into the systems (family, team, company…) they belong to: curiosity, creativity, meaning, contribution. authenticity, connection, beauty, purpose…
As we mature, and as our success grows, the question of B-values often becomes more relevant than the question of D-values. Many successful professionals discover that burnout is not always caused by working too much, sometimes it is caused by living for too long without enough B-values present in daily life.
- Too much output. Too little meaning.
- Too much performance. Too little curiosity.
- Too much achievement. Too little connection.
This becomes particularly important when our role involves leading or developing other people. Leadership begins with self-awareness. The more aware I become of my own patterns, motivations, fears, strengths and blind spots, the more naturally I begin to ask different questions.
- What am I contributing?
- What am I creating?
- How am I helping others grow?
- What kind of environment am I helping to build?
As self-awareness expands, the focus gradually shifts…
- From proving value to creating value.
- From recognition to contribution.
- From external validation to internal expansion.
This is why increased interest in B-values (such as curiosity, creativity and contribution) is natural consequences of self-awareness development. A professional who lacks self-awareness may still achieve results, but with growth of self-awareness we naturally become genuinely interested in others. People become interested in coaching, mentoring, teaching or creating something that outlives them.
The desire to contribute is a developmental outcome. A sign that growth is no longer focused only on what we can get from the world, but increasingly on what we can bring into it.
My Identity Journey Perspective
From the perspective of My Identity Journey, the question is not whether achievement or connection matters more. Both matter.
External expansion and inner expansion are partners.
Coprorations create opportunities for external expansion: projects, responsibilities, challenges, resources, learning environments, people who help us grow. For most of us, corporations provide the arena where our capabilities are tested and transformed into results. That matters.
At the same time, corporations (and organizations in general) cannot do our inner work for us. They cannot create self-awareness on our behalf. They cannot decide what kind of human being we want to become. That responsibility remains ours.
As self-awareness expands, the focus gradually shifts from proving value to creating value. Achievement stays important, but our relationship with achievement changes. We become less dependent on achievement for our sense of worth and more interested in how our achievements serve something larger… contribution, growth, development, people… Many leaders discover a new form of ambition.
Having this in mind we can say that self-awareness creates the conditions for inner expansion. And inner expansion creates the conditions for sustainable leadership.
The goal is to bring more of our key qualities, of who we are into the opportunities already available to us. More awareness, more curiosity and more creativity. We may ask ourselves:
“How do I bring the best of who I am into the opportunities this organization already offers?”
Sustainable success emerges from integrating achievement and connection. Finding the best that the system can offer and bringing the best that we have to bring in.
Corporations provide the ground where we can create results. Inner work provides the capacity to do so without losing ourselves in the process.
….
And now what?
Continue growing. Both outwardly and inwardly.
If I could choose one thing for my children, it would be to always strive for excellence while continuously strengthening their connection to themselves.
Written by Pedja Jovanović
Pedja Jovanović is the Founder of Atria Group International and Co-creator of My Identity Journey and My Leadership Journey. He works internationally with senior leaders, founders, and executive teams navigating growth, complexity, and transformation, combining cognitive, embodied, and intuitive approaches to leadership development.
