I often help leaders define what success looks like in their role, and recently someone asked me how I would answer the same question, as an executive coach?

Professionals often define success in terms of revenue, but in my experience, once you are well-established in your profession, income is generally down the list in importance when considering success.

Most of my thinking goes into achieving and maintaining the right balance of clients in my portfolio; my two goals are to add the most value to them and to further increase the breadth and depth of my knowledge (which in turn supports the first goal). Questions I ask myself:

> Do I have the right mix of clients? Are they over-indexed to one industry or type of challenge… and is that a problem? Do we have values alignment?

> Am I still adding value with a client? From time to time, the work with a client will run its course, and it makes sense to recognize that fact. Even for long-term clients, I “fire myself” every couple of years to ensure I look at our engagement with fresh eyes.

> Do I need more challenges? Is it time to more intentionally pursue assignments or clients that stretch my boundaries and cause me to further develop my skillset? One example might be consciously seeking out clients in emerging industries or those that are especially impacted by evolving marketplace forces (I’m drawn to help leaders navigate significant change and lead transformation).

> What’s in it for my clients? Does my portfolio mix benefit my clients? All the marketing gurus preach that you need to niche down, but having clients across a wide range of industries helps me collect insights from disparate industries in a manner that accrues benefits to all.

> Am I gaining or losing energy? I find it helpful to ask whether I have more or less energy now than I did a year ago. The right mix of challenging and intelligent clients should be energizing, but if not, time to explore what exactly is draining my energy. Perhaps it’s accepting assignments that don’t best utilize my talents or where I add the most value? Maybe it’s having too many clients?

I’d like to suggest that the more you are learning, growing, and adding value, the more successful you are.