NYC: Off To THRIVE.

This early ass AM finds me on the Acela train to NYC for what I am sure will be an epic conference experience for me.

This conference is a real treat for me. It is the first conference I have personally been to EVER where I wasn't speaking on a panel or presenting. (To say I am "comfortable" speaking in public would be a huge understatement.) And I could not be more excited about sitting back, and listening to the phenomenal line-up of speakers.

I'm so excited, I booked myself a front-row seat for the THRIVE: A Third Metric Live Event conference being hosted by Ariana Huffington and Mika Brzezinski.

It's a one-day conference (though there is a kick-off networking thing this evening) about how we are defining success today. As a person who has spent a number of years managing teams at this point, how success is defined is critical to my management style. While the piece of business I run for a company will have success metrics based around revenue and efficiencies, I think it is important to define success in how balanced we feel as a team.

I have surrendered the idea that "work-life balance" exists in a static way. For some, getting home at 6pm to spend time with family is critical to happiness. For others, being able to leave mid-day for two and a half hours to go to that Bikram class, and working till 8pm at night, is key to happiness. For most, getting to take all of their vacation time each year - guilt free - is key to happiness.

There is no one way to define "success" for an individual or a company. But for me personally, low-attrition rates and having a team that was productive and happy was part of my personal definition. 

It will be exciting to see what comes up in discussion and in presentations at this conference. And yes, of course, I will be writing it all up to share.