Workplace Multiplier by Tola Akinsulire

January 6, 2026

Welcome to the Workplace Multiplier newsletter. Published Monday to Friday, equipping you to achieve your professional goals faster and without burnout or overwhelm.

Why your "ONE result" is probably still three results in disguise

Howdy

Yesterday I asked you to define the ONE result that would fundamentally change your professional reality in 2026.

If you're like most professionals I've coached, you wrote something down. You felt good about it. You thought you'd nailed it.

And you're probably still wrong.

Not because you're not strategic. Because you're trained to hedge.

Here's what most professionals do when asked for their ONE result:

They write: "Increase revenue, improve team efficiency, and build strategic partnerships."

Or: "Get promoted while maintaining work-life balance."

Or: "Launch the new product line and strengthen client relationships."

They think they're being focused. They're actually describing three separate goals connected by the word "and."

That's not clarity. That's diplomacy.

Why we do this:

In most organizations, admitting you're prioritizing ONE thing over others feels dangerous. What if your boss wants you focused on something else? What if the thing you deprioritize comes back to bite you?

So we hedge. We create Frankenstein priorities; three goals stitched together with conjunctions, hoping that covers all our bases. Just like the Frankenstein monster. A not-so-pretty one too.

This is not strategic thinking. It is actually strategic avoidance. I should know that because I used to do that.

When you don’t know what would really move the needle for you, you create hybrid priorities. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. Autographed by me.

The problem with hybrid priorities:

When everything is important, nothing gets protected.

Let me show you what I mean.

Imagine your ONE result is: "Get promoted to VP level."

Clear, you think, right? Except now your calendar fills up:

• Team meeting (they need you)
• Client crisis (it's urgent)
• Process improvement project (it's important)
• Industry conference speaking opportunity (it's visible)

Every single item seems to support your promotion goal. So you say yes to all of it.

Three months later, you're exhausted. Your work is solid but not breakthrough. You're maintaining excellence across multiple areas, but you haven't fundamentally changed anyone's perception of your capability.

Because "get promoted" isn't actually a result you can protect - it's an outcome you hope other people will grant you.

Here's the test of a real ONE result:

Can you answer this question in five seconds: "What would I stop doing this week to protect this goal?"

If the answer is "Well, it depends..." or "I can't really stop anything..." you don't have ONE result. You have a wish list.

A real ONE result looks like this:

Not: "Get promoted to VP level" But: "Deliver the Q2 transformation project that cuts operational costs by 25% and becomes the template for the entire division"

Not: "Improve team performance and build leadership skills" But: "Turn my team into the highest-performing unit in the organization as measured by quarterly output; so undeniably that leadership has to study what we're doing differently"

Not: "Grow revenue and expand market presence" But: "Close three enterprise clients in Q1 that 10x our average contract size and fundamentally shift how the market perceives our positioning"

See the difference?

The vague version requires you to work on everything. The specific version tells you exactly what meetings to decline, what projects to delegate, and what opportunities to ignore.

The professionals who break through aren't more talented than you.

They're just more ruthless about what they say no to.

So here's your Tuesday assignment:

Look at what you wrote yesterday. Read it out loud.

If it contains the word "and" you're still hedging.

If it describes a general state ("be more strategic," "improve leadership"); you're still vague.

If you can't immediately name three things you'd stop doing to protect it; you're still diffused.

Rewrite it. Make it singular. Make it specific. Make it defensible.

Because the quality of your 2026 depends entirely on whether you can protect your focus from the tyranny of everything else that seems important.

What's your real ONE result?

Keep winning at work and in life,

Tola Akinsulire

Your Strategic Workplace Mentor