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What is Peak Performance?
Simply put, like Larry the Cable Guy, “Get ‘er done”! Like Captain Picard, “Make it so”. Like the Lone Ranger,”Hi Ho, and Away”. Get cracking and get the electricity flowing. It doesn’t matter the size of your company or business. It works for one person, or 10,000 or more, local, national, or global.
Before you can reach peak performance you need to define what it is for you, your business, your company, your success. It certainly isn’t the same for everyone and every company or business even in the same industry. It depends on our perspectives, relationships, experiences or lack thereof, a company’s culture, people, organization, mission, values, goals, and objectives. What works for some people and companies doesn’t necessarily work for other people and companies even in the same industry. There is no real norm for peak performance. The challenge to attaining peak performance is two-fold;
- What is your Game? Have you defined it?
- Your Game: What am I good at, what is my company’s or business competitive advantage? Personally speaking, what is my passion? This is not necessarily what you are doing at the present time (if it’s individually we are speaking of). Once you know what you are really good at, have a passion for, and/or what is your company’s/business competitive advantage, then
- Come up with a definition of your game that exemplifies it. We are not talking about a mission statement. We are talking about a game definition, whether for an individual or company/business, it needs to be written down. Generalizations here don’t count. Use realistic desires, hopes, and dreams as much as possible to qualify the game, set the rules by which you will play, and the end results to be obtained. What does winning the game mean to you and others? Your Game defines who you are and/or why your company/business exists.
- Answer these questions: What does my game mean to me and others around me? If it’s a company or business, what does the game mean to the success of the company or business? How will I or we benefit from the game? Who cares about reaching peak performance in this game? Why should we or I care? To what results is peak performance so important? Does it go beyond just mere survival?
- What does Peak Performance in YOUR GAME or COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE look like?
- With the definitions and questions answered, now define what peak performance looks like in your game. Be SMART (like setting goals) – Specific, Measureable, Accountable, Realistic, Time bound.
- What anchors will indicate to you that you and/or the company/business are attaining peak performance? How will you know you made it?
So far, don’t mistake the above for competencies, skills, and behaviors. They are part of the picture but right now you are trying to determine what Success is going to look like and utilizing peak performance, how are we going to know it when we see it? No one can attain peak performance until they identify what it is.
Internalizing your Peak Performance and Game
Once you have identified what peak performance and your game means to you and your company/business, the next step is to internalize it. Internalize it means to make it part of your DNA and that of the company/business. You and everyone have to sense it, feel it, and live it daily. To do that it needs to be written down and in front of your face(s) daily to remind you and review your progress. How have I contributed to the game and peak performance today? Have I and/or the company/business lived up to the game rules today? Have I and/or we lived peak performance today? Have I and/or we contributed to the winning?
As a coach, I have it recorded and ask my clients to listen to the recording on a daily basis on a CD, IPOD, ZUNE, IPAD, IPAD2, smart-phone, whatever. You have to absorb it into your being. It’s like a downhill skier. They close their eyes before a run and visualize the course and ski it in their mind, sensing, feeling every turn, bump, change of the terrain. They visualize success. This is exactly the same. You need to visualize your success and the success of your company/business. Everyone in the company/business has to visualize the success and end game as a group ethos.
If it’s a company/business, it’s still the same process. As a company/business, you need to meet on a regular basis to find ways to internalize and have constant communication. For a company/business, communication in every direction, not just up and down, is the key to attaining peak performance. Have events applauding your successes and recognize individual and group contributions. Hold meetings to go over your short comings and how you are going to address them. Hold town hall meetings to share any new information. Ask questions and get everyone involved. Everybody in the company/business has to share the electricity, success and the failures. Everyone has to know how they contribute to the whole. What’s in it for them? What their contribution means to everyone else in the company/business. Everyone has to share the happiness and the pain. Everyone, together, has to be able to visualize the same game and peak performance attitude and DNA and follow the same game rules that have been established.
This is the start of attaining peak performance. Next month’s newsletter we talk about how to plan and implement.
Tags: career development, career help, organizational management, performance, performance development, talent development