Peak performers are not born; they are made — self-made.
Almost anyone can be a peak performer with discipline and practice. Different people have different skills and abilities. But what is important is doing the best you can with your talents and resources.
Most peak performers have some readily observable traits. Here they are:
Peak performers have a strong sense of mission. Whether they are an executive, a teacher, or a preacher, peak performers have a strong sense of what they are about. Having a purpose and passion about what you are doing gives you the drive and perseverance to overcome almost any obstacle. As the Rev. Rick Warren (the best-selling author of The Purpose Driven Life) says: “You can focus on your purpose or you can focus on your problems, but you cannot do both.”
Peak performers are learners. The late Warren Bennis, who wrote dozens of articles and books about leadership, including Leaders: The Strategies for Taking Charge, stated the No. 1 trait of leaders is that they are learners — and lifelong learners at that. They might not always be enrolled in some type of formal seminar or degree-granting program, but they use their organization as a learning environment, and most have their own informal agenda for broadening their knowledge base.
Peak performers readily sacrifice today for a better tomorrow. To do otherwise often results in their tomorrows being like today. They have learned to give up distractions and time-robbers that cause us to lose our concentration on important issues. They have learned to say no. Too many people have difficulty doing that and, therefore, don’t focus on their goals — if they even have goals.
As a general rule of thumb, those who are employed segregate their available daily hours into eight hours of work, eight hours of sleep, and eight hours of free time. Peak performers often invest a major portion of their so-called free time to improve themselves. They don’t just pass the time or spend their time. Some people believe their free time should be used as leisure time, and that is all right — as long as they are satisfied to work for people who invest some of their free time in improving themselves.
Peak performers mentally rehearse upcoming events. They rehearse the upcoming week at the beginning of the week and rehearse each day at the beginning of that day. Perhaps nowhere is mental rehearsal more evident than the way peak performers prepare for and perform at meetings. They perform the way some people play the game of chess. They mentally rehearse what they are going to say and anticipate the comments of others.
Peak performers course correct. In their professional and personal lives, peak performers understand that success necessitates learning from their mistakes.
Mistakes are inevitable and can be a valuable learning experience. Listening to seasoned executives can often save junior executives from making mistakes that their seniors have seen or experienced. This is as true in business as it is in combat.
Charles Garfield, in his book Peak Performers: The New Heroes of American Business, states: “Searching for the peak performer within yourself has one basic meaning: You recognize yourself as a person who was not born as a peak performer, but as a learner with the capacity to grow, change, and reach for the highest possibilities of human nature. You regard yourself as a person in process. Not perfect, but a person who keeps asking: What more can I be? What else can I achieve that will benefit me, my family, and my organization?”
Terence Moore, former President of MidMichigan Health and author of “Lessons in Leadership and Career Survival,” authored this column as part of a monthly series focusing on career survival and advancement tor the Midland Daily News. He may be emailed at tfm43@speednetllc.com. Part 2 of this article will appear in tomorrow's Daily News, and includes additional traits of peak performers.
"peak" - Google News
July 01, 2021 at 04:08PM
https://ift.tt/2UdsLiw
Strategies for career survival and advancement: Peak performer psychology (Part 1) - Midland Daily News
"peak" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2KZvTqs
https://ift.tt/2Ywz40B
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Strategies for career survival and advancement: Peak performer psychology (Part 1) - Midland Daily News"
Post a Comment