When we have some time to take a breath, read a newspaper,
watch a TV show, and relax, we find a continuation of what
is common in the work place. A lot of what is presented and
written about is describing how well - or not so well -
others did, organizations did, sports teams did, - in a
nutshell, how well they performed.
Every walk of life seems to be inundated with competition.
We feel we constantly have to compete with others, show
that we are worthy and that we deserve to advance based on
our performance.
As you have seen in many articles and writings, I call
myself a Performance Coach. When we say our motto is:
"Helping other succeed", or "Helping other help themselves
achieve their goals and dreams", we actually want to help
them to improve their performance.
On first glace that seems to be pretty obvious and easy to
understand. When we look into the meaning of the word
performance, we can learn a number of things, but also get
a little more confused. Here are some samples:
Kernerman's English Multilingual Dictionary says
performance = the doing of something.
Fair enough. We probably can all agree with that. The
questions is: what is the something and how well is it done?
The Encyclopedia Britannica looks at the legal aspects and
offers this explanation:
Performance in law, is the act of doing that which is
required by a contract. The effect of successful
performance is to discharge the person bound to do the act
from any future contractual liability. Each party to the
contract is bound to perform promises according to the
stipulated terms.
I guess that means: If you do what you promised in a
contract, you performed as expected and are entitled to the
compensation that was promised to you. Wouldn't it be nice
if things were that simple? You tell your boss what you are
willing to do, and when you do it, you are good to go? In
most cases that won't work, because we all have come to
understand that what was originally promised is seen as the
minimum requirement and sets the basic expectation.
The first lesson to learn from is this: Don't over-promise,
so the foundation of the expectation regarding your
performance isn't too high. Then, over-deliver and surprise
those who need to compensate you.
A word of caution: You want to find realistic values when
applying this lesson. If you play low-ball and then blow
everybody away by your final delivery, you run the risk of
loosing trust. Give realistic figures, set realistic
expectations, and then try everything you can to best them;
that is the approach that will help you in the long run.
Back to the definitions: Webster's Dictionary gives us
these choices for the term:
Performance =
- the execution of an action
- something accomplished
- the fulfillment of a claim, promise, or request
- the action of representing a character in a play
- a public presentation or exhibition (a benefit
performance)
- the ability to perform
- the linguistic behavior of an individual
With all these version of performance in mind, we want to
see if it always has to be competition.
I say = NO!
What we want to achieve is a way to act and do things in
our way. That is the way we want to be known for, the way
we are proud of, the way we acknowledge for ourselves, the
honest way we are and we act. Remember the saying: "How you
do something is how you do everything!"
Our performance should always be the best we can do. That
requires to give our actions some thought ' and don't
forget, what we say is an action too, so give that some
thought as well.
The recent tendency to turn everything into a competition
makes life and work appear as if someone has to loose for
someone else to win, and naturally, the winner is always
seen as the better performer.
In some cases when that argument of someone or something
being better doesn't necessarily apply, other reasons for
awarding a winner to a competition are thought. You might
recall the recent award of a huge contract by the US Air
Force to the American company Northrop-Grumman. They have
created a new tanker airplane for the military that won in
4 out of 5 critical performance areas. In addition it has
the shorter take off distance with the same take off
weight, meaning it can take off from shorter runways all
around the world.
When our troops are involved in battle, they don't always
have the luxury of perfectly prepared airfields with never
ending runways, so this point has global importance. Still,
Boeing tried to make the argument that they should win the
contract anyway, because some of the parts and work is
going to be done by a company outside the United States,
namely Airbus.
What does that mean for our initial question? Well,
performance is not a matter of who wins the competition
(assuming there even is one), but a matter of integrity.
You don't just want to perform to you highest level when
others are watching (or judging, like about the tanker
plane), but always. You want to be able to provide your
best effort all the time, or the best of your team, and the
best of your company.
Yes, you may not always win, but that is because others try
their hardest too, and every once in a while their best is
a little better than yours. Rather than finding reasons
outside yourself, you want to look at what can be learned,
and do better the next time around.
If you live and work in an environment where you can
motivate others and yourself to always bring the best
possible performance to the table, you will win the vast
majority of situations. The effort and the integrity with
which you perform it actually counts much more than the
fact that you are the last one standing at the end of a
competition.
Bottom line: performance is not always a competition, but
it should always be a sign of your best effort, brought
with honesty, integrity, and pried to those that ask for
it. If you set your values and your attitude in this way,
you will become very successful, and everybody around you
will love and respect you.
Try it, - you will see how good it feels!
----------------------------------------------------
Axel Meierhoefer is an experienced performance coach,
author, educator, consultant, and the founder of Axel
Meierhoefer Consulting LLC (AMC LLC). His motto is" Helping
others help themselves achieve success". If you like to get
on his VIP E-mail list to receive more articles, or if you
like to receive his FREE special report, go to
http://www.meierhoefer.net/special or email
AM@Meierhoefer.net
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