8 steps to High Performance

Focus on what you can change (Ignore the rest)

Marc Effron
‘Do not try to change yourself. You are unlikely
to succeed. But work hard to improve the way
you perform’ – Peter Drucker
The 8 steps
1. Set big goals
2. Behave to perform
3. Grow yourself faster
4. Connect
5. Maximize your fit
6. Fake it
7. Commit your body
8. Avoid distractions
Some people begin their career with some
clear performance advantages. They might be
smarter than you, from a better socio
economic background, be attractive or have
good personality characteristics.
These combined items predict up to 50% of
anyone’s individual performance. You can call
them the fixed 50%.
You control every other factor that drives your
performance from your capabilities and
behavior to the size of your network.
What’s the benefit of being a high performer?
High performance will get you more of what
you value, whether that’s flexibility, power,
opportunity, pay, or recognition.
Science says that high performance employees
deliver anything between 100% to 500% more
output than the average employee.
IQ is inherited about 50% of the time and
makes for a 25% impact of your performance.
Blame your parents

The average college students IQ is 115. Higher

IQ matters if you have a complex job, however
a high IQ can make you less of a effective
manager.
Another gift from your parents is personality,
which like intelligence is about 50% inherited.
Women tend to get better ratings than men,
but lower salary increases.
Race bias occurs globally, is pervasive and not
disappearing fast enough.
You can only achieve high performance when
you have a high performer’s mindset. That
mindset is one of competitive edge and self
sacrifice and prioritizing performance at work
above your other options.
You will be evaluated not just for what you
deliver but also relative to how others
perform. That's going to be true throughout
your life, and its best to recognize that.
When are you, your worst enemy?
1. When you externalize failure
2. We assign intent to other’s actions
3. We ignore information that can help us perform.
1. Set big Goals
Bigger goals focused on the right things, allow
you to demonstrate higher performance.
Bigger goal also test your capabilities and build
self confidence in your ability to deliver great
results in the future. since bigger goals are
more challenging to achieve, you’re forced to
build new skills and capabilities to achieve
them.
Science about goals
1. Goals matter
2. Bigger goals increase what we deliver
3. Fewer goals means higher achievement ( this is against
conventional company MBOs)
4. Coach toward the future
2. Behave to perform
Behaviors help you differentiate yourself as a
high performer because they prove that you
can do more than just get things done.
High performers work hard to identify the
most productive behaviors, learn new
behaviors where needed and stop showing the
less helpful ones.
The science if high performance behaviors
1. Understand yourself
2. Choose the right behaviors
3. Adapt quickly

Your personality strongly influences your behaviors but does

not control them
There are some basic behaviors that you need
to have, else you cannot be a high performer-
ethical, honest, fair , not screaming at
employees etc.
4 things Transformational leaders do well
• Connect
• Innovate
• Inspire
• Model
Study on behaviors of CEOS

What they show What they don’t show

• Fast • Respect
• Aggressive • Open to criticism
• Persistent • Listening
• Efficient • Team work
• Proactive
• High standards
Everyone around us sees us more accurately
than we see ourselves. That is because we are
wonderfully delusional about our own
capabilities and behaviors and the less capable
we are , the more delusional we are.
The 11 Hogan derailers
1. Excitable –seems to lack persistence
2. Skeptical-seems to lack trust
3. Cautious-resistant to change and reluctant to take chances
4. Reserved-seems to be a poor communicator
5. Leisurely-seems stubborn an un-cooperative
6. Bold-seems unable to admit mistakes or learn from them
7. Mischievous-seems to have trouble maintaining commitments
8. Colorful-seems pre occupied with being noticed
9. Imaginative-seems creative but lacking in judgement
10. Diligent-tends to disempower staff
11. Dutiful-tends to be pleasant but does not support subordinates
3. Grow yourself faster
You compete everyday against every individual
in your company or industry who wants to be a
high performer. If you grow more capabilities
quickly, you ill earn more opportunities to
perform better in the future.
The great news about growing is that you have
a lot of control on how fast you grow and how
much you grow. When you grow, you build
crystallized intelligence – giving you more
facts, insights and observations that you can
use for better results.
There are two types of experiences –

functional experiences X management

experiences = faster growth
Differences between experiences, behaviors and skills

Experiences Behaviors Skills

Drive car from home Obeyed all traffic rules Can operate a car, is
to work without an and was polite to able to read and
accident other drivers understand road signs
Built and opened a Understood and Managed large scale
new widget factory in operated within a local project, union
a developing country culture push them to relations, production
meet deadlines scheduling
4. Connect
One research study showed that people
struggle with the idea of networking as futile,
threatening or morally questionable
Connect with your manager
• Perform
• Help deliver what matters
• Offer genuine personal friendship
Connect with your peers
• Know them well
• Connect more with the best
• Say yes when they ask you for help
• Ask for help and advice
Connecting can be one of the most challenging
elements of becoming a high performer
because you cant directly control its success,
there are social conventions to follow, and
some are naturally better at it.
5.Maximize your fit
Science suggests that leaders who deliver
innovation and rapid change are those who
personally connect with subordinates,
communicate a clear direction and give broad
autonomy to their team members.
People with a better fit in the organization
deliver more, because they are more satisfied
with their jobs and more committed to the
company.

Two ways people fit with a company:

fit with company strategy and
fit with amount of change company needs
Companies win by either being the most
innovative or the most efficient
6. Fake It
Actors immerse themselves in a role when
they want to do a great job. That’s not their
true personality but they transform
As your career evolves, your continued
performance will depend on how you show
new behaviors. How fast you adapt to these
new behaviors will determine how quickly you
will be a high performer.
Sometime you need to behave outside your comfort zone

1. You need to emerge as a leader

2. You need to be a more effective leader
3. You need to demonstrate power
7.Commit your body
What is the right amount of sleep?
Sleep quality matters more than sleep
quantity. The national sleep foundation outs it
at between 6 and 10 hours everyday.
Sleep loss hurts your basic functions, you will
not blow your big presentation but wreck your
car on the drive to office.

Less sleep makes you less alert, slows down

reaction speed and there is less attention.
People tend to have hot beverages to counter
sleep. The recommended amounts is between
one to 8 cups of tea a day and one to four cups
of coffee a day
Only 5 % of people can fully function on less
than six hours sleep.
8. Avoid Distractions
Don’t get waylaid by the newest jargon in
town.
Natural talent plus lots of practice gets your
results.