An effective individual, when presented with a new project or job, will quickly identify what the performance results should be. And if the result is not immediately obvious to them, they will concentrate on getting it clearly defined before they start.
Consequently, in looking at a new area or project, the performance characteristics of a top performer will typically prompt questions like:-
1. “What are we trying to achieve here?”
2. “What’s the main objective of this project?”
3. “Where are we going with this?”
In simple terms, a top performer is results-oriented, so they will just naturally have their eye on the overall target.
They will also want to put the results they achieve into context with the rest of the operation. They will quickly align their results with the overall objectives of the bigger picture; that is part of their performance characteristics.
They either know what the results should be already, or they will get them nailed.
And they do this before they begin to operate in the new environment, or start to run the new project or job.
Non-performers have to be continually directed. You cannot take your attention off their area because you know it will go off the rails if you do. What does this do for executive sanity?
Their Actions are Effective
Have you ever had someone continually come back to you with problems? Top performers don’t do that. Top performers will find a way
They will go over, under, through or around the barriers they meet.
They are not robots following blind orders.
They will use their intelligence to figure a way to overcome the obstacles.
Sometimes the barriers are considerable indeed, but the measure of the top performer is their ability to get the result, come what may. Of course, there has to be a degree of intelligence in the way in which they “make it happen”.
The Expert
Sometimes you see someone who is very big on ideas. They can seem to be a top performer, because they apparently have the first attribute of being able to see the end result. The only problem is, it’s all theory, with no ability to get into action to produce those results.
Such people put a lot of importance on their academic achievements, or their titles. They seem to feel that having such status is all they need. But they fall dramatically short when it comes to getting results, so don’t be fooled.
A top performer, when they get into action, will not come back to you with endless problems and reasons why they cannot get the result. Their performance characteristics are such that they find a way!
They Measure Their Performance
One attribute by which you can easily recognize a top performer is that they know what their past results are. The fact that they are results-oriented means that they are very interested in what results they produce.
They measure them.
They record them.
They are very happy to tell you about them.
A top performer is always seeking to improve their performance results. If things went well, they want to know why, so they can repeat the same strategy next time. And if things did not go well, they also want to know about it, so they can correct that shortcoming in future.
How many times have you seen someone get a bad result, then proceed to do the same job in exactly the same way next time? Is that smart? No, but if the person has no concept of what they are supposed to be achieving, that’s most likely what they will do, because they just don’t get it.
So, the third characteristic of a top performer is their constant awareness of, and interest in, the measure of their results. Ask a top performer what results they have achieved in the past.
You will usually get a clear statement of achievements from them immediately.
They don’t have to think about it.
They are actually proud to tell you of them.
And they don’t forget them. It’s an integral part of their performance characteristics.
Can you imagine a top sales person, who doubled their budget three years in a row, not remembering that fact? Of course not! So, if someone tells you they “can’t remember” their results, that’s as good as saying they have none!
Executive Time
A manager has their own job to do and their own results to achieve.
Part of that job is supervising the people in their team, of course. But when this supervision takes so much of their time that it overwhelms the rest of their responsibilities, you have an overworked executive. And the rest of their job suffers as a result.
If you have ever replaced someone in your team with another whose performance characteristics were higher, you know what a relief that can be. You find you have more time in the day, because you can take your attention off that area, and get on with your own job.
What Can Be Done?
The obvious long term solution, of course, is to hire top performers! (We can help you in this department)
But there is also something you can do with the less effective staff you already have. Top performers look after themselves in this regard. But the next category down – the average performers – will respond to focus and direction because their performance characteristics do not permit them to see the end results clearly.
Take the time to make the organizational or departmental objectives clear.
Help your staff to understand where their individual performance results fit into the whole.
If you haven’t tried this, you will be pleasantly surprised.
And make sure that you can clearly define the results that every job in your area must achieve. Every job in your organization has valid and measurable performance results — otherwise, why are you paying someone to do it?
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