Copy of Perceptions. What they say about you when you are not in the room.

Have you been keeping up with my posts on Elite Performance Pillars™? We're currently in Pillar I, which focuses on "Being a Better You." The first of the three-part Elite Performance Pillars™ methodology featured in my upcoming book “Elite Performance for Managers” (official launch date February 13th, 2024 via Amazon).

We previously discussed the most valuable asset each of us has – time. There is no arbitrage; every day, each of us is given the same amount of time, 24 hours, and how we spend that time ultimately is the differentiator.  In addition, if you choose to be an elite performer, you know there are many things you do not control, but few people actually maximize what they do control. This goes along with the adage, “The top 5%, the elite performers, do what the 95% are unwilling to do.” Question 1: Are you willing to hold yourself accountable for how you spend your time? Followed by the next question, “Where should I spend my time?”

In my most recent post, I talked about how you can only hit targets that you can see. Can you see your targets? The litmus test for elite performers -  Do you have your 3-5 life priorities/targets defined and ideally recorded in your Life Performance Matrix?  Incorporating the latest techniques from MIT – ensuring your objectives are F-A-S-T, Frequently reviewed, Ambitious, Specific and Transparent.

The power of visualization has been proven time after time – having your life priorities recorded in one place allows you to tap into the power of visualization. Each morning, you can start your day by seeing your targets – captured digitally on your phone, printed and displayed in your office, etc. These are the critical building blocks that build your foundation, enabling you to become the person you want to be – by staying on target.

Today, I want to challenge the notion that some of you may have, as I did earlier in my career – that being results-oriented is enough to advance in your career. While it's important to deliver on tasks and objectives, there comes a point where how you achieve those results becomes just as important. You are determined, hard-working, and ethical. You keep your head down, focus on the task at hand and nearly always deliver on time ahead of your budget or defined metric.

I clung to this belief, but as I progressed in my career, I realized that advancement could be limited if one was, consciously or unconsciously, simply task-focused, just myopically working hard and getting results. Through experience, I learned that perhaps the result [1] in and of itself was not the most important part of advancing in one’s career. There is a tipping point in one’s management career where the perception of how one achieves the result becomes perhaps equally or more important than the result itself.

[1] The result you are delivering must be in the threshold of acceptance near or above budget or the defined metric

Oftentimes, the people who are most at risk are those with their noses to the grindstone, applying everything they have to the tasks at hand and remaining steadfastly loyal to the firm. They believe that the best they can do is to accomplish the tasks and objectives that they are given. In addition, our brains are wired to seek the feeling of accomplishment; as you perform each task, the endorphins further fuel this behavior.

However, the embedded risk is that their well-intended focus on results can lead to tunnel vision, resulting in an inability to see the big picture. The doer of the task is so focused on the “what” that they forget to focus on the “how.” This result-focused mindset concentrates their attention on a particular outcome and filters all information and evidence through the lens provided by that outcome. This can dull their awareness of how they are being perceived and may result in the individual excluding others in the process by concentrating on the accomplishment of the objective.

Unfortunately, it is rare in your career that someone will tap you on your shoulder to indicate when you need to pivot and focus your attention on the “How”. Did you feel that? This is the tap on your shoulder.

To help you evaluate how you are perceived by others, “What do people say about you when you are not in the room?”, I would like to take you through an exercise that I use with my executive coaching clients. It involves thinking about three groups of people: your N+1s (the people you report to and their peers), your peers, and your direct reports. For each group, think about three words that they might use to describe you professionally. Then, think about what three words you would like them to use instead.

Step 1: Think of three groups of people:

i)                 N+1s (The people you report to and your bosses’ peers and perhaps your bosses’ boss),

ii)                ii) N=N (Your peers) and

iii)              iii) N-1s (your direct reports)

Step 2: If each group above was asked to describe you professionally in three words, write down what you think each group may say about you, the perception they have, i.e., what they say about you when you are not in the room.

Step 3: For the same groups, what three words would you like them to say when asked to describe you professionally? Write those down also.

Step 4: What deliberate actions, defined as targets, will you take to change these perceptions? Again, stick to no more than 3-5 targets/objectives you choose that you will hold yourself accountable to. A key part of changing perceptions is supporting your desire of perceptions to change with substantive actions that change you into the person you want to be. Evolving requires you to spend time differently; it is the transition of the subject matter expert, the things that have gotten you this far, and deliberately changing how you spend your time, focusing less on the what you do, but more on the how. It is relinquishing some of those highly honed skills that made you the best regional head to becoming the best country head, etc.

It takes courage to evolve, and you must give yourself time to do so. For me, at one point in my career, it meant consciously reducing time spent in my comfort zone with clients focused on the immediate deal at hand and stepping back to analyze trends and risks on the horizon to become more strategic in my thought than just being focused on closing the next deal. I needed to give myself time to study the market and, the leading indicators and work with the strategy team and other stakeholders to look beyond the horizon out 2-3 years.

One bonus tip! The power of being unplugged. The 5 Minute Impact Tool really demonstrates the untapped knowledge in your brain. Science has proven that the human brain is not designed to be optimal in cognitive processing with continual interruption. I was a military pilot and thought this was my strength, and I was wrong. For the task above, grab your phone, and for each of the questions, allow yourself 5 minutes to brainstorm uninhibited, with no self-filtering; just let your mind go to work without distractions and focus on a single task. Trust me in each one of us; there is a lot up there if you set yourself up for success. Try the 5-Minute Impact Tool – exercise 6x times, i.e. 30 minutes, and I guarantee you that if done correctly, it will be the most productive 30 minutes you have enjoyed in a long time.

Two specific items make this tool so effective: 1) The deliberate action to unplug, and I mean, put your phone on silent mode, turn off the TV, podcast, news, or laptop, shut the door, and I use noise cancelling headphones to avoid any outside noise distractions – this process calms your brain and tremendously helps you to focus. 2) The critical step is to set a 5-minute alarm, which sends a signal to your brain that you are now in competition mode, performing a result under time pressure.

Try it, and please send me your feedback and any questions. Remember, the value of time and taking deliberate action to create the perceptions that you desire is crucial to achieving elite performance. Go to work, and good luck!

[1] The result you are delivering must be in the threshold of acceptance near or above budget or the defined metric