How to Test Your Latest Performance Tactic
While preparing for a workshop last week, I read one of my big idea slides and it hit differently than it had before. You see, I teach that the most powerful tool for both stress management and high-performance is the relationship you have with yourself and others. I was thinking about it as a performance lever because when you have good social support and self-awareness, you get better results. Meaning, relationships are a tool to maximize your performance. Still true, but there was more here than I originally realized.
Relationships aren’t just leveraged. They are created. The relationship that is created within yourself and others while pursuing your achievements can be used to check the efficacy of the tactics you used to get things done. Basically, we’re getting data about how sustainably things went down. But we’re not always listening.
Often, we decide something was successful by only looking at the outcome. Did it get done? Yes?
Ok, then we did it. Success.
But that’s measuring success in a vacuum. Lasting success isn’t only in the outcome, but also in the side-effects.
A better measurement for lasting success is to also ask how your process for pursuing achievement affected how you feel about yourself and others. If it was not building a healthier relationship in how you see yourself and how you see others, it will eventually fail. Period.
It does not matter how noble the pursuit was. If it did not build you up, you are breaking down.
For instance, if you are pursuing something meaningful and also beating yourself up for not being enough, eventually, your body will believe you… and it will fight back. If you are pushing a team to the brink and telling them “that’s just how it is,” expect high turnover and the death of innovation.
Just completing a task is not enough.
When I teach Even-Achieving, I remind folks that the aim is to give your best today without sacrificing your ability to give your best again tomorrow and to accept and respect your current strength while still encouraging it to grow.
But I’m often asked: How do I know what my best is?
This becomes the new test; if I’m giving my best, it will build the relationship I have with myself and others. It won’t tear it down. I can still do hard things without beating myself up. I can encourage my team to grow without beating each other down.
It’s as simple as that.
A process that honors the relationship will create higher quality and longer-lasting results.
So, here’s a tip for you; as you assess the modes and tools you are using to get things done this week, ask, “is this helping me grow and encouraging others to join me or is it breaking us down?”
Your answer will let you know how effective that tool will be going forward.
If you’d like to know more tools for long-lasting success, here are 3 ways I can help:
Keynotes
If you or someone you know has an event coming up, you can bring an Even-Achieving keynote to your stage
Workshops
Build your team or organization with an Even-Achieving workshop tailored to your team’s current needs
Coaching
Find your own performance breakthrough with one-on-one coaching
I’m here when you’re ready. Also, if you know someone else who can benefit from Even-Achieving, I’d love a warm intro. Let’s help you and your team reach for success without all the stress.
