A Problem By Any Other Name...

In my work as an executive coach I have found that the single biggest mistake that people make is assuming that competence and performance are their ticket to success; when in fact they are merely the price of admission. Most people are good performers. It’s a huge mistake to think that good performance is the only element of a successful career.

It takes a combination of self confidence, positive personal impact, outstanding performance, communication skills and interpersonal competence to succeed in your career and life. People who are successful in their lives and careers have mastered all of these five elements, and excel in one or two of them.

Outstanding performance is very important to career and life success. It’s at the heart of the five success elements. No one can be successful without being a highly competent, outstanding performer. The incompetents and poor performers get identified and asked to leave or are placed in marginal positions pretty quickly. However, don’t forget the other four. You also have to be self confident, make a positive personal impact, have highly developed communication skills and act in an interpersonally competent manner if you are going to succeed. These four elements are necessary complements to outstanding performance.

This article is about outstanding performance. It is still the cornerstone of a successful life and career.

I read an interesting article in the on line version of Colorado Biz Magazine recently. It was called No Sugar Coating -- They're Obstacles, and was written by Laurence Valant. Mr. Valant was writing to business owners and the general thrust of the article focused on how to deal with a big internal organizational obstacle – problem performers.

It began, “It’s still quite common in corporate America today to hear this line of so-called wisdom among the management ranks: ‘We don’t have problems, we have opportunities.’ Or, even better, this one: We don’t have obstacles, we have challenges.’

“However, there’s a valid argument to be made for simply confronting reality for what it is, without a sugar coating, and stating flatly: ‘We are honestly going to identify and confront our obstacles in order to overcome them.’ Say it aloud. Don’t you feel better already? Early recognition of reality is a wonderful thing.”

I got to thinking about what Mr. Valant said, and how it applies to individuals and outstanding performance. I suggest that you do what Mr. Valant suggests and say out loud, “I am honestly going to identify and confront the obstacles I face in becoming an outstanding performer so that I can overcome them.”

Outstanding performers have three things in common. They are lifelong learners. They set and achieve high goals. They are well organized. If you are having difficulty in becoming an outstanding performer, you are likely to be facing obstacles in one, two or three of these areas.

Let’s look at them in some detail. The world moves fast. The half life of knowledge is rapidly decreasing. One obstacle to becoming an outstanding performer might be your lack of current knowledge – about your company, your industry, your competitors, and business in general. If you face this obstacle, set aside some time every day, it doesn’t have to be more than 3o minutes or an hour, to learn. Read the newspaper and trade magazines, listen to podcasts, read blogs. Do whatever it takes to stay current.

I am always surprised by the number of people I meet who have no written goals. Outstanding performers write their goals and then do whatever it takes to achieve those goals. They keep their goals close to them. They review them daily. And, most important, they take at least one positive step toward achieving each of their goals every day.

Personal organization is one of my biggest obstacles to success. When it comes to simple things like housekeeping, I have Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tendencies. I am fastidious about my living area. I am compulsive about keeping it clean, neat and organized. On the other hand, my work space is always a mess. I can usually find what I want, but I have to sift through the chaos in my office.

It has always been this way. I just seem to feel comfortable working in a space filled with opened books, stacks of papers and a whole lot of periodicals. I know this isn’t the most efficient way for me to work. It is a true obstacle to my performance.

There, I’ve said it. I’ve done what Mr. Valant suggests. I’ve said out loud (you’ll have to take my word for this), and in public in this article, that my lack of personal organization is an obstacle to my performance. Now, I can get on with addressing this obstacle. I’ll let you know how it goes.

The common sense point here is simple. You have to identify the problems and obstacles to becoming an outstanding performer and career and life success that you face before you can take action and deal with them. Don’t call your problems “opportunities” or your obstacles “challenges”. Call them what they are, and then get on with fixing your problems and overcoming your obstacles.