The Performance Improvement Imperative
The Performance Improvement Imperative: Leaping Beyond the Accelerating Treadmill
The business case for investing in leadership for performance is simple:
Without increasing performance, an organization will fall behind and loses its competitive edge. At some point, cost reductions alone will cause a decay of capabilities. Shifting the talent profile in your organization by seeking the "best" talent may help, but this zero-sum game is not sustainable for the long term. The world is changing too fast to rely solely on top-down approaches.
The next frontier for generating more performance and capacity from people is to enable individuals and teams to learn and adapt to new challenges in complex, uncertain circumstances. While not every person has to be capable of leading the organization, essential leadership characteristics and skills will help every individual and team become more effective now - and in the future when they certainly will face unforeseen challenges. Managers are in the best position to help employees continually learn and grow from experience of their own and others.
To make an organizational strategy like this work requires a shift in principles. Scientific research and our own studies and experience have proven to that these principles are the foundation for igniting the hidden talent in your organization:
Where is the talent we need?
The principles and beliefs you hold determine where you look for talent and reinforce patterns that systematically overlook other sources of the human potential and performance you need. For example, if you believe that you can only win with "A" players, then the very system of rating A, B, and C players will cause the conditions you expect. An organization with all "A" players is frequently not effective - just ask any "All-star" team. "B" players are essential for the effective functioning of teams and networks. They may have a different drive than "A" players, but their contribution to the health of the organization is masked by the focus on certain metrics and ignorance of undervalued but essential metrics. Finally, "C" players might simply be mismatched. They don't measure up because their strengths and motivations lead them to excel in other things. Labeling "C" players virtually ensures they will stay there or leave, but having any "C" players indicates a mutual failure of the organization and the player of detecting and developing strengths and finding roles in which they will excel.
The Performance Improvement Imperative helps leaders...
- See the paradigms, principles, and beliefs that keep great potential of talent hidden
- Makes the case for developing existing talent and organizational abilities to learn and adapt
- Proposes strategies for leaders to find and ignite the hidden talent in their organizations.
Learning Modules and Objectives
Mindset Matters
- Learn to shift the mindsets of “difficult” and underperforming employees to strengthen performance in your organization.
- Use mindsets to increase effectiveness of development.
Developing Human Potential
- Learn a proven model for human development that increases employee commitment and avoids slides into old patterns.
- Increase commitment to and sustainability of development efforts.
Performance and Learning Goals
- Learn to use performance and learning goals strategically while avoiding self-defeating goal pursuit.
- Optimize human performance: Use the right goals for the job!
Bring The Performance Improvement Imperative to Your Conference or Organization
Customize The Performance Improvement Imperative for your organization or event by contacting us or submitting the Speaking Program Planner.
Through the years, you've helped us achieve new levels of knowledge sharing, collaboration, and performance through building networks and providing us with jolts of motivation. We wouldn't be here without you. -Craig Sweet, former CEO of Abilita, Inc.
It will be going with my daughter as she goes away to college. They don't teach this stuff in college but SHOULD! -W. Cassard
