The Five Ps of Peak Performance | Your Keys to Unlocking Success

The success of any company hinges on the performance and skills of each member of the team, plain and simple. The more focused, committed and knowledgeable each is, the more efficiently the entire organization will run. In today’s competitive field of laboratory services, it’s more important than ever we have an edge over our competition. That edge is honed through constant, continuous improvement of our own knowledge and delivering a passionate daily performance.

In fact, reaching Personal, Peak Performance requires an intense bias toward constant, continuous improvement—turning your good into great and your average into better, then great. When the average performance of the team never improves, the company is in serious jeopardy of never experiencing growth or finding a solid footing within a competitive market. Conversely, when every individual works each day to increase their own personal productivity, growing their knowledge, preparing to win, and displaying passion, the success of our company is maximized.

Why do successful people always over deliver on performance while the average hand in average results? Successful people, or peak performers, subscribe to a certain set of beliefs and attitudes:

1. They Work To be The Best

Peak performers work daily to expand their abilities and are never content with just good enough. Jim Collins’ principle premises of his book, Good to Great, is: “Good is the enemy of great”. True professionals enjoy their work, make it fulfilling and place constant, continuous improvement at the center of their excellence. They exude a winning spirit, and they inject motivation into the team they serve.

2. They Know There Is A Solution to Every Problem

Or multiple solutions, and work with the team to find the best. Problems are the common thread running through the lives of great men and women. Peak Performers are adept at finding solutions and working with others to ensure they are implemented. They recognize challenges as gifts—opportunities for improvement. To be successful, they see beyond the initial concern to the real problem(s), unpacking each element of an issue to go deep and identify the root causes.

Often, people fear problems or get bogged down in the frustrations they cause. They may simply use the word “can’t” to avoid digging deeply to find elegant solutions. Peak performers welcome them and embrace the chance to make a positive impact. As my grandmother always said, “Can’t never could do nothin’ it didn’t want to do”. Conversely, Peak Performers see problems not as stumbling blocks but as the steppingstones that pave their way to success. My grandmother “B” also said, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Only the greatest among us dare to wade deeply into problems.  

3. Peak Performers Have Mental Discipline

Peak performers are in total control of their thoughts and accept responsibility for their attitudes, behavior and actions. They are willing to take on great responsibilities and accept accountability for their performance. They learn from their past mistakes, focus on improvement in the present, and move on to great success in the future.

While average performers know what to do, they do not do what they know. On the other hand, peak performers know exactly what to do and take disciplined action to exceed expectations. They discipline themselves to get the work done with a sense of urgency; they do not procrastinate.

To be disciplined is to stay focused. This requires setting standards that must be upheld, personal goals that must be achieved, and personal strategies that must be followed.

4. Peak Performers Constantly Display the 5 P’s of Success

Preparation

The adage ‘If you fail to prepare, then you should prepare to fail' rings true in our industry to a greater degree than in most others. We are only as good as the last test we delivered. 

Many professionals intend to hit goals, become top producers and achieve success while they never prepare to do so. This lack of preparation results in frustration, discouragement and ultimately, disenfranchisement.

Preparation requires planning. How passionate are you about the work you do? If you are passionate about the role you play here and are passionate about the company you work for, then preparation becomes critical to your success. The passion itself provides the motivation necessary to prepare…and win through doing so. 

To prepare effectively, you need written plans. Fix them in stone. Set for yourself above average goals and plan to meet those goals well ahead of schedule. This requires in depth preparation with a clear vision for the future.

Preparation requires you to continuously improve your professional knowledge. Personally improving your knowledge:

• Shows that you believe in what you are doing for the company and take your role seriously.
• Ensures you will know how to perform your job at the highest levels possible. 
• Makes your time at work valuable. Knowing your responsibilities well allows you to deliver daily results to the team in best way possible, making each day and each team you serve more efficient.

Finally, preparation requires practice—practice that is eventually turned into habit. Typically, when giving a presentation to a large group, most prepare well in advance by practicing until they can deliver the presentation flawlessly. So it should be with any routine work you perform, as each is a presentation of your skills—practice until you can deliver it perfectly, in your sleep. As professionals, strive to be professionally prepared for each day resulting in more success, leading to personal growth and career advancement.

NOTE: If it is in your nature to “wait until tomorrow”, procrastination can be a slow and painful way to fall short of goals and often places us in panic situations. It is always easiest to procrastinate on the tasks or jobs we need to do that are usually the most mundane and “unfun”, yet these are the tasks typically essential to attaining our goals much faster. Do the three things above today, and do them well.

Persistence

Writing from the sales perspective for a moment, Simon and Schuster found through in-depth research that most wins take 13 no’s on average and that average sales people quit at the 5th.  Today, that may be just 7 to 8 no’s for the sale, as many are well down the path of buying when you meet them.

Persistence is what is needed after the emotional “high” you had at the start of your efforts wears off. When we first start working towards a goal like a big deal, or complete an “interested” cold call, we have an enormous emotional upsurge. It is what follows in the weeks and months that truly defines your success. Persistence is what separates those that “try” from those that outperform their peers.

Persistence is the key that will unlock doors to great success in every endeavor. In sales, as a professional, we may become concerned with being a bother to your prospects and clients. How can we exercise persistence without being a pest?  

The answer lies in our reason for being persistent. By being persistent with a sincere desire to help and return value, you win. Spicing your persistence with a touch of the relational element while relentlessly pursuing your goal of bringing a client to your company makes a profound difference; and when the prospect sees value in your products and services because of your well-prepared presentation, your persistent will be accepted and rewarded with valuable and repeat business.

For persistence to work, it must be done consistently. It requires intentional and focused effort. Follow up with your prospects every month and never put an account aside for a sustained period if the doors are open to you. 

I had a “future” client that met with me every time I tried to visit him. Each time I entered his office; he would silently open his drawer, pull out a logbook and make an entry. I always assumed he was just keeping track of where he was in his work to ensure he returned there when I humbly departed, because he was not buying. I always asked for the business, and he always closed our meeting by reiterating he was just fine with his current provider. As an old Navy Flight Surgeon, he assured me he enjoyed our visits, but reaffirmed each time that I was wasting energy in trying to convert him. On one such visit, as he went through the ritual of opening his drawer and pulling out the log book, he looked at it, then me, and without making an entry said: “Rob, you have been here 21 times without so much as a promise to try your lab out….Today is your lucky day. I appreciate your persistence and assume you will be just as persistent on handling the things I need you to take care of for me. You have earned my business”.

A small story that sends home a point: persistence is also showing up as part of a laser focused plan, adjusted as necessary to continue along the road to success. Showing up is 90% of winning.

CAVEAT: There are at least two struggles many face with persistence:

1.   A few become impatient; and leadership often contributes to this by pushing the NOW< NOW<NOW, FASTER<FASTER<FASTER buttons. As a result, we give up too quickly, moving to the next best goal prematurely and never rising to the levels of greatness we could achieve just working through the difficult tasks slowly. Remain professionally, politely persistent and the results of your patience can be quite dramatic.

2.   Some may become too persistent with the wrong tasks. We occasionally have to face that a goal may be “un-winnable”. With these, it is best to take a “wait and see” or “slow and steady” approach. As a good doctor once told me: “The thick ice does not form over night”. Skate out too early, too fast, and you may fall through. Maybe that is what the story about DR Braun teaches.

Passion

Passion = Success

One of the most successful companies in the world today is Apple. Apple's most remarkable leader was the late Steve Jobs. Carmine Gallo wrote an article called, "The Seven Success Principles of Steve Jobs," outlining those key factors responsible for Jobs' success. The article is based on multiple interviews with Apple employees and Steve Jobs himself. The first principle listed in the article is "Do what you love"; Steve Jobs believed in the power of passion and once said, "People with passion can change the world for the better." Jobs claimed that the passion he had for his work made all the difference.

I put passion as the center element because it must be; here is a little story paraphrased from Andy Andrews about Cristóbal Colón:

On the 65th day of their voyage, low on food, down to their last liters of water, and short on spirit, his officers gathered together to force him to reverse course. With only 10 days of stores remaining, they still saw mutiny as their only hope. They called him from the crow’s nest at dawn, for that is where he was each morning, looking west for land. They demanded he return to Spain.

Instead, the explorer stood firm and said triumphantly: “Look, and you will see land right in front of the Santa Maria. Beautiful land filled with trees and animals and fruit and people welcoming us as heroes. Water gushes forth from the ground, cool and clear. It sparkles as if sprinkled with diamonds. In this land ahead, your dreams will come true.” 

Excited, the crew rushed forward and strained to see the horizon. Confused, they saw only water and sky in front – the exact same thing they had seen the last 60 days. Discouraged, one desperately asked: “El Capitán, where….where is the land? Point it out to me.” 

Columbus smiled, “Garson, you are looking in the wrong direction. Today, you must look only into my eyes. There, you will see it—the New World others cannot. Yet this New World will be the least of your discoveries.” Pointing to his chest, the captain exclaimed, “You, Juan Garson, will discover a heart for success no one knew existed. You will find greatness! Now go, leiuftenant, lead your men onward…and believe!

When most thought the world was flat, Christopher Columbus could already “see” it was round. So, what is the big deal about passion? Peak Performers realize that to achieve maximum success demands that their passion burns bright despite the daily challenges. The true challenge is not finding passion, but rather aligning it to the job you have been given and sustaining it through tough times. Do this, and you will increase your performance providing you countless opportunities to maximize success for yourself and discovering new clients for your company.

If you wish to achieve peak performance, find your passion, keep it aligned to your purpose, and your belief will catapult you to incredible success.

Proactive

Success does not just “happen”. It is carefully designed by you, or carelessly lost. You must choose success then take the action necessary to produce positive results. 

Being proactive is one of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of highly effective people. Here are a few of the highlights:

• Proactive people are purposefully, strategically daring - not paralyzed by the potential downside of action. They pursue their goals continuously and incrementally, constantly testing forward progress. This approach assures movement toward achievement without exposing their plans to unnecessary jeopardy. They do not play it safe; instead, through planning, they do play it cautiously, actively smart.
• Proactive people focus most of their time and energy on growth and goal attainment. They minimize time and energy absorbed worrying about unlikely contingencies and place no value on maintaining the status quo.
• Proactive people make decisions and take action thoughtfully yet quickly. They do not delay or postpone decisions or actions, try to avoid or defer doing what needs done, and they do not hesitate or proceed reluctantly. Their actions and reactions aren't impulsive or ill considered. They are, instead, decisive and timely.
• Proactive people do not shirk or avoid responsibility and have little tolerance for people who do. They are committed to the welfare of the organization and to its mission. From the perspective of personal responsibility, they do everything they have agreed to do to the best of their ability and accept additional responsibility to the extent necessary to assure the organization's success. The organization always gets their best effort.
• Proactive people have a high tolerance for and acceptance of differing personalities, traits and characteristics, personal styles, individual values and beliefs, and for the idiosyncrasies of people. Similarly, they easily manage fluctuations in people's moods, points of view, and interests.
• Alternatively, proactive people have little tolerance for sub-standard work, less than complete attention to the task at hand, or lackluster performance. They always give their best effort and expect others to do the same. They are surprised when people make mistakes, give things less than their best effort, and do not succeed. Since they expect success, they assume personal responsibility for mistakes of others, lackluster effort, non-success. Their first take on the situation is that they haven't been smart enough or skilled enough to effectuate the right outcome. They then work with the person to identify the deficiencies, to modify their performance so that they better facilitate the team’s success.
• Proactive people use positive language—I can, I will, I prefer, Let us do, etc. Reactive people use reactive language—We can’t, I have to, If only, etc.
• Proactive people understand that holding people responsible and accountable on the one hand and blaming and accusing them on the other are not the same. Holding someone responsible is a performance standard. Holding them accountable is a performance expectation. Alternatively, blaming and accusing imply negative opinions and perceptions of the individual. To blame someone or accuse them represents a pejorative assessment of them. Blaming and accusing are always subjective and personal while responsibility and accountability are performance elements that can be objectively evaluated and, if necessary, adjusted. Since the individual or group is accountable for their performance, the level of responsibility extended to them may be increased or decreased, depending on their performance.

NOTE: To blame or accuse is counterproductive and incompatible with proactive success. Holding people responsible and accountable are key elements in the proactive person’s approach to others. It starts with holding himself (or herself) responsible and accountable and then simply extending the same principle to everyone else in the organization.

• Proactive people resist the temptation to either focus on what is not going well or on what is. It may be a function of human nature to attend mostly to the negative or to the positive, depending on one’s personality. Proactive people understand that this is not a simple matter of choice or personal preference. The key to success is seeing that neither focusing on the positive nor on the negative is advisable. At a more fundamental level, the reality is that the organization is continuously transitioning from a past state to a future state. The primary responsibility of the proactive person is to do their part to affect the transition so as to actualize the desired future state. To do this, the task is to reduce and eliminate the disparity between the present and future states, without redefining or compromising the future state. Focus then needs to be collectively on the cluster of elements that affect the future state either as contributors or as Detractors, understanding that neither is more or less important than the other. Focus must be on the gestalt.
• Proactive people demonstrate their respect for and are pleased by the successes and accomplishments of others. The key here is twofold. They both respect the achievements of others and actively demonstrate that respect and the pleasure they experience when others do well. Respect in this context includes holding the person and the action or accomplishment in high esteem, feeling delighted, and actively expressing approval.

NOTE: Most of this centers on planning and preparation. As a proactive person, you realize you are “response-able”—your greatest power lies in the power to choose your actions and attitudes. Have a willingness to plan and prepare.

Perspiration

In his youth, Thomas Edison was referred to by his schoolmaster as being addled (confused and vague; used especially of thinking), yet Thomas Edison was responsible for over one thousand inventions. How could one with vague thinking achieve so much? Maybe it has something to do with his quote: "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." Hard work will always be rewarded, and your results will relate directly to your input. If you work persistently, deliver your message passionately, prepare relentlessly, and proactively give your best, then your intensity will payoff.  

Hard work is the essential element of success and includes a willingness to stand up when knocked down. How much work will it take? That depends on your final goal, or the greatness of your professional plans. If you want to be the best, then you are going to have to do more than others do. It is easy to be good, but those who work hard, maintaining a disciplined daily routine, will become great. Ordinary people do not just wake up one day and become successful; they use hard work to build excellence. Effuse a spirit of excellence in everything you do, and make hard work the bedrock of your success. 

"HARD WORK;" there is no easy way to accomplish what no other has done.

ACTION

These five P’s are not secrets, and they are definitely not short cuts.  They are intertwined, each relating to the other. To prepare requires proactively setting aside time to do so. To be persistent requires your have passionately aligned your goals. Hard work actually becomes smart work when you prepare to win.

Do you want to be better, faster and smarter?  Practice the 5 P’s of Peak Performance