Growth vs Performance

Do people grow more by focusing on their growth or their performance?

In the last post I shared the surprising insight from our research called ‘The Paradox of Growth’ . When we interviewed people across many fields and asked them to tell us stories about their greatest growth, no one told us story about when they were focused on their growth. Instead, everyone told stories of when they were focused on performance. They were working on a goal or project that was extremely difficult but highly motivating and while striving for their goal they grew enormously. Growth was not their goal, it was a byproduct. We call this The Paradox of Growth

Many people have since asked, ‘But isn’t focusing on performance what people are doing all the time anyway? Most people don’t seem to be growing that much.’ Good point. When we interviewed Professor Anders Ericsson, an expert on expert performance, he told us that most doctors, teachers and leaders get worse over time, not better. This is because they tend to repeat the same things as they did last year. At first they stagnate, then they regress.

A performance focus does not automatically lead to growth. From our interviews we saw that it only created growth when people found themselves in what we call the ‘Heat Zone’. This is comprised of 5 elements:

? You are going after an outcome you really care about

? The challenge is new, you have not faced it before

? It is REALLY hard – you are in over their heads, you may feel incompetent

? Learn or fail: You will fail if you do not acquire new skills, knowledge and capabilities

? It is extremely uncomfortable, but you’ll persevere

We found that when people got into, and more importantly, stayed in this zone, their growth exploded. The downside is that the Heat Zone is a precarious place to be. Both the benefits and consequences accumulate quickly. We learned from our interviewees, that if you don’t know how to calibrate your energy and look after your mental health in the Heat zone you will burn out (I’ll share our burnout insights in the next post).

What is your experience of living in the Heat zone? It tends to leave a deep imprint on us. What was your experience of the benefits, costs and lessons learned? We’d love to hear your perspectives in the comments. Below are a couple of opportunities to get more involved.

1) Join in and help with the research

We are looking for people to discuss and deepen the research findings so far. We are creating small group interview/ discussions on Performance/ Growth/ Burnout. We are keen to share our insights and hear people's perspectives and stories. If interested in being part of a discussion please email [email protected] and let us know your role and location (for time zones). Direct message me on Linkedin me if you have a burnout story to share.

2) Attend the Vertical Incubator

If the ideas above resonate with you, you’d be the sort of person who’ll thrive at our Vertical Leadership Incubator. We have three amazing hosts and venues. Google will host the Silicon Valley Incubator at the Googleplex (Oct 20,21) Melbourne Business School will host the Australian Incubator in Melbourne (Sept 13,14) Fonterra will host the New Zealand Incubator in Auckland (Sept 5, 6)

If you are interested in advancing the field of leadership development, come join a community of innovative practitioners. It will be practical, fast paced and you’ve come out of it with a new vertical leadership offering for your organization or clients.

Learn more about the Incubator -https://lnkd.in/gTaUHePv

Register for the Incubator – https://lnkd.in/gd963Akp