Peak Vs Optimal Performance - Business Dads

Having spent the last 20 years studying, researching, coaching and experiencing the quest for peak performance with my clients, I know how easy it is to become fixated on achieving it.?

But can we sustain the highest performance levels daily as a business dad?

A professional athlete knows it’s not a realistic goal to reach their physical peak daily. Of course, they want to achieve this state more often, but the timing is vital.?

If they try to peak all the time, it inevitably leads to overtraining and underperformance syndrome. To avoid this, it’s critical to identify the differences between optimal training and performance.

ASSESSING PERFORMANCE:

Let’s use the example of a professional sports team. When the athletes arrive at the training facility, they are monitored to understand their readiness to perform.?

This assessment may include:

Wellness and Motivation Questionnaire

Recording of bodyweight

Hydration Status

HRV and Resting Heart Rate (usually collected in the morning)

Performance test – sit and reach test, handgrip strength or jump tests

Sleep – quality and quantity

This ongoing monitoring provides the physical and technical coaches with information to determine the player load – how much the athlete can realistically complete that day – and make the necessary adjustments to ensure they prepare a correct training schedule. Check out our resource on becoming a high performer?here.

Now, let’s apply this thinking to a business dad setting.?

• Do you assess your readiness to work? (more to come on this next week)
• Do you proactively plan your day and week??
• How much deep work are you getting done?
• Have you planned your family activities?

As a leader, are you monitoring your team (family and work) to identify which members can handle an increased workload or high cognitive tasks at a given time?

Within a corporate environment, we do not monitor the biometric data of our employees for obvious privacy reasons. However, leaders should talk to their employees and consider performance variables.?

It’s important to ask questions, listen to their answers, and adjust your expectations accordingly.

• Does your star performer look more tired than usual??
• Has your best salesperson hit a slump??
• Have you connected to your staff lately?
• Have you connected with yourself lately?

If this is the case, you should encourage them to slow down their output for a day or two. So many variables affect performance in the workplace – be it physiological, social or emotional – and ultimately, you’ll get a far better track record of performance in the long run by paying attention to and adjusting your team’s micro rhythms of work. You or your team can’t perform at 100% all the time, so take a step back and think about the different areas that will affect performance.

The importance of peak performance in business and sports can’t be understated.?

The more we reach peak performance, the more it shifts the needle, which increases optimal performance too. A great example of this is golf. When you improve your game, the bad shots become more infrequent, and your expectations rise. Your optimal performance improves, and peak performance increases.

For me, the central role of a business dad is to be Head of Performance in your business and your life. The performance of the people around you determines your success.?

So, what can you do as a business dad to shift the needle? You need to understand the importance of health to you and your team – a healthier team, performs better.?

Did you get any value from this? I love to hear your thoughts. Drop me a direct message, and we can have a chat.

Lee?

Director and Founder