What do High Performers Have in Common? (Part 2) - Competitiveness

In the last article I suggested there are seven essential characteristics of high performers, and we discussed different forms of intelligence and how these can be measured. (Read the full article here)?

?As mentioned in the previous article, for the last 23 years I have been helping companies of all sizes source talent. Most of those roles have been genuinely achievement orientated, and for that end we have been assigned to find high performers.?

A large number of the roles have been in commercial leadership, but I have also been involved in significant numbers of other searches including HR, finance, manufacturing, R&D, quality and regulatory, and operations. And believe me, the best of these people are just as achievement and results orientated as anyone in sales!?

Along with colleagues (and particularly my colleague Lorna Rutter,) my organisation has interviewed and assessed thousands of potential applicants. The analysis we have done drew us to the conclusion that there are seven essential characteristics of high performers.?

In this article we will discuss another one of these essential characteristics: COMPETITIVENESS?

Genuine high performers openly compete with others and themselves. Often their competitive natures are very much part of whom they are. They see an objective and want to meet it or beat it. They like to win. Rarely are they worried about being measured; in fact, they embrace such measurement. They are often not satisfied with their performance even if it is outstanding; they want to get even better as they have very high standards. They will know their most recent performance and will be able to clearly articulate their achievements at and outside work.??

What is then, a competitive personality??

Competition is ubiquitous. It is all around us at work, at home, and even on social media. Some people will deliberately put themselves in competitive environments, others may shy away. Work in the 1950s on by Leon Festinger (also famous for his work on cognitive dissonance) came up with the Social Comparison Theory; the idea that individuals determine their own social and personal worth based on how they compare against others. Later work (Beach & Tesser, 2000; Tesser, 1988) looked into this in more detail that studied the self-evaluation process where people evaluate their present state relative to others.?

Essentially, competitiveness is a complex behavioral phenomenon with variability that can be a result of a number of different stimuli. Psychological study has demonstrated, though, that the level of increased competitiveness is fundamentally governed in the individual by three areas:?

• ?The Relevance of what can be called a “performance dimension”. This performance dimension may be related to sport, income (and its associated trappings), or academic study.??
• Similarity: the degree of the individual’s similarity to those they may be competing with.??
• Closeness: What is the relationship with the person that the person is competing with? Peer level colleague, friend, or sibling perhaps??

This understanding of what drives competitiveness may be useful for companies or organisations hiring. Someone may regard themselves as genuinely competitive because they are as such in certain circumstances but are they in the areas that you want them to be? There are many employers that assume that because someone has been involved in competitive sport then they will also be competitive in, say, a sales environment, when in reality that might be a completely different “performance dimension” and not specifically related to them. That said, there have been studies that suggest that people who are sports orientated do make “better” employees, though this may also be related to other factors such as leadership and self-confidence. However, it is fair to say that I have met many highly intellectually competitive individuals who would run a mile from anything that involved physical exertion!?

It is also worth noting that there is some evidence to suggest that from a diversity perspective there are gender differences in competitiveness, i.e. that men are, on average, more competitively inclined than women (Croson & Gneezy, 2009), though later research suggests that women are more likely to take risks and engage in competitive activities if they’re allowed to share their potential winnings with peers (Cassar and Rigdon 2021).?

Are there circumstances when too great an emphasis can be placed on competitiveness? Well yes, it is quite possible that someone who is super-competitive might actually be so to the detriment of the organisation. So-called “toxic” individuals may be competitive in a severely negative way, such as deliberately overlooking someone else’s contribution or seeking to belittle them because they are perceived to be a “threat”. Also, it is worth considering that some team members may be more collaborative than competitive, and it is important that such people have their voice heard. One of the other seven essential characteristics that we will discuss in a future article is values. If an individual is strongly competitive but lacks an ethical dimension, then this can be a recipe for failure due to a lack of overall balance.?

If we accept that competitiveness is an important trait for high performers, can it be measured? Yes, it can. Smither and Houston (1992) developed a psychological Competitive Index. This was then revised and calibrated in 2010. A number of psychometric test providers, eg. Thomas International, measure competitiveness as part of their leadership evaluation profiles. It is also possible to ask questions around competitiveness at interview, and we will discuss these in the last article in this series.?

In summary, it is a fact that if an organisation wishes to remain competitive, it is sensible to encourage a competitive culture, whilst simultaneously ensuring that such a culture remains an overall positive one. If you are to do this, you need to identify how to recognise the competitive nature within the appropriate “performance dimension” to ensure that it is of benefit both to the individual and the team, and how you can attract people into the organisation who also have this along with the other essential characteristics of high performance.?

In the next article we will discuss another one of the other seven essential characteristics of high performers.?

Resilience?

· What does resilience mean and why is it relevant?

· How can resilience be developed??

· How to learn from disappointment and setback?

If you have enjoyed this article please feel free to share it with colleagues and perhaps, suggest they subscribe to my newsletter “Nigel’s News” or follow me on LinkedIn.?

Places to keep in touch:?

Click the 'bell' on my profile page to be notified of any new articles or posts to my page.?

Remtec Talent Management LinkedIn company page?

The Job Podcast | Remtec Talent?

The Interview Specialist (@theinterviewspecialist) ? Instagram photos and videos?

Top Tips for Job Seekers LinkedIn advice page?

?

?

???

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?