beBetter 

There was a lot of interest and feedback on my last blog Be Empowered by Choosing a Growth Mindset which dealt with my internal struggles around my commitment to working out.  So, I thought it might be fun to share with you some stories of the people that I see at the gym nearly every time I go. I call them my workout buddies. It’s not surprising that organizations find some of these very people showing up for work on their teams, too.  As I have worked with team members to help them reach their full potential, I have encountered many of these individuals taking the same approach with their career as they do the gym.

My wife and I recently went zip lining in a scenic location in the mountains of North Carolina. For those of you unfamiliar, zip lining is a popular outdoor recreational activity where you are harnessed to a cable hundreds of feet off the ground and “zip” along the line at high rates of speed between landing stations. I have never actually heard of anyone falling from a zip line, but that reality quickly escaped us the first time we stood on the platform.  

One of the crucial building blocks in leadership is RESULTS. This building block is very important, because it represents one of the things elite leaders must value very dearly: high performance. We will only build great teams if we pursue our journey of greatness by valuing high performance. 

It’s my experience that people confuse working hard and being loyal with high performance. “I work more hours than Miss So So and she got the promotion.” “I’ve been here longer than he has been, and he still got the promotion before me.” Have you ever heard any of this in the break room? Run away from that conversation, even if it means you are talking to yourself!