Lesson Three
Lift Your Limitations
“High
performance is often a result of a sudden change in direction”
After reaching the number one position again, our
office's production amazingly leveled off at exactly where we had been when I
first took over. Once we returned to our
previous level of performance, we unknowingly reached our self-imposed barrier and went no further. I emphasize the word self because the barriers I refer to are not company-imposed or
customer-imposed. They are
self-imposed.
Self-imposed barriers are not walls around our
lives. They are the margins of our lives
where nothing has been written--yet. A
self-imposed barrier is nothing more than the dividing line between developed
and undeveloped potential. Yet, we look
at that line as though it's a wall.
Imagine what the world would be like if explorers throughout history
believed that they couldn't go anywhere for the first time. That's what we were up against after my
office was back at number one. Our
production curve leveled off once we were back at the top of the office's
previous performance curve. There was no
tangible barrier.
But, pushing production higher than it had ever been
before meant venturing into uncharted territory. We had reached the collective personal
barriers of the team. My people were not
slouches by any means. They were the
best in the company and would have been the best in any company. We were already receiving monthly awards for
being the top office. Success became a
barrier for us. Walt Disney is
remembered to this day throughout the Disney organization for warning his staff
against "…resting on our laurels."
Ralph Waldo Emerson put it even more profoundly when he said, "He
who sits on the cushion of advantage soon goes to sleep."
Another great executive once said to me, "Good
is the enemy of best and best is the enemy of better." When most people get to be good, they start
to think, "What's the point of struggling to be best? Isn't good, good enough?" I challenged my team to break through their
existing personal production records and they responded. I asked them to focus on their own records on
a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis instead of other people's
records. When they did, energy, morale,
and production skyrocketed.
As our performance received increasing acclamation
and overall attention, I was asked where I got all of those great people and
how I came to build such a record-breaking team. Did I steal top producers from our
competition or recruit at the top business schools? The one word answer was, "no." They were just ordinary people who discovered
they could do the most extraordinary things with their newly discovered
potential. Here are some things you can
do right now to help develop undeveloped potential in your team:
- Meet individually with your key people to set goals: "Don't worry about breaking anyone else's personal record, just think about breaking your own record on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis."
- Monitor each team member's progress continuously: Help that person stay focused.
- Celebrate record-breaking performances: Do this on a regular basis to reinforce your support and appreciation for your team's effort.
"Accomplishment is your birthright. Limitations are adopted."
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