Have you ever wondered what separates average performers from high performers? We think about this question everyday. The Velocity team has studied over 50 performance traits of high performers, from personality to work ethic to leadership, and everything in between. We have reviewed high performers across virtually every industry, job level and geography. Our research, surveys and experience drew us to the conclusion that there are two categories of high performance traits:
Born & Bred – B2
Learned & Leveraged – L2
Born and Bred traits, also referred to as B2 traits, are those that are difficult to change and represent “who you are”. Simply stated, these are traits that you were born with and became part of you as you grew up. These traits have been instilled in a person over many, years and include such traits as intelligence, work ethic and strategic thinking. Just to be clear, it is very possible to improve on each of these dimensions, however, it takes a tremendous effort over a long and sustained time period.
Learned and Leveraged traits, also referred to as L2 traits, are those that can be learned, practiced and leveraged over a short period of time based on unlocking the performance trait and maintaining a commitment to achieve a high level of performance along this dimension.
Through the research conducted by the Velocity team, we identified a core set of 6 L2 High Performance Traits that can make the difference between average performance and high performance. The myth that high performers are simply born and that the rest of us are what we are is false. Working with our clients, Velocity has successfully taught and instilled these 6 L2 High Performance Traits in leaders, sales professionals and individual contributors. These participants have increased their performance levels, received job promotions, sold more business, increased their confidence and achieved a higher level of executive status. These individuals rated that their individual performance had increased an average of 22%.
So what are these 6 L2 High Performance Traits that an individual can change?
VISION
The ability to live with a sense of SELF, PURPOSE & ENERGY.
Imagine living your professional and personal life with a heightened sense of purpose, with crystal clear clarity and with an energy that comes from within each and everyday. That is living and leading a high performance life with high performance rewards.
BRAND
The ability to differentiate your LEADERSHIP STYLE, CAPABILITIES & YOURSELF.
You have a brand whether you know what it is or not. What you may not know is whether your brand is propelling your career forward or holding you back. High performers have a consistent brand that differentiates them from the rest of the pack. Developing a high performance brand is not challenging, you just have to commit to it.
LEADERSHIP
The ability to inspire people to ACHIEVE UNCOMMON RESULTS.
Leaders have the willingness to accept responsibility and organize a group of people to achieve a common goal. Thus, by accepting the role, leaders own the outcome of the team—whether it be good or bad. Through accountability, communication, work ethic, and a little bit of inspiration, leaders move their teams to success.
RELATIONSHIPS
The ability to MAKE CONNECTIONS and INVEST IN RELATIONSHIPS.
The facts are simple – high performers know more people, make more connections and invest in strong relationships. We all need people to help us achieve our goals and push us to be high performers. Making connections in today’s world is only a click away. High performers recognize that a simple email or note can go a long way to foster a relationship.
COMMUNICATION
The ability to SPEAK and WRITE with a CLEAR PURPOSE and CALL TO ACTION.
There is no doubt that high performers know how to articulate their thoughts and communicate them effectively both in writing and verbally. What separates high performance communicators is their ability to keep their message simple and encourage their audience to take action.
INFLUENCE
The ability to PERSUADE the way OTHERS THINK & ACT.
High performers have a remarkable hit rate persuading others to take up their call to action. Another way to look at this is even simpler – high performers usually get what they want. That doesn’t mean they are necessarily pushy. The key to persuading others to your line of thinking is to focus on the result and then work the approach.
All of us have both B2 and L2 traits. Our B2 traits are long-term “works in progress”. But, we can choose to wake up tomorrow and develop our L2 traits. If we commit to some simple changes to the way we think, speak and act, we can increase our performance level in no time. So what it really comes down to is two simple questions for you – do you want to be a high performer? Do you want to take your career, your business, and your profession to the next level and achieve your vision for your life?
If you answered “yes” to these questions, then you should begin right now to sharpen your vision, enhance your brand, deepen your leadership, broaden your relationships, improve your communications and expand your sphere of influence.
Don’t settle for average performance. Become a high performer today.
About Brendan P. Keegan
Brendan P. Keegan is Founder & Managing Partner of velocityHUB, a leading management consulting firm. He is a 5-time industry leading President & CEO of large, private-equity-backed companies and served as the Fortune 100’s youngest Chief Sales Officer for EDS, a $22-billion technology industry leader. Brendan has raised nearly $1.0 billion in capital and returned over $2.2 billion to investors through successful exit strategies. He has trained over 100,000 leaders, led nearly 50,000 employees, driven sales of over $100 billion and worked globally in over 150 countries. Brendan was named a Distinguished Fellow by Dartmouth College, a Fast50 Executive by FastCompany, a successful entrepreneur by Enterprise Bank, Best-of-the-Best CEOs by Incentive, 100 Fastest Growing Companies by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Business of the Year by NH Business Journal, Top 10 Coach of the Year by USA Football, and Volunteer of the Year by & Youth Coach of the Year locally for his commitment to community service. Brendan is a sought-after speaker by companies across the globe on leadership, sales and performance. He has authored over 200 articles and been published in global publications including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Business Week, Fast Company and InformationWeek.
Brendan serves on corporate boards to include Revolution Armor, Merchants Auto Group, ExpressIt Delivery, Olaeris, velocityHUB and nashuaHUB. Brendan and his wife Dana founded the Keegan Courage & Faith Foundation with the goal of giving back $1.0 million for youth education, athletics and at-risk youth across Southern New Hampshire.
About velocityHUB
velocityhub delivers results-oriented training programs, high-value consulting and targeted executive coaching to many of the world’s leading companies, small and medium businesses, and non-profits. Our vision is to build one million leaders to drive performance, sales and revenue growth.
Contact: Amanda E Rogers | 603.402.1734 | amanda@velocityhub.com