Recently Tom Peters wrote a blog titled, “Dealing with Recessionary Times”. In it he gave some great advice on what it takes during these tough times to succeed. He stated that he is inundated with questions on insights or advice he has for leaders during the current recession. Tom started with work harder and work longer. Then he went on to list 34 items that all emphasized the need for more passion, more attention to detail, more action, and more optimism.
As always, Tom Peters was very inspiring and insightful, but in this case there definitely was something missing. For those of you who know me, and know the passion we have Tignum for high performance, you can understand why I had to speak up. I commented that in my opinion he had given the perfect recipe for burnout. This type of work harder not smarter thinking is exactly what we are addressing in our book Sink, Float or Swim.
I went on to respectively add several Tignum mantra’s like, take better care of yourself than ever. Work smart rather than just work hard. Take time for a breathing break. Go for a walk. Eat for high performance. Aggressively challenge your thoughts, self talk and stories to make sure they are high performance and you’re not just being a victim.
The sad thing is that too many leaders also miss the very important habits necessary for sustainable high performance. Without these habits there will be no energy, resilience, brain performance, or capacity to achieve Tom’s 34 recommendations. These habits aren’t just nice to do, they are a strategic must.
Although, it is very common to forget about sustainability during tough times, it’s short sighted and self-defeating. Tom agreed with me and commented back that he couldn’t believe he made the oversight. As he said, it should have been at the top of his list. The question is: Where is sustainable high performance on your list?
By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance
As always, Tom Peters was very inspiring and insightful, but in this case there definitely was something missing. For those of you who know me, and know the passion we have Tignum for high performance, you can understand why I had to speak up. I commented that in my opinion he had given the perfect recipe for burnout. This type of work harder not smarter thinking is exactly what we are addressing in our book Sink, Float or Swim.
I went on to respectively add several Tignum mantra’s like, take better care of yourself than ever. Work smart rather than just work hard. Take time for a breathing break. Go for a walk. Eat for high performance. Aggressively challenge your thoughts, self talk and stories to make sure they are high performance and you’re not just being a victim.
The sad thing is that too many leaders also miss the very important habits necessary for sustainable high performance. Without these habits there will be no energy, resilience, brain performance, or capacity to achieve Tom’s 34 recommendations. These habits aren’t just nice to do, they are a strategic must.
Although, it is very common to forget about sustainability during tough times, it’s short sighted and self-defeating. Tom agreed with me and commented back that he couldn’t believe he made the oversight. As he said, it should have been at the top of his list. The question is: Where is sustainable high performance on your list?
By Scott Peltin, Founder, Director of Performance
TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance
Comments