Revisiting What Being a High Performer Means

Recently I have had several great discussions about the definition of what a high performer is. One comment that I’ve heard several times is some version of, “I’m not sure I want to be high performer all the time. Sometimes I just want to chill out, relax, and take my foot off the gas pedal.”  When they make this comment they cringe because they assume that I will attack this logic and call them a “floater”. But I don’t do this. Instead, I smile and cheer because consciously and strategically taking time to chill out, relax and take your foot off of the gas pedal is a vital part of being a “swimmer”.

When my clients have been traveling all week, attending all day meetings, preparing critical briefs, and burning the candle on both ends, I recommend that they schedule time to put the candle out. This may mean sleeping in a little longer, taking a 90 minute nap, going to a movie, taking a short get away in the mountains, doing some light movement, or just planning some quiet time with someone who is important to them. This is high performance in its highest form. The alternative is burning the candle out and this, unfortunately, is all too common.

This is called working smart rather than working hard and this is, by our definition, sustainable high performance. Let me know what you think and what you do to regenerate.

by Scott Peltin, Founder & Chief Performance Officer
TIGNUM // Institute for Sustainable High Performance

Comments

[SBIBM]

I love this blog because I often feel guilty for taking a nap on a weekend. I feel like I'm robbing my kids of their father. But the question is: Should I be more tired, less patient, less fun or should I take a nap and be more engaged and ready to rumble. I never think of a nap on a weekend as high performance but you described it perfectly.

I really love the way you guys bring everything together and I think more companies will need to look at things in the context of sustainability for their key people (which may just be everybody).

[Oscar G]

Hi Scott,

I cannot agree more with your view and words.
Too many people have the misconception that working hard is synonymous to working long hours, preferably continuous.
This is non-sustainable and in my view also does not deliver the high quality that we all want to deliver.
In order to remain fresh, on the top of your performance and truly sustainable you need to do everything what I learned at Tignum, preferable in a conscious and dedicated manner. This automatically means you need to take your foot off the pedal, and by doing so perform even better.