Max Sustainable Achievement

MAX SUSTAINABLE PERFORMANCE

Mentoring Your People and Yourself to New Levels of Excellence

"Talent … is most likely to be found among non-conformists, dissenters, and rebels" - David Ogilvy

“Ninety-percent of what we call ‘management’ consists of making it difficult for people to get things done.”

- Peter Drucker

Truly excellent performers, like truly excellent leaders, are MADE….not BORN…

However,

…they are made between the ages of two and twelve. Then we get them and either nurture that excellence, or shut it down.

~ Me

Rules …if we must

Mile wide - an inch deep (so LOTS left to discuss)

Open discussion The goal is consideration, not conversion.

But you should convert If you think I’m full of it, say so.

but be prepared

Radin and Langer’s Progression of an Idea

1. It’s impossible.2. Maybe it’s possible, but it’s weak

and uninteresting.3. It’s true and I told you so.4. I thought of it first.5. We always knew that. How could

it be otherwise? The Power of Mindful Learning ~

Ellen Langer

Who is

Vilfredo Pareto(like most Italians)

knew what he was talking about

Who isn’t

Between Two and Twelve Strong Internal Locus of Control Rapid Prototypers Emulators / Individualistic (not anti-team)

Overestimate their abilities (good)

Wildly optimistic about future (theirs)

Homework (Perhaps only displayed as interest as children)

Oscilators Don’t know their place “there are places?” TRULY goal oriented

What most do that they don't

Well-Rounded is for losers

ALL truly great performers are very good at one or two things at the most.

They IGNORE rather than DEVELOP their weaknesses

Source: Marcus Buckingham – after 10 years of excellence research at Gallup

My short term goal was to make the Olympic team. My long term goal is to

completely change the sport of swimming. ~ Michael Phelps – June 2008

What most do that they don’t

No external filters on goal setting

What most do that they don’t

Accept rejection of ideas as valid

~ Internal locus of control strikes again

Source: The Terrible Hours – by Peter Maas – (and) Gallup AND Peters AND Bennis AND Harvard AND Sagan… AND AND AND..

Charles “Swede” Momsen

What they do that most don’t Commitment to learning (what they are good

at/interested in)

Success Mindset (Visualizers) BUT Absolutely unafraid to fail (most important)

GOALS (Written down somewhere – may or may not tell you about it)

Network – Human Moments vs. Email (yuck)

Doers vs. Be’rs – Bias for Action Realism in Execution (goals are lofty –incremental goals

are achievable – something about eating an elephant?)

Overestimate personal abilities / Oscillate

Same sources remain in effect

Tai Chi Push Hands World Champion

5 national championships – four world championships

Josh Waitzin:

National Elementary, Junior, and High School Chess Champion International Chess Master

Subject of the Movie :Searching for Bobby Fischer

Author of – The Art of Learning

Josh Says

The key to pursuing excellence is to embrace an organic, long-term learning process, and not to live in a shell of static, safe mediocrity.

In my experience, successful people …ultimately discover that the lessons learned from the pursuit of excellence mean much more than the immediate trophies and glory.

Visualization as a Reality

Shhh…

“I’m going to stick it.”16 year-old Mary Lou Retton to Bela Karolyi – 1984 Olympic Games

Excellence Wherever you Find It

“I’m going to be you” – Story Musgrave

Human Moments

Source: Harvard Business Review: Ed Hollowell

Face to Face is required for REAL trust and trust is everything

Or: Sending a “serious” email – on any topic - is silly. If its so darned serious, shouldn’t you spend some time with me talking about it?

“This is so simple it sounds stupid, but it is amazing how

few oil people really understand that you only find oil if

you drill wells.

You may think you’re finding it when you’re drawing maps and studying logs,

but you have to drill.”

Source: The Hunters, by John Masters, Canadian O & G wildcatter

Slide stolen from Tom Peters – a Bias for Action

Oscillate?

The rest is more important than the work

The work is made possible by the rest.

Turns out Covey – (and Hank Thoreau and Loehr and Schwartz) were right…

Sources: 7 habits, Harvard Business Review, Walden

Why SHE outperforms HIMWomen’s Negotiating Strengths

*Ability to put themselves in their counterparts’ shoes*Comprehensive, attentive and detailed communication style*Empathy that facilitates trust-building*Curious and attentive listening*Less competitive attitude*Strong sense of fairness and ability to persuade*Proactive risk manager*Collaborative decision-making

Source: Horacio Falcao, Cover story/May 2006, World Business, “Say It Like a Woman: Why the 21st-century negotiator will need the female touch”

Why SHE outperforms HIMWho manages more things at once? Who puts more effort into their appearance? Who usually takes care of the details?

Who finds it easier to meet new people? Who asks more questions in a

conversation? Who is a better listener? Who has more interest in communication

skills? Who is more inclined to get involved? Who encourages harmony and agreement? Who has better intuition?

Who works with a longer ‘to do’ list? Who enjoys a recap to the day’s events? Who

is better at keeping in touch with others?”

Source: Selling Is a Woman’s Game: 15 Powerful Reasons Why Women Can Outsell Men, Nicki Joy & Susan Kane-Benson

PS All of their statements are backed up by Daniel Goleman in Emotional Intelligence (and) Social Intelligence

Encouraging Excellence

Giving them what they need Genuine Care (cant be faked) Staying out of the way

What they needLots of stuff but the number one thing they need is CLARITY i.e. “This is our mission and THIS is how YOU support it.”

Huge PS: If you fail to give them clarity they will either create their own (you wish) or shut down.

Source: Buckingham, Peters, Harvard, McKay, et al

If you want to encourage excellence in all.

What they need

There is NO REASON to believe that you are more committed to the mission than they are. None, Zip, Nada (so long as they know what it is)

Their level of trust in you is directly proportional to the amount of time spent talking TO them and inversely proportional to the time spent talking ABOUT them*.

Trust!

Source: Buckingham, Peters, Harvard, McKay, et al

If you want to encourage excellence in all.

*Especially when you think they wont find out about it

What they need

Attention: Pay attention to your poor performers and that’s what you get.

Source: Buckingham, Peters, Harvard, McKay, et al

“The deepest human need is the need to be appreciated.”

~ William James

If you want to encourage excellence in all.

What they need

Permission:

To try…to fail…to try again…to fail again….

Source: Buckingham, Peters, Harvard, McKay, et al

If you want to encourage excellence in all.

Warning

Food

For the next three minutes, the speaker will be telling some very experienced leaders and managers that what they MAY have thought for the last 20 years is bunk. Please note: the speaker is talking about information and ideas pulled directly from books on the “Coast Guard” reading list. Give the speaker a break.

Please remember three things for at least the next few minutes:

1. The speaker is quoting and paraphrasing some of the brightest business minds in the world.

2. Yes – these ideas ARE applicable to the Coast Guard3. The speaker is a six foot , 210 lbs, and works out for a

living

Chain of “Command”

Chain of “Communication”

No Stovepipes

Hit yourself in the head if:

You have ever said –

1.I don’t want to get blindsided by anything2.I have to know everything your doing.3.Who does that guy think he is?4.Stay in your own paygrade.

55 – 19 – 26 (Gallup)

146 ways to help

The OAS – Its not just there to annoy you anymore. (never was really)

Read it – then make it so

There is communication among various levels of the unit/command…

Managers promote communication among different work units (for example, about projects, goals, needed resources) Members/employees have a

feeling of personal empowerment and ownership of work processes

An effort is made to minimize the number of management levels (i.e., unit/command hierarchy)

“Red tape” and unnecessary rules/regulations do not interfere with the completion of work in a timely manner

Supervisors/team leaders communicate clearly what is expected of members/employees in terms of job performance (for example, task responsibilities, performance standards) 

There is trust between members/employees and their supervisors/team leadersMembers/employees have a

feeling of personal empowerment and ownership of work processes

I feel encouraged to come up with new and better ways of doing things

Sufficient effort is made to get the opinions and thinking of people who work here

Shifting the Curve

Attitude of most pilots: “I can make mistakes and this thing I am doing is serious business: please speak up if anything seems, feels, smells wrong or if you have a question.

Pilot Error Rate = 0.00000009 %

Attitude of most Surgeons: “I know what I’m doing and this thing I am doing is serious business. Don’t interrupt me when I’m working.

Surgical Error Rate = 4% (Overall medical error rate 10%)

Sources: NTSB – and The American College of Surgeons

So……

Be more like a pilot (sorry)

Three most powerful words in the leaders (or managers) language are:

I Don’t Know “I’m sorry” and “I screwed up”

- tied for second place:

Conclusions

Encourage the top of the curve to stay there and the bottom to follow

Expect mistakes, failures, screw-ups, along with the excellence.

Get over yourself – or they will. Food

ASTC Mario Vittone

ATTC Elizabeth City

Mario.m.vittone@uscg.mil

252-334-5355

Thanks for listening