Karla Brandau |
Karla Brandau, CSP, is an expert in change, leadership and team
building in the flat world. She offers keynotes and workshops to move
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Karla Brandau
has written 1 articles for SB Informer. |
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Driving Higher Levels of Performance on the Corporate Racetrack: Finish FirstMotivation and Success Karla Brandau
July 30, 2008
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Since the first auto race in the United States took place in
Evanston, Illinois in November of 1895, being the first to receive the
checkered flag at the finish line signifying a win is the ultimate
success. Finishing first causes heated competition in the racing world.
Do you want to distinguish yourself in your organization? Reach higher levels of success? Get promoted? Then finish first.
Your
organizational success is built on your ability to produce and be a
finisher. Finishing is a fine art made possible by the implementation
of fundamental success principles. When your internal motivation runs
out of gas or your mental energy gets a flat tire, use these principles
to finish first:
Principle #1: Have passion for your
work. Professional performers are driven by their personal passion to
achieve excellence, to be the best. Are you, as a professional
corporate performer, motivated by the same passion?
Taking this
passion to the task level, what feelings or activities motivate you to
start a task? Is your motivation the excitement of learning, measuring
up to a challenge, or showing competence on the job?
Principle #2: Construct a clear picture of the finish line. Having a clear picture of
the finished product, the end, is critical to finishing first. The
knowledge of how many laps in the race or where the race will end is
essential to pacing your energy and resources.
Not only can a
clear picture of the finish line help you pace physical constraints,
but you get a psychological edge when a lucid mental picture exists in
your head. As humans are goal seeking individuals, the picture of the
finished product in your brain moves you into action.
Principle #3: Tie production to definite time frames. Ambiguous time frames lead to
lethargic behavior and the inability to innovate and solve problems.
Adding exact time frames to the clear picture of the end product is a
powerful way to push productivity and destroy the lazy behavior caused
by ambiguity.
After setting the deadline date to permit you to
finish first, then decide and set your midpoints. Know where you have
to be at certain times in the race to enable you to finish first with
ease. Keep track of your deadline and midpoint dates by putting them on
your calendar and reap the benefit of letting time frames drive
productivity.
Principle #4: Focus on the stimulating
part of your work. The human physic craves learning and intellectual
stimulation but no project is free from some aspect of rote, routine
work. Focusing on the stimulating part of the project helps you feel
connection to the highest level of Maslow's pyramid:
Self-actualization.
Self-actualization or creating the
euphoric feeling of achievement comes from developing innovative
products and services by forcing new thought processes and
associations. As you generate original ideas and bring
thought-provoking proposals to your colleagues, you will breeze through
routine work and find exhilaration in exceptional production.
Principle #5: Use Your Pit Crew. Don't go it alone. When you get stuck and stymied
ask your team members, your pit crew, for help. In my personal
experience, team members, colleagues, and managers are genuinely
interested in helping you. In fact, most people are flattered that you
trust them enough to ask their advice.
Just running your ideas
by a friend or verbalizing your thoughts is often the catalyst to
discovery and leads to closure on nagging problems.
Principle #6: Fly Your Own Checked Flag. A frequent question I ask my audiences is,
"Do you ever get enough praise?" This question brings blank stares as
brains begin to rapidly file through past experiences and then heads
begin to shake as they realize that most organizations are stingy with
rewards.
I recommend that you learn to pat yourself on the back.
Dangle your own reward out in front of you. The compensation for
completing a project could be as big as a trip to the beach or as small
as a Ben & Jerry's ice cream cone.
If you learn to reward
yourself, you won't waste time waiting for people to congratulate you
on your hard work and rigorous attention to detail that permitted you
to finish first!
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