HIGH PERFORMANCE – THE POWER OF BELIEF.
‘An ounce of performance is worth pounds of promises’
Mae West
Tentatively and with only a mild dose of confidence the Managing director said: ‘ We want to be number one in South-East Asia.’ It was almost comical to immediately see him surveilling the boardroom for support once his statement echoed within the small room.
The awkward silence that followed made some heads bow and others ‘eyeballed’ the ceiling in the hope that the silence would not last long.
Bewildered by the fact that his statement received no immediate support he filled the silence with a piercing question: “ Do any of you believe we can be the industry leader in South-East Asia?”
A tentative yes came from the sales director, more likely a sign of moral support than stating an actual belief and the others in the room sharpened their gaze on either the floor or the ceiling.
The managing Directors’ jaw dropped as the realization hit that he entertained a vision that only he believed in and his somber mood deepened as the feeling of loneliness formed a veil over his personal aspirations.
It was a critical question, as without the belief that a Vision is possible to attain it has no foundation under it and is likely to remain, simply just a dream.
Anyone can say that they want to be number one, most say it as the thought of being highly successful and being renowned as a top performer provides an immediate and desirable ‘dopamine hit’. Saying it is the very easy part, doing what is required to be a consistent top performer is an entirely different and complex matter.
Building a sustainable high-performance culture considering the global volatility in markets in general and internal challenges such as staff retention and generation gaps amongst many has become ever-challenging:
“A high-performance culture is where the company achieves better financial and non-financial results (such as customer satisfaction, employee retention, etc) than those of its peers over a long time.”
Most consultants would advise a strong vision and goals amongst other tools to achieve sustainable performance, however there is one key requirement (amongst many other requirements) to make that vision and goals a reality and that is belief:
‘Man is what he believes’
Anton Chekhov
There is simply no way around the fact that in spite of having a beautiful vision married with a clear mission statement and shared values, it is highly improbable if not impossible to make your company vision a reality when you and your team do not believe it is possible.
About the author: Dirk Coetsee is an International High-Performance Coach and author. He is a co-founder of Custom Performance Coaching (CPC) which Purpose is to help individuals and companies grow and change for good.
