Great Performers Have Boundaries
Have you ever noticed that high performing team members are always at the top of the production charts? Rarely, if ever, does their production dip below reachable expectations and when they do – look out! All hell breaks looks as great performers refuse to lose without a fight.
But it’s not just a competitive spirit that drives great performance. Performers understand how to set themselves up every day to do their best work. They understand the positive impacts of flow on their work, and in their lives.
It used to be we spoke often about the need for leaders to have boundaries. But boundaries are not just for managers. Boundaries make everything else work and set the stage, tempo, and culture for people’s brains to become fully engaged at their job.
Anyone can learn to soar to the top of the list of high performers by maintaining four key boundaries leading to high performing partnerships and break-through performance.
The first boundary to get clear on is the powerful boundary of trust. No matter what, you must strive to keep yourself in a position to be trusted. That means yes, must mean yes, and no, must mean no. (It also means maybe - means yes.) Making trust a key component of your personal performance strategy will make sure you are able to surround yourself with other great people and build high performing partnerships. Everyone needs a network of supporters to gain momentum and keep it.
Saying no to request that will not advance your performance levels is more important than feeling good by saying yes and not meaning it. Nothing is harder on trust than not finishing what you start or doing it with a half-hearted effort. Saying NO is a high performers best friend – We all need to yield it well when appropriate, and without guilt.
The boundary of positive flow is the second boundary to build. High performers who are emotionally unstable will never achieve sustained high performance. They will push people away, put up walls - and build silos. This is not a good long-term plan for achievement.
Every one must learn the power of compassion and positive flow that leads to a magnetic-like attraction to success. What are your inner negative triggers? Now is the perfect time take positive actions to protect yourself from their ill effects. Setting a boundary of positive flow will allow you to increase your influence in every situation.
In order to allow those around you to feel stable and secure at their job you must act in a transparent manner that shows (not just tells) your peers that all things are truly possible.
When you believe that the future is secure and maximize your everyday performance you will grow in confidence and confidence is attractive. It attracts abundance, success and love. Build for yourself a powerful boundary of transparency so that others might understand the thinking that drives maximum results and success.
Finally, you must have a solid grasp on what the future holds for you and all those around you. The boundary of hope allows others to catch a taste of a larger than life vision for the future. Your achievement and success not only impacts you – it touches the world. For this reason, high performers protect what they let in - and shy away from negative or hostile interactions that are not productive.
Self-destructive thinking is a hallmark of poor performers. They fret, get angry, and want to quit every time something seems out of control. High performers are carriers of hope, not fear, and avoid senseless complaining that brings others down instead of lifting them up.
High performers do not succeed by accident. They set clear boundaries and if someone or something crosses a boundary they have meaningful conversations that helps to build trust, positive flow, transparency and hope. They do not let the outcomes of others derail their intentions and harm their personal performance levels.
As a high performer, you obtain what you build and what you allow around you. Creating powerful boundaries will keep you performing at levels that lead to excellence in every area of your life.