Blog: William McKnight

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Top Performance, Part 1

I have been advising companies on data warehousing, business intelligence, information strategy and master data management for several years. I don't have all the answers, but I do believe I can take a client through the correct process to grow and arrive at the best answer for their challenges where I do not immediately possess an answer. Much of that counseling has really been the process of helping capable individuals come to the necessary conclusions themselves. I believe that leaves behind a better client than before I came - always a goal of mine. If I can improve an individual, or team's, performance and success capability, then that is something the client can benefit from for years.

Due to the personal nature of lots of my consulting, I think I've come to understand why some professionals achieve a high degree of success while others do not. I've noted some fundamental characteristics that I believe to be common among top performers and I want to share them with you over the course of several blogs with the title of "Top Performance."

I've blogged about this before because it's been such a dominant observation of mine, but time management bears repeating first here. Top performers set a high standard for what merits their time. They have a clear sense of what will bring them success or failure. Sometimes, these are written performance goals, but more often than not, they are the unwritten, but expected, goals. If the goals are not understood, top performers understand they cannot waste their time. Instead, they will take the time to define their goals, taking only small detours pursuing targets that may or may not be ultimately deemed worthwhile.

They spend their time on those things that attract value to their goals, being proactive and paranoid about making incremental progress towards those goals with every daily task. If an task does not contribute to the goals, it is quickly disbanded and not repeated. Drama and worry about inconsequential things, or things one has no control over, or things from the past which cannot be changed, is not part of the game plan. If goals are unclear, staying late and working extra hard may actually lead to nothing more than frustration.

I believe that stellar performers have an innate desire for success that transcends their current job title and even company. Continually pulling themselves out of the detail to make sure their activities are aligned with their goals. They embrace change and their quest for knowledge and new skills is constant.

I'll go through some more this week.

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