Aim Your High-Performers

I spent some time traveling in the UK in college with a friend named Bonnie. We were both history nerds and so we pounded the pavement of each town and city in order to see as many sites and landmarks as possible.

I realized early in the trip that Bonnie is what I would describe as a confident walker. She’d pick a direction and begin walking with confidence and speed in her chosen direction while I hustled behind just to keep up, trusting that we were headed somewhere great. The problem was that Bonnie didn’t have a destination in mind when she walked. She was a woman of action, picking a direction and launching into motion but she didn’t actually know where she was headed. I would begin to notice that the scenery around us was more residential than historical and that we may not be where we had wanted to be. When I asked her why she was walking in a particular direction, she gave me an expression that said she didn’t have a good answer but she was glad I had asked the question.

Sam and Bonnie, circa 2006, at one of many stops for coffee

My planner self went from bafflement to amusement to solutions as we figured out how to combine our unique personalities - her confident action and my intentional planning - to make the most of our trip. I began adding structure and planning to our sightseeing days and Bonnie made sure we made the most of every city. All she needed was a little bit of aiming and then for me to keep up.

I always hire high-performers who care fiercely about delivering a world class work product. Their work means as much to them as it does to the company and they will put their heads down and move full-speed at whatever is before them. Sometimes, though, these hardworking and action-oriented team members get off track and find themselves wandering, lost and with the wrong priorities.

Even the best employees need clarity from leadership to make sure they’re heading in the right direction. The best teams move quickly and that means they can get off track quickly, too. It’s critically important to set a clear company GPS through a strong operational foundation in order to keep ahead of these powerhouse contributors.

Does your company have the infrastructure needed to get the most out of your high-performers? Do you have a clear business plan, annual initiatives, OKRs, role clarity and ownership (with KPIs), etc?

If your team members are working hard but still not getting the results you know you should be seeing, it’s time to pause and ask the question - do they really know where they’re headed and how to get there? Are we as focused and efficient as we need to be? You can start walking and figure it out later but that’s the slower and less efficient (and more wasteful and costly) way.

Not sure where to begin? Want to delegate this to someone else? I’d love to talk. Start the conversation today.