Leadership Thought #361 – Do Your Best

Leadership Thought #361 – Do Your Best

One of the most intriguing things I find about high-performing people is that they are usually harder on themselves than anyone else could be. There are some exceptions, but their behavior is rarer than you think. For example, some leaders exude self-confidence. Usually, something drives an individual’s need to excel. You hope the motivation is positive; however, this isn’t always the case. I still remember one of my top clients saying several years ago that fear of failure is a powerful motivator, and he didn’t know what he would do if he embraced and enjoyed his success. I found his comment sad, and he could not understand why.

All we can do in life is our best. This doesn’t mean we must be perfect because no one ever is. Moreover, working harder isn’t always the answer. If you’re not careful, you may push yourself to burnout and diminishing returns. You also need to be cautious about getting too caught up in comparing yourself with the actions of others. They have their own set of issues to deal with, and we often inflate the capabilities of our competitors and colleagues.

The following questions will help you assess whether you are doing your best:

  • Why are you doing what you are doing?
  • Are you passionate about the result?
  • Do you know what success and high performance look like? If so, based on what?
  • Are you tracking your progress/performance consistently? If so, what trends have you noticed?
  • What is pushing you to excel?
  • Is the primary motivation positive or negative?
  • How does this make you feel about yourself and your business?
  • Is it worth the effort?
  • At the end of the day, do you tend to feel good about what you’ve personally accomplished? If not, why?
  • What needs to change in your professional or personal life?
  • Would working harder really have made any difference in the long run?
  • Are the personal tradeoffs required for your extra effort worth it?
  • Are you focusing on “doing the right things” or “doing things right?”
  • Are you “planning your work and working your plan” or simply making it up as you go along?
  • Are you consistently performing at your “highest and best use” as a leader, or are you often distracted by less meaningful tasks?
  • Do you feel competent and capable in your role and what you are doing? If not, why, and what are you doing about this?
  • Do you procrastinate when you don’t want to do something important, or do you do it and put it behind you as quickly as possible?
  • Are you surrounding yourself with the right people with the right motivations who are committed to a common goal?
  • Are all your key people in agreement on what success looks like?
  • Are you proud of your accomplishments, or do you always feel you are falling short? If the latter, why and based on what?
  • Are you the only person in your organization who feels this way?

Leadership requires too much energy, and business requires too much risk to be worth the effort. If you regularly do not enjoy your work or consistently feel underperforming, find something else to do. We all have the potential to be great at something. Life is too short for you to feel like you are not tapping into your true talents or performing at a level that is beneath your best. Remember to be the best YOU that you can be and then enjoy it!

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