High Performing Employees Fail To Do This 1 Thing

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5 years ago

As a hard-working, dedicated employee, you exceed your goals and deliver great results to your employer. Yet, you see others who may not work as hard as you get all the recognition, a promotion, or the best projects and assignments. This leaves you wondering “what in the world does it take to be considered among the highest performing employees?!”

In my 10+ years of people leadership, I can tell you that there are many things that great employees consistently do.

In summary, they are:

Problem solvers: great employees don’t complain. If there is an issue, they take action to solve it. If someone else created a messy situation, they don’t point fingers; they just find a solution. In summary, great employees do not expect another person to make them happy
Good teammates: they get along well with their peers. They keep relevant stakeholders updated, and give support to others when needed. AND they push back skillfully when required.
Critical thinkers: great employees think ahead and ensure what they are doing lines up with greater goals. They connect dots between their work and others so that they can seamlessly execute.
Nice: great employees are easy to be around. They are polite, pleasant and thoughtful.
Take the long-view on career progression: they wait until they are ready before pursuing a promotion to ensure that their career progression is not too fast to jeopardize their success.

You probably display all of these traits as a great employee. So what gives?? Why aren’t you considered one of the highest performing employees?

Let’s see…

High Performing Employees Fail To Do This 1 Thing

Well, while all the traits above are what great employees do, there is ONE thing that I’ve NEVER seen a high performing employee do which is critical to their high performance.

What is that 1 thing?

Feel that they have failed.

The highest performing employees that I have managed certainly have ups and downs in their careers. They execute just as many flops as anyone else. They flub just as many presentations as the rest of us.

What’s the difference?

The highest performing employees don’t look at the downs in their careers as “failures.” Rather, they look at them as “learning.” In other words, the highest performing employees fail to fail.

Often times, this is called the “growth mindset” in which someone sees a setback as simply the opportunity to learn.

What?!

I know. It can seem a bit odd. The thinking is that assume your mission in life is to grow and, so, anything that can seem like a “failure” is really just a lesson. This link has a great deal of information about the power of having a growth mindset.

While that site offers great, scientifically-based research, I’ll share my own perspective of the benefits of a growth mindset on employee performance. As a result of refusing to recognize setbacks as “failures,” high performing employees:

Take smarter risks: employees with a growth mindset don’t shy away from high risk, high reward (or even moderate risk, high reward) projects. They do not let the fear of “failure” can hold them back from the opportunity to deliver something great.
Open to feedback: employees who aren’t worried about failure are more open to feedback and input. They feel less protective and, therefore, they get the right input at the right time, which ultimately helps them succeed.
Learn fast: employees with the growth mindset don’t worry about their work being “perfect” before sharing it. They share what they have done, and are honest about the struggle they have having or the gaps in their work. As a result, they get the help they need to ensure they are ultimately successful.

OK, so you are now convinced that the growth mindset is important. But how do you change? How can you, too, have a growth mindset at work?

Here are a few things to consider trying:

Put perfection aside: don’t get hung up on having a perfect project deliverable or presentation. Always look at your work as a work in progress and you’re seeking input. You’ll be less defensive in the face of new or different perspectives. You’ll be less anxious about the big meeting.
Embrace your weaknesses: be honest with yourself on what you do best and what you’re not as great at. Be aware and proactively build in activities to shore up your areas of development. With a fixed mindset, employees often try to hide their weaknesses. With a growth mindset, employees focus on improving their development areas.
Look for the lesson: if something doesn’t go your way (as it inevitably will because you are human), then look for what you’ve learned. Stop the negative thoughts, such as “how could I have been so stupid?” Or the defensiveness. Just think about what you learned and what you’ll do differently next time. If learning is your goal, then that is all that matters.
Support others in learning: don’t look anyone else’s mishaps as “failures.” And don’t get frustrated with them for their shortcomings. If you look at them with empathy in that they, too, are on a learning journey then you can focus your attention more productively on educating them and helping them succeed.

Now, after looking at how great employees exhibit a growth mindset, doesn’t it seem so much less pressure to have a growth mindset?

If you are looking to be the star employee, consider trying on the growth mindset and seeing how it works for you. Imagine how freeing it will feel not to worry about “failure” and how much more you can achieve!

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