Top Performance

by Zig Ziglar

  She was consistent in her quest to save the very poor, calling them “distress in disguise.” In an audio series called Thirsting for God, she told of the many times when she faced the impossible only to be rewarded because of her consistency.

  She was loyal to her cause. Her acceptance speech when receiving the Nobel Peace Prize was simply, “I accept this in the name of the poor.” These were the people she was called to lead, and amid the degradation and decadence of human decay, she found the self-reliance to be loyal to her cause.

  She believed in succession planning. Even though the world knew her name and her deeds, she knew that one day her role as the visionary for the Missionaries of Charity would end. She knew that she needed a successor whose vision could take this humble organization forward. Sister Nirmala was appointed as successor the day Mother Teresa passed on, and continuity was established.

  The role of Top Performers is to learn the various attributes that allow people to go from normalcy to greatness. Great people don’t start out to be great. They follow their vision with consistency and loyalty. When I wrote a letter of gratitude to Mother Teresa, she replied with a picture and a personal note to me. She taught me humility. This great lady wrote me a letter thanking me for mailing some letters for her that were sent to encourage the sisters representing the Missionaries of Charity in the U.S.A. Along with the picture and letter were the words, “Be a little instrument in God’s hands, so that He can use you any time, anywhere. We have only to say ‘Yes’ to Him. The poor need your love and care. Give them your hands to serve, and your heart to love. And in doing so, you will receive much more. Keep the joy of loving through serving.” In doing this she proved to be a great encourager.

  I called this segment “Saintly Leadership” because most of us know that she got her skills at a venue more prestigious than Harvard and from a teacher who was called just that—Teacher. I call her a Top Performer because this Roman Catholic nun, who lived and served amid the poorest of the poor, made her home in the only Marxist state in a predominantly Hindu society. Dominique Lappierre called this infested maze of degradation and filth “The City of Joy.” Yet when Mother Teresa died, she was given full state honors and was sent to her resting place on the gun carriage that carried some of the great martyrs of India. She transcended circumstances and societal assumptions and rose above the plateau of mortal expectations while practicing servant leadership of the very highest order. While many of us will not be called to live a life of such exemplary servitude, we can conclude that all Top Performers can practice the principles of saintly leadership.

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  A Most Misunderstood Ingredient

  One of the points Krish’s story about Mother Teresa makes indirectly is that if you are going to be a consistent Top Performer, it’s important that you understand what happiness really is. Mother Teresa certainly understood true happiness. Many people maintain they’ll be happy when … they win the trip to Hawaii, New York, or Bermuda. Many people say they’ll be happy when they get the new house, but they won’t. Then they’ll be happy when the landscaping is completed, but they won’t. Then they say they’ll be happy when the new draperies are up—but that’s not true, either. Then they’ll be happy when the mortgage is paid off, but again, they’re wrong. They’ll be happy when they’ve added the new room to the house, but that’s not true. Then they’ll be happy when they build that little place out by the lake—but again, it simply is not so.

  Happiness is not a when or where—it is a here and now! It is not what you have that makes you happy; it is what you are that’s going to make you happy! Material things are never going to make us happy. Adam and Eve had the whole world (including, as far as I know, the mineral rights). God gave them everything and authority over it—with the exception of one tree. He carefully instructed them not to eat the fruit of that tree. With all the material possessions they had, what was the one thing they wanted? You guessed it: the fruit of that tree.

  Money and Position Won’t Make You Happy

  Many people say, “When I get a million dollars, then I’ll be happy because I’ll have security,” but that’s not necessarily so. Most people who acquire a million dollars want another and then another. Or they could be like a good friend of mine who made and lost every dime of a million dollars. It didn’t bother him a bit. He wasn’t excited about it, but he explained to me, “Zig, I still know everything necessary to make another million dollars, and I’ve learned what to do not to lose it. I’ll simply go back to work and earn it again.” He proceeded to do exactly that—and more. No, security is not based on money. General Douglas MacArthur said that security lies in our ability to produce—and I believe he’s right.

  Many people say, “I’ll be happy when I get to be head of the company, because that represents security—when I’m the person in charge.” That’s not true. As you well know, even the best presidents will be out of a job in eight years. No, if we are to have happiness and security and continue to be motivated, we must understand that security comes from within. It lies in our ability to produce. In my mind, one of the best ways to be certain that we will continue to produce even when our needs have long ago been met is to continue to apply the principles and procedures we advocate in Top Performance.

  PERFORMANCE PRINCIPLES

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  Do you know why you do what you do?

  Motivation = the motives we take action on.

  Happiness is not a where or when, it is a here and now.

  To motivate yourself, identify your motives and take action on them; to motivate others, identify their motives and encourage them to take action.

  14

  Managing Productivity

  A man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder.

  Thomas Carlyle

  Awareness

  Assumptions

  Analysis

  Action

  The second A in our Four-A formula stands for Assumptions. Krish Dhanam and Bryan Flanagan have provided the material for this topic. I found their insights to be profound, and I’m sure you will too. Having said that, Krish will kick off this chapter and Bryan will wrap it up.

  Krish

  Assumptions about people and their productivity are usually made after awareness and before analysis. Most managers make assumptions about the abilities and capabilities of the people they lead. These assumptions are usually based on opinions—opinions that are formed by a variety of stigma that are seen, felt, and observed around the workplace.

  Recently I was conducting a training session for a company that was in an expansion mode. They had grown from using two floors of a five-story office building to using all five floors. When I was escorted to the second-floor training room where the presentation was scheduled to take place, I observed something unusual. The person who was escorting me started speaking in a lower tone as soon as we got off the elevator on the second floor. On inquiring as to why she was almost whispering, I learned something amazing. In the old configuration, the second floor of that building housed the executive offices, and it was customary to speak softly when on that floor. Everyone assumed they still needed to follow tradition.

  To effectively motivate people, you have to deal with the assumptions about what is and what is not. The adage that in most organizations perception is fact and fact is never really fact rings true.

  Assumptions can form in many different areas. We have outlined some for you so you can readily recognize them and lead your people to Top Performance in those respective areas.

  Societal and Cultural Assumptions

  In an increasingly cross-cultural world, there are many societal assumptions that hinder progress within an organization. A focus of the ’80s and ’90s was to sensitize the workplace and make it increasingly more tolerant to the changing demographics of our times. While politically correct terminology creates a platform of sensitivity in addressing people with differences, the more important need is to address the foundation of soci
etal assumptions within work boundaries.

  As a native of India, I have some assumptions about the American workplace, and this is reflected in the work ethic I choose. I have concluded beyond any reasonable doubt that the notion that anything is possible in America is true. This belief motivates me to do what I do in a different manner than someone who does not have the same socioeconomic and ethnic heritage as I do. I give my father, a retired executive in India, all the credit for this work ethic. For example, as director of international operations, I choose to come to work at 5:00 A.M. when I am in town and not on a training assignment. My philosophy is that if you provide real-time customer service in the international marketplace, this will set you apart from most of your competition. Except for the east coast of Australia, I can connect with most people around the globe in real time, taking into account the various time zones in the world. As a father and husband, this allows me to give an honest day’s work and return home at 3:00 or 4:00 P.M., beating the traffic both ways so I can enjoy my family.

  If you were to try to motivate me just like you motivate everyone else in your organization, you would have missed the mark. As I travel around the world with Mr. Ziglar, he often asks me why I do not hesitate to do the things others would consider “lowly.” My societal conditioning forces me to be grateful, and this is the prime reason. The secondary reason is that in all my time with Mr. Ziglar I have always felt special, because he respected my heritage. That is what Top Performers do. They know that while everyone is accountable for his future, no one is responsible for his heritage. Respecting a person’s belief system will allow you to gain maximum productivity from him as he strives to do better for you and with you.

  Experience-Based Assumptions

  A resume is a piece of paper that is written with great articulation signifying what people have already done before they come to you. Sometimes individuals stretch the truth to give the one looking at their candidacy a greater degree of optimism. This optimism is based on the experience a candidate brings to your organization and the immediate results this experience will produce. Leaders make many assumptions based on experience.

  I once heard of a human resource manager who told a young applicant that if he were to logically add all the years of experience the candidate claimed in many different disciplines, he not only should have been retired but, barring modern scientific intervention, should have been dead. In other words, that candidate, like many others, had chosen to embellish and exaggerate his experiences. Assumptions made based on a person’s ability just because he claims to be experienced can cause leadership hardships. The effective way to navigate this hurdle is to assign people who claim knowledge to work with others who have already demonstrated it. In the true sense of teamwork, no one individual can accomplish the goals by himself. Many leaders have paid the price of lost productivity because they entrusted too much to people who claimed that they could deliver because of their experience. A salesman who sold a million dollars’ worth of logical software solutions might not be as successful selling an intangible service. While all sales processes can be learned, and product knowledge can be gained through effective training, it is often wise to look at a person’s experience closely and make rational assignments instead of emotional ones.

  Age and Gender Assumptions

  Gray hair does not automatically signify wisdom any more than youth signifies ignorance. The workplace of today has changed quite drastically. Some ceilings do still exist, but assumptions of age and gender are not only illegal but also illogical in the leadership process. In order to be a Top Performer and get the best out of your people, you have to encourage input from men and women of all ages.

  As you motivate and lead your team and your organization, don’t discount anyone’s opinion purely on the basis of age and/or gender. Abraham Lincoln lost every election until he was over fifty years old and made his most significant contribution when he signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862 at the age of fifty-three. Senator John Glenn was the first to be hurled into space in a crude craft called the Mercury and then the oldest to fly a manned space mission aboard the shuttle. Bill Gates was a teenager when he decided to change the world. Within twenty-four hours of putting this book down, chances are you will utilize one of his ideas to make your life simpler. Everyone knows that Charles Lindbergh was the first person to cross the Atlantic by plane. Everyone also knows that Amelia Earhart was the first woman. Few people know that she was also the second person to cross the Atlantic. If we stopped thinking of her being the first woman, we might be able to realize that she was just the second person ever to do this amazing thing.

  Treat everyone equally and you will realize tremendous reward.

  Personality-Based Assumptions

  How often have you heard the statement “She just has a great personality,” or “His demeanor and attitude are surely going to be a plus around these parts”? Personality-based assumptions have led to people getting assignments they are neither qualified for nor equipped to handle. Fred Smith Sr. says that in order to be effective, individuals have to put their passion behind their talent. Unfortunately, in the fast-paced world of the modern workplace, we see people display personality traits that signify their interest and passion for some tough assignments. The human desire to want more triggers this reaction, and managers look for purely enthusiastic people instead of people with a blend of enthusiasm and talent. Skill and will are both needed to ensure Top Performance. In our offices we use personality-based assessments to find out an individual’s strengths and weaknesses, and we then ensure that the assignments people receive are complemented by their strengths. If an individual is weak in an area, we encourage him to get strong in that area by identifying his knowledge gap.

  Ensure that you have the right people for the right task by looking beyond the personality into the strengths and weaknesses of the individual. Assuming that because a person exhibits a certain personality he is best qualified for the task might lead to some discrepancies in productivity down the road and hurt the organization’s goals. If we personally endorsed everyone who was motivated to work with us and become a speaker or trainer, as we are often requested to do, we would be reacting to the external traits that are displayed to us in the public arenas. But since consistency is what we require for people to represent our philosophy, we have a process in place. This process determines whether these individuals are truly interested in representing the philosophy and doing everything required for it, or whether they want to cash in on the goodwill and enjoy a couple of successful legs of the journey with us.

  IF SOMEBODY HAS TO TELL YOU HOW GOOD HE IS

  EVERY STEP OF THE WAY, HE PROBABLY IS NOT.

  Recently I met a fellow speaker who was interested in doing some work with us and had some unique ideas and methodologies that would really complement and supplement our own training programs. Realizing that I should not make a personality-based assumption, I informed the individual that in order to represent Ziglar Training Systems, he needed to qualify through a process like everyone else. This individual proceeded to inform me that he was already very busy and would have to factor in time in his enormously active schedule to go through the qualification process, and that the standing ovations and references should be enough for us to consider him as an exception to the norm. He wanted us to make an assumption about his effectiveness because of what he told us and how he told us. I politely informed the young man that if he was so busy, then maybe we needed to work with him and get some work from him, because we were not that busy ourselves. Obviously I was joking, but in the process I made a point of not reacting to a personality-based assumption.

  Bryan

  Managerial Assumptions

  I discovered the value of the “inner view” (a view that goes way beyond what seems obvious to me) when I was a sales manager with the IBM Corporation in California. I was with IBM’s old typewriter and copier division at the time and had inherited fourteen salespeople when I took th
e job. I had been in the position for a few weeks when I asked one of my top sales representatives to step into my office.

  I said, “John, I have been watching you for the past few weeks, and let me tell you how impressed I am with you, your professionalism, and your work ethic. Your production is great. You are over 125 percent of your quota, and you have a great forecast for next quarter. I’m also impressed with the reputation you have with your coworkers. The other reps respect you, and the administrative people think highly of you. You’re going on my list of reps I’d like to promote. You could get to Boulder on the manufacturing side, or Dallas with marketing training, or even back East with financial planning. John, I really believe you could call the shots on your career path.”

  Then John said something that stopped me dead in my tracks. He said, “Bryan, are you talking about promoting me and relocating me? Is that what all this is about?” I assured him that was exactly what I had in mind. John then said, “You don’t understand. I don’t want to be promoted and leave the Bay Area. I love it here. Do you know what my goals are?” I replied that I really didn’t know what John’s goals were. I assumed it was to move up through the IBM career ranks, much like I was doing.

  John said, “Let me tell you my goals. I want to raise my family right here in the Bay Area. My wife is from here and my kids have great schools and friends. I don’t want to uproot them and move away from here. I want to play slow-pitch softball and fish. I want to be a career sales professional. I don’t want to move.”