High Commitment and High Performance — Striking the Balance

Navigating between the poles of profit and people or returns and trust is at the center of every leader’s job. However, urged on by the demand for performance and results in tough economic times, leaders have placed more emphasis on High Performance or driving accountability over High Commitment or motivating engagement.

In response, some leadership models have attempted to correct this over-emphasis by advocating more vehemently for engagement. Either approach has had limited success. But when balanced and executed properly, High Commitment plus High Performance will produce extraordinary and sustainable success.

Adequate leadership is most prevalent in workplaces today where, with the best intentions in the world, leaders simply fall short with feeble attempts at instilling an engaged and sustainable culture while driving high levels of accountability.

The Either-Or Mindset

Instead of choosing either focus—High Commitment or High Performance, Align4Profit applies the genius of And. That is, a balance of both. Before considering the benefits of the combination, let’s examine the downside of focusing on either separately.

A single-minded focus on High Accountability will deliver only short-lived results because of its negative, long-term impact on Culture. Some of the negative results include:

• Fear-based and disempowering environment

• Blind compliance

• Fierce rebellion

• Passive aggressiveness

• Blaming past mistakes

• Pushing people hard toward productivity

Likewise, without accountability, without proper emphasis on High Performance, a single-minded focus on High Commitment can be just as short-lived with an equally negative effect on results. For example:

• High-tolerance and low-achievement environment

• Confused expectations

• Poor sense of urgency

• Acceptance of mediocrity

• Consoling people for past mistakes

• Pulling and pleading with people to deliver productivity

The Genius of And

We can train your leaders how to strike a balanced combination that delivers a culture of High Commitment plus results-driven High Performance, which delivers sustainable, long-term growth and profit, seen as:

High Commitment where everyone is › Motivated to go the extra mile › Enthusiastic and generating energy › Challenging the thinking › Confident › Creative › Actively involved in decisions › Empowered to make decisions › Taking risks, initiative and ownership

High Performance where everyone has › Clear understanding of their role › Specific targets and expectations › The competence they need › Authority to complete the task › Highly productive every day › Frequent, candid feedback › Strong accountability for results › Consistent drive to exceed goals

Want to balance Culture and Results? Contact us to learn more at info@align4profit.com or call 972-608-0400.

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