The 50 Percent Rule

Did you know that 1 / 2 of doctors graduated in the bottom of these class? Early in my sales career, I loved sharing this very worthwhile fact; it proved especially useful when I was selling against HMOs mothers and fathers when indemnity plans meant you may choose any provider. That's when I realized most whatever may be measured by definition are at or below average. This simple concept has fascinated me for a long time.
These days, this concept is top of mind in each and every coaching call. Why? The majority of people who arrive at me do so because they are paying attention to things they are doing which might be unhealthy (i.e., a real or perceived weakness). They come to coaching, believing if they can grow their weaknesses they're going to advance. It is true they are able to move ahead, but, generally, it will have minimum impact.
Think about this, say you might be consistently performing on the 10th percentile in different given skill (a weakness). You work with a coach and increase your performance towards the 20th percentile. The net result is you doubled your speed and agility as being a percentage, but in relative terms, you are still just on the 20th percentile plus a far cry from excellence.
On one other hand, let's say at your job a coach on a strength for which you happen to be performing at the 90th percentile and are able to improve towards the 99th percentile. That is only a 10% increase as being a percentage, but look with the impact. special needs equipment toys is like NOT being close to making the Olympic team (90th percentile) and after that almost winning the gold medal (99th percentile). Now, which is impact!
So, in order to increase performance, what do you concentrate on? Do you work very difficult to obtain marginally better at something you happen to be not great at and do not like, or achieve near perfection in the area where you already excel?
As a coach, I try that will help you shift your attention faraway from concentrating on your weaknesses as well as your need to improve them towards your regions of strength. When you realize your distinct talents and strengths, you naturally set out to improve your beliefs. As you learn to focus on your strengths, you begin to advance by improving whatever you already flourish, helping you to work around weaknesses by reducing and/or delegating them.
Does it work? Ask Wendy Sherman. For years, she shouldered the duty of not being capable of create and consume a budget. It was when she forget about the fact she had to do it all herself and acknowledged that repetitive, mundane tasks (such as entering data in a budget) were a weakness.
In contrast, she devoted to her strong people skills, which allowed her to progress. Wendy called on the friend who excelled in repetitive tasks and delegated that weakness to her. She returned the favor by bringing more social interaction to her friend who had previously been introverted. Interacting with her friend socially, she turned her attention to a strength, that's, communication skills. This simple shift enabled her to achieve an objective she had been challenged by for decades.
The bottom line: The next time you look at the problem or possibly a weakness you really feel is hindering you, pause and think about: Is this something which is above or below the 50% line? If it's below, think of how you can shift your care about something you do that is over the 50% line and concentrate on that; this should help you advance in a very more natural manner.
In your lifetime, business, or career, nothing works at its highest level if you are watching a bad thing. If you think about it, every one of the training, education, consulting, or counseling is as effective as the precision or quality of what you are paying attention to.
*References to clients are in combination with permission.