The Conditions for Performance
By Bob Pike CSP, CPAE
What does it
take to perform and how can we influence that? Performance coaching is a good
phrase. It's what all training should be about - helping people achieve
results. What does it actually take to help people improve their performance?
In my mind, it
takes just two things to improve performance. Well, perhaps three. These were
things that were constantly driven home to me at the U. S. Naval Academy:
attitude and aptitude. Attitude says you want to, aptitude says you are capable
of.
Let's start
with attitude. Does the person really want to perform? An individual can have
all the ability in the world, but if he or she does not want to perform, it
makes no difference. Somebody who wants to do something will find a way to get
it done. Zig Ziglar once said, "It is your attitude, not your aptitude
that will determine your altitude."
If a person
wants to perform the job, the next question is: are they capable of performing
the job? This is a question of aptitude. Do they have the basic ability to
learn a particular skill? For almost any task, you can find the ideal task
performer. This is the person who does the job well and economically. The
president of a company may be able to type at 65 words per minute, but having
the president type letters is probably not economical. The president would not
be the ideal task performer.
So we now have
three considerations:
1. Does the
person want to do the job? (Attitude)
2. Does the
person have the ability to do the job? (Aptitude)
3. Is the
person at the right level to do the job? (Ideal Task Performer)
Answering these
questions can go a long way toward knowing how to coach someone for success.
