Anything For You All: INSTANT MBA: 3 Easy Ways To Become A High Performer At Work

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September 25, 2014

Everyone wants to work with high performers — and most driven professionals want to be one.

These employees — strong leaders who get their work done and drive results — not only excel in their own careers; they also tend to be valuable assets to their teams and companies.

"The most important competitive advantage that any organization has is the quality of its talent — the people that run the show, make the decisions, come up with the ideas, design the products, and deliver the services," says Terina Allen, CEO of management consulting firm ARVis Institute, in a recent LinkedIn post.

The good news is that anyone can mold themselves into a high performer, simply by changing their outlook and attitude at work. Small changes from how you evaluate team members to how you handle mistakes can elevate your daily performance.

Here are three things you can do to start becoming a high performer:

Focus on strengths.

High performers immediately recognize not only their own strengths, but others' as well. They are able to pinpoint each team member's specific abilities and figure out the most strategic way to use each person's skills. "These leaders are always developing and focusing themselves and their team members for product and service delivery that will make everyone look good," Allen says. "They don't bother with improving weaknesses that have no bearing on strategy and goal accomplishment."

Hold yourself accountable.

Blaming others for mistakes wastes both time and money. Rather, high performers admit to their missteps and move on. "If something goes awry, high performers don't let it fester and lead to further problems or unnecessarily inhibit productivity," Allen explains. "They step up, take responsibility, process what happened, and solicit ideas for improvement." As hard as it might be to admit to a mistake, high performers know it's not worth it to pass the blame.

Be open-minded.

The key to becoming a high performer is finding a way to get results, no matter the method. Oftentimes, this means keeping an open mind when it comes to trying something new. "When there are better models, methods, and processes, the high performer will use them or create it and will work to convince others why the change is necessary," Allen says. High performers seek out change because they know that finding better ways to do something is the only way to become more effective.

Click here to read the full LinkedIn post.

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