Contextualizing your performance

The context of performance idea was born out of the many questions I received when I posted an early version of my book performance awareness online critique. The exercise forced me to rethink some of the ideas in the book which in fact contains the core of what I teach in the Uptimetrics® foundation class. In the end I had to add two new chapters one of which covers the context of performance.

Performance cannot be measured in the same way for any two people as no two people are the same even if they demonstrate strength in the same area. For this reason it is necessary to provide key indicators that will help decide when a person has done enough based on their nature. An employer might list the specific number of things that must happen within a certain period to determine whether an employee is performing or not. Whiles this criterion might be set for a specific role, he must understand that no two people will deliver it in the same manner.

There are some individuals categorized as cheetahs and I am not referring to professor Ayittey’s Cheetahs in his Hippos and cheetahs idea. The cheetah is the fastest land animal. Yet it does not run consistently as a horse will. The cheetah runs in short bursts. This 

means it run and stops intermittently. For the untrained mind, a person of the cheetah character is easily misunderstood as one who is not consistent. However the cheetah character is among the highest performers once we put their performance in the right context.

Context of performance is dependent on three things; Character (nature), Circumstance and Capability (I christened them the 3 Cs). Character here refers to the nature of a person. Since people are at their best when they are more of what they already are, we must quickly see the important role of character in reaching one’s best. We could use a pocket knife to cut bread but like any kitchen neophyte like me knows, it is best done with a bread knife on a flat surface and never in your palm. But pocket knives are best used in certain situations and we deprive them of peak performance if we use the otherwise. It is a question of the right tool for the right job.

Being human is easy… or is it? There are some things we can all do as basic. But there are those who are the best at those things due to their very makeup. This will become clearer if I put you and Husein Bolt together in a 100m race. We are each built for something and functioning out of that role does not allow our best. But you already knew that didn’t you.

So whether in a current occupation or in your larger life (don’t forget the two must seamlessly integrate for best output) there is a context in which you can be your best. These days, businesses hire people based on their nature and not necessarily qualifications. They look for a kind of person they believe will fit the role. That should tell you a thing or two. For a person to ensure they are their best, self-awareness is of extreme importance. When we understand our own context of performance, we know how to fit into any situation and what to do even if it is not the right one for us.

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Loose the pain to keep the job

Most people start a new job with great enthusiasm but change within a few months when they have settled in. They become familiar with the environment and get used to the culture. They have left the primary need zone and now they want more than being able to feed, clothe and shelter themselves. A new set of eyes open and they soon start seeing the negatives of the job and the environment. All of a sudden the attitude and management style of the boss is so bad they will take the next opportunity to leave. At this point, performance stagnates or begins to drop. You know you have been there.

Well this is not exactly surprising at all as most people choose jobs simply because they want to meet an immediate need. The need for survival means they will work in any environment and even accept a low salary ignoring all the warning signs that kept screaming; “you will be unhappy in this job”. They literally walk into “trapportunistic” jobs. This is the downside of working for money only. I am not about to reecho the ever popular “do what you love”. In fact I think it is getting boring; although it is the single most useful advice anyone can give you. Also, many people set dead-end goals. An example of which is simply to get a certain job or join a certain profession. Jobs and professions are vehicles (means) to be used to achieve something specific(end). It is this something specific that must drive the choices we make regarding occupation. This kind of motivation is of the intrinsic kind. When you are motivated from inside, the bad boss, low salary, and time spent commuting to work, your unfriendly colleagues all fade into the background and the most important thing really is what you do and how it makes you feel. In fact if you can get what you do right, it will fix all the so- called problems you have that affect your performance as you will engage wholeheartedly ignoring everything else. Nobody ever did a good job half-heartedly.

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The Gifty Anti self-sabotage

Self-sabotage is a phenomenon most people are not aware of. The funny thing is that, it is something we all indulge in every now and then. It is in fact responsible for most of our set-backs.  I have no doubt that you can recall a time when you built something halfway and did something that destroyed it all before you could finish it. Unfortunately for some it has become a habit. I have had my personal share of self-sabotage and sometimes the set-backs can be tremendously disheartening. There are statements we use every day that represents self-sabotage quite well. Among them;

…being your own worst enemy
…being self-destructive
…getting in your own

Those who suffer from another phenomenon called fear of success tend to self-sabotage more frequently. There is an internal program who’s job it is to destroy the very thing they have been building. This ensures they never reach their goals no matter how hard they work. This group will need some expert attention to address the problem. As a minister I should also point out that there can very often be a spiritual dimension to this although it is mostly psychological. This of course means it is a solvable problem.

But let me point you to something I saw on TV recently that might bring the idea closer to home for you. One of GBCs greats; Gifty Anti was making a presentation at Springboard which happens to be one of Ghana’s finest platforms for inspiration. The founders of springboard are known to be a solid Christian couple with the husband serving as executive minister with one of Ghana’s most powerful Churches. Over the years Springboard has brought inspiration to both young and old across the country and recently beyond. Every one of the speakers is a recognized success in their own way and supposedly has a positive influence in society.  

I believe it was Gifty’s first appearance on Springboard. She started on a wobbly note but that is nothing unusual. Those who have ever mounted a stage to speak are familiar with the initial nervousness. As she picked up speed, she normalized into a comfortable position as she shared her experiences as a broadcaster. Inspiring was the only word that kept repeating itself in my mind. Then she did it:

She mentioned E. L James (the author of 50 shades of grey) as one of the women she looks up to. Really…Gifty? She didn't end it there in fact. She talked about the author and the success of her book as the fastest selling book of all time. Well in case you didn’t know, 50 Shades of grey is classified erotica. In fact it is not just erotica, it is extreme erotica. Some critics have called it pornography. It can easily be described as the single most effective instrument of the BDSM crusade.

Now I happen to know Gifty is a Christian who was raised by a strict police officer father. How it is that she now enjoys extreme erotica is not particularly my concern. What is an issue however, is that set out to inspire people and ended up introducing them to BDSM.  This is a clear case of self-sabotage not only to herself but also to springboard. Why? There is a debate about whether self-sabotage is what you do alone or whether it includes what you don’t do. I am of the second school of thought. What you fail to do can be just as harmful as what you do? Hopefully, from now on Springboard managers will take interest in the content speakers are bringing to ensure it doesn't become an unregulated platform. By this I am of course assuming that they failed to check content which in many ways is better than assuming they knew she was going to be mentioning E. L James.

Hey, I have nothing against Gifty- I have never met the woman. But there are lots of inspiring female authors who have made a fortune selling their books she could have turned to for inspiration. There is always Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie or even good old Rhonda Byrne and many others. Good grief whatever happened to Maya Angelou? 

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Nkrumahist know not the Philosophical Consciensism

From a performance perspective, Kwame Nkrumah represents self-belief; a key asset in any high performer's toolbox. He was a genius of a thinker and a quintessence of the application of thought (a rare thing in our part of the planet). This he appeared to have done consciously;

“Theory is empty without practice and practice is empty without theory”

“Revolutions are brought about by men, by men who think as men of action and act as men of thought”.

In a recent exercise on Facebook, I observed keenly as many of our learned Ghanaians listed their top ten books. None of them mentioned the philosophical conciensism as an important book. On occasions like today when the discussion of Nkrumahism has been the focus of the media, I have thrown questions from the book to the so-called Nkrumahist and returned zilch. It appears nobody wants to discuss the one book that captures the very crux of Nkrumah's philosophy. For the most part, the discussions revolve around the fragmented outward manifestations of his thinking.   It beats my imagination how a nation like ours expects to develop without the slightest understanding of the every thought framework that gave birth to it. This is comparable to Richard Dawkins studying God’s creation without understanding God. He will never run out of questions and he has no real idea where he is headed.

The one thing that caught my attention as my untrained mind wondered through the maze of a very complex philosophical framework was structure. It seemed Nkrumah was a fanatic of structure and this was expressed in his very methods. Once he had laid a pipe, he doesn't depart from it.

“We face neither East nor West: we face forward”.

Anyone who has spent some time on this blog already knows how I feel about structure. In a coming article I shall explore how structure was birthed at the very beginning of God’s creation. If my proposition is correct, then Nkrumah’s legacy was built on the Christ performance methodology- the very essence of which is the Structure theory.

In the meantime I shall point you to another blogger who obviously has done more detail work on the Philosophical Consciensm. 

http://consciencism.wordpress.com/consciencism/mcclendon-on-consciencism/

http://www.autodidactproject.org/other/nkurumah-wooten.html

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The cycles that influence your performance

God in his infinite wisdom created the cycles of time as the structure within which we must function. He knew that for something to exist it needs a structure within which it can exist. We will need a sense of beginning in order to have a sense of direction. Because of his first command (let there be light—the installation of the time structure) we now have day and night that expands its way to years and eons. It also stretches towards seconds and nanoseconds and all of these are cyclical.

It is the sixty cycles of the seconds that makes the minute and the sixty cycles of the minute makes an hour. Twenty for cycles of the hour will make a day before it all starts over again. These are so important to the very structure of life that, it appears as if the misplacement of one cycle can lead to a cosmic disaster. When one of the seconds goes missing a minute cannot be complete. When this happens even the year cannot be complete. It is one second short and hence not be what it is supposed to be. The maximization of any existence is the result of a maximization of the cycles.

I have said that the cycles are at the very foundation of the universe itself. This means that they play a significant part of our lives as humans just as it does in the existence of everything that exists. This means that we must function in cycles to if we are going to follow God’s order. Man has a set of activities that must be performed at certain times of the day routinely. At night we go to sleep, in the morning we wake up. This is repeated every day and forms a cycle that is responding to the larger cycle that we are a part of. Periodically we eat and the food goes through a cycle—this we must continue to do if we are going to exist. The one who breaks the cycle soon will find himself slowly falling out of the larger cycle unless he restores himself back to the cycle. Once in a month, a woman will have her period over a certain number of days. When this doesn't happen we know something is wrong.

There are cycles that we all go through in your occupations. This daily engagement in a cyclical manner is what accumulates into your overall existence. So that your performance within the seconds determines your performance in the minutes and hours. How much you accomplish daily will influence how much you accomplish in a year and ultimately your entire life. The students maximize his learning opportunity by attending the set classes completely. One class missed makes him one lesson short and he is not the best student it can be. Those who seek to maximize their lives must therefore pay attention to the endless number of cycles around him. He must understand these cycles enough to find his perfect place within it and learn the ways in which it can be maximized.

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Structure Everywhere

Creativity demands the ability to unshackle ourselves from conventional ways of thinking, to "think outside the box". But we need to go a step further. Once outside the box, we need to construct a new box or boxes (that is, new intellectual frameworks or models) to help us structure our thinking. Only once we have done so can we generate truly game-changing ideas - That came from a strategy course I am taking.

Why I found this interesting; I have met too many people who seem to think being creative means throwing out procedures and systems- structure for that matter. I have always maintained to the infuriation of some colleagues that you cannot function without structure. Creativity must champion the march towards order and structure is the only vehicle that can achieve that. Things are the way they are because of what is holding them in place. The human face has a certain order to it i.e. it is structured in a certain way. The more we perceive this order the more we see beauty. The opposite is what we might call ugly simply because it is moving away from the order (if a person’s nose is above their eyes, we will see something wrong). If God decides at any point that he is going to rearrange the human face, he is going to need a way in which it must be- a new structure. Others are going to need something that will make it possible to recognize what a human face is.

From your daily priority list to the Fibonacci numbers, from running your life to your business, from building a house to planning an economy, structure is key if things are going to work. Those who ignore it at any point in time only end up in chaos. Recently we have seen the difference a simple contract can make in the life of a business.

Goals setting and the many tools motivational speakers teach all come together to form a structure that must lead to predictable results depending on content. In other words it doesn't matter what you are doing, you still need a goal and a method via which you can reach it. When we lay pipes, whether we run water or milk through it, it is going to have to flow in the direction of the pipe. There is no other known way around this. In buildings it is the pillars, in writing it is introduction body and conclusions, it is not possible to exhaust the list.

Take a walk in the bush one of these days. Pick a tree in the distance you want to reach. Notice how difficult it is with all the bush in the way. On your way back, cut your way through the bush with a machete to create a path. You will find on your next journey to the tree that it has become significantly easier. This ease will be enjoyed by anyone else who finds your tree interesting enough to visit it. Now you know why cars have roads and trains have rails. The box is always needed.

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Okyeame Kwame and others recognized for high performance at SPiD-UP Launch

The Center for self-development (CSD Africa), a peak performance training organization in collaboration with Capital TV, an Accra based TV station yesterday launched a project dubbed SPiD-UP® at busy internet in Accra yesterday 21^st of May, 20014. The project is designed to provide performance awareness training to the general population in three different categories.

The event was presided over by the new CEO of the National Youth Authority (NYA) Mr. Ras Mubarak who confirmed the support of the NYA for the project although he admitted his outfit may not be able to provide funding due to the limited budget. During his presentation, the project initiator and coordinator: Mr. Markus Kennedy Katey explained that the program will treat four thematic areas through the monthly workshops that will be held in various locations across the country and ultimately the continent of Africa. The four include performance theory, self-awareness, career pathways and spiritual awareness. He said there will also be a multiple intelligence test to help young people understand their areas of strength in order to align all elements to ensure a better output in both their occupations and larger life.

As part of the event, high performing individuals and organizations were recognized and awarded certificates for their contribution in their respective fields. Among them was musicians Okyeame Kwame who was cited for his performance and contribution to the music industry.  The rest include Manifest (Musician), Esi Ansah (Axis human capital), Kwame Owusu Boateng (Opportunity international savings and loans), Mawena Trebah (Ghana Investment promotion), Patrick Awuah (Ashesi University), and Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwah (Ministry of Education) Prof. Stephen Addae (). Prof. Joshua Alabi (UPSA). The award also inducts them into the SPiD-UP® Fellowship program and enables them to engage with young people to share their thoughts and experiences regarding performance during SPiD-UP® events.

Five organizations were also awarded in the high performing organizations category. These were Ashesi University, MTN Ghana, Imani Ghana, and UT Bank.

Mr. Katey also known as Hopeman told the press that the awards and fellowship program is an extremely important component of the project and therefore many more of such awards will be given during the upcoming annual international peak performance conference dubbed Tune-UP®.

Okyeame Kwame in an interview after the program expressed his excitement for having been recognized for the work he and his team has put in at one-mic entertainment and confirmed his support of the project. 
The event was sponsored by Opportunity International Savings and Loans Limited and supported by the Capital Line Group limited.

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Komla: What they are not saying

Somewhere in the very orderly chaos that resulted from the passing of Komla Dumor, I lost count of the number of glowing tributes. Everywhere I look, I saw one. Everywhere I went I heard somebody making one comment or another (not that I get out much- thanks to social media). That this young man of 42 inspires almost everyone is a truism beyond dispute. Not even his failed attempt at becoming a physician could touch him. In fact we might even point to it as another episode of great Komla lesson. A lesson on purpose and calling if you like.

With the burden of a ministry in performance on my shoulders, certain things do not escape my attention. To me the wonderful things the tributes are saying are not as powerful as what they are not saying.

Of the many glowing tributes, I have read, a majority of which were simple facebook comments, I am yet to see one that talks about how much money he made during his life time. Even the greediest of journalist (and there are more than enough of such) are talking and writing about his character as a person and most importantly how he did his work. I couldn't help but to wonder, whether we are in the same Ghana where people say everything these days is about money?

There are many who considered his presence on the BBC platform an achievement. I am compelled to agree to this simply because people are so proud of it and I really do not want to be a kill-joy. But if I were to be honest, I will say that I really do not see the big deal here. A well informed young man with a Harvard degree and many years of broadcasting excellence hired by the BBC…come on! Besides he has a great personality, character and work ethics to go with it. The BBC will have to be out of their minds not hire him. The real achievement is what he did with the opportunity.In a recent conversation with a friend of the family, I learnt something interesting; Koml’s plan was to go to the BBC and change the way they present Africa to the world. Ha! Why not for the money?

In times like these I am compelled by the forces of necessity to draw some parallels between the likes of Komla, Madeba and the Osagyefo and the likes of Mobutu, Abacha and the many others who we know were driven by money. The result is self evident and I need not elaborate. Komla leaves us not with a way to make a lot of money but many very valuable lessons on how to maximize one’s existence. By the Komla Dumor method, the greatest broadcaster in Ghanaian/African history was created. Leaving us with a powerful legacy that we need to protect with every iota of integrity we can find. If we do not see a statue being erected at the University of Ghana and another one somewhere in the Volta region and a road or monument named after him, it will be a real shame.

Of the many leaders that have been trained at our nation’s premier center of learning, too many have made their living at the expense of the people. When such men come along with such extraordinary legacy therefore, the institution must hold on to it with all it’s got as the power of Good is the only thing that can overcome its many evils.

For those of us who cannot seem to think beyond our need to eat, drink and have sex, we must see from the examples that a man with a noble ambition never lacks. Solomon didn’t ask for money, he asked for wisdom. Komla didn’t ask for money, he asked for an opportunity to change. Madeba didn’t ask for money, he asked for the opportunity to bring justice. Osagye didn’t ask for money, he asked for freedom.

It is by this means that these men have achieved immortality like the many others who lived before them and continue to live with us through their ever powerful legacies. As I write this, I am reminded of the Marcus Aurelious’ meditations and what it has to say about noble character. If you haven’t read it, now will be a good time. The path to the maximization of existence is not that hard to find. The problem is; there are not many who are willing to travel that road in spite of its many rewards.

I do not know what you do or how you do it. Or even how much of it you do and the real reason why you do it. I do not know how long you intend to exist on this plane and what your plan is towards the maximization of the opportunity. But I do know that the clock doesn't stop ticking and that there will be a time when the world will have an opportunity to make an assessment of your existence. Because it matters- you were created to serve a certain purpose.

The question is, what will the world say about you? Will you receive endless glowing tributes or will you fade into nothingness after your huge “gbonyo party” while a few members of your family go on a shopping spree at the expense of your lack of a lasting legacy? Or will you spark inspiration in the hearts of the world like Komla has done for you and the rest of us? The answer is performance. SPiD-UP.

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A short tribute to time

It is a fact that we do take time for granted. That is not surprising at all; we do that with one of vital gifts life has provided for us. Everything with a beginning must have an end or must it? Time certainly has a beginning that is in fact unique to everyone. It starts form the day you were born and “sort of ends” the day you pass on depending on how you choose to see things. So that at the end of this period that you will be dwelling on planet earth, it becomes possible to determine how much time you have spent and what you did in that time. This can be measured as you probably already know; down to the nano-second. Our seconds, minutes hours and days all the way down to years provide a structure with which we can understand and measure our existence. This being the case, it cannot be hard to see that it is among the most valuable resources available to us all in equal measure. Its importance to our very existence (something we all cherish above everything else) alone tells us that an effective use of this valuable resources is the means by which we can maximize our existence.

For those who’s intention is to make a lot of money, they must begin to measure how much they are making per hour or second in order to understand how much they can make in a year. This will then make it possible to determine how much one can make in a life time.  This kind of clarity can make it easy to understand where you are in order to determine where you want to be. The goals you set therefore have a relationship with where you are now and the gap between the two, is filled by good old time.

God in his infinite wisdom has ensured that regardless of where we are on planet earth, we all have twenty four hours which breaks down into 86,400 seconds—Justice at its best. If your intention is to make money, it is not difficult to see where you are in the process when you compare yourself to the likes of Bill Gates (Sorry I didn't mean to make you sad). Yep he has twenty four like you. The difference is how you use it.

I do not know what you are involved in but one thing is for sure. It is how much of it plus the quality you produce within the seconds, minute and hours that will make sure that you maximize your days, weeks, months and years. There is also decades and centuries but since I really do not know how long you intend to live, I won’t venture into the millennia zone.

To understand this is to understand that every single second is an opportunity waiting to be maximized by you and that; what your hour will be is directly dependent on what you do with your seconds. No seconds, no hours, no years and no existence of course. It is your time and unique to you only. You determine what it can be by what you do with the seconds for within these seconds lies your opportunities for maximizing your existence. Clock is ticking. Maximize the seconds and maximize your life.

Here is another piece that supports this train of thought

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Evidence of underperformance in supreme court

The ongoing case in the Supreme Court is useful in that, it lays bare the typical Ghanaian attitude towards work, duty obligation and standards. Or should I say the African Attitude. The amount of errors is beyond reason and it shows that people simply didn't do what was expected of them. It is a mindset problem and it cuts across almost everything we do. It explains why we don't have water and electricity even with all the resources available to us.
What do you do and how well do you do it? For those who think they can just do things and no one will know, think again. 

You name could pop up in the Supreme Court.
Our average is below standard- Fact.
We seldom meet deadlines and standards- Fact.
We always need double and triple supervision- Fact.
Most of us function at 35% of our true potential- Fact
We take details for granted- Fact
We are low on integrity
We worry when the bar is raised
We never expect the best from leadership
We never show up on time, never deliver
We are afraid to challenge ourselves and the status quo- Fact! Fact! Fact! Fact! Fact!

The list is endless but we are not going to just sit there and do nothing. It is time to shift gears. Every month The CSD with the support of our partners will train and 500 young people on peak performance across the nation and soon the continent.

We welcome help from sponsors, partners, and volunteers who are concerned enough to help cause change. What we need is a major shift and it is going to take work. You can start by participating or recommend the program to any person you know who is 30 and below and let us introduce them to what performance is, why it matters to them and how to be their best at all times.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/c9ihr6fh6sn6tbiu1ve3icps30g

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