Success impulse for more character: When no one is looking ...

Do you want to find out the true character of a person (or of yourself)? Then observe the person secretly when he is alone or put him in extreme situations. This is not a call to action, of course, and yet: the true quality of a person is revealed by his behavior in two situations: under extreme stress and when no one is looking. In the first case, our cerebellum takes control (to put it simply), and in the second case, we don't have to "prove ourselves to anyone." Therefore, we like to "let ourselves go". The problem: a strong and positive character works only in consistency. That is, you cannot be an outstanding person in the long run when you are in the limelight, and an average person when you are under stress or alone.

Constant character

Your character is constant and is only reinforced by situations. Why is this important? Well, if you want to achieve more (whatever that means to you), then you need to do the consistent want (and not only from time to time). And you have to want it even when no one is looking.

I see this time and again very strongly in business teams: In meetings, for example, when people are "among themselves," they don't prepare, accept the postponement of decisions, and so on. In any case, many do not exactly show outstanding performance then.

Why many remain only mediocre

And what often happens under extreme stress? That's right: blaming, self-protection ("I didn't do it!"), abusive language, etc. Again, this behavior doesn't exactly represent excellence. This is exactly why so many teams and people remain in mediocrity and often even tread water in frustration: they allow unacceptable behavior for top teams in the two situations mentioned.

Success impulse for more character

Here are three ideas on how to change that for yourself and your team:

1. Your identity. Define what you expect of yourself. What standards do you have? I had already explained this elsewhere, so here is just the tip that it helps to describe yourself once in three words. One of the ways to implement this is to constantly remind each other.
2. Your discipline. Make sure you live and behave by these standards at all times (even when no one is looking). There are several techniques for doing this. It is important that you notice and correct any deviations immediately.
3. Your progress. Evaluate yourself daily against your criteria. How good were you? If you can't even manage to hold a mirror up to yourself, who else do you expect to do it? Mutual "micro-coaching" can help here.

You can do these three steps very well individually and with your team. It helps if you hire someone external to orchestrate them (also so that you don't fall back into mediocre behavior).

To the author:
Volkmar Völzke is a success maximizer. Book author. Consultant. Coach. Speaker. www.volkmarvoelzke.ch