Finding Mastery

In 1997 Michael Johnson began appearing in Nike television ads as the “World’s Fastest Man”.  The highest performers contain an incredible drive to train for years for the “smallest” improvements. How many of us press snooze after reaching the top? 

For Michael Johnson fractions of seconds made the difference between gold and no podium. While finishing your phone call .08 seconds faster may not get you a bonus, getting a little bit better in everything you do will. Think of your attempt to master something like compound interest. All it takes is 10% interest to double your investment in seven years. What if you could achieve 2X the results if you got 10% better each day? What if your business could be twice as profitable and your team twice as productive?

When you create a culture of mastery in your organization amazing things will happen. Your very best people will get better because they will be measuring themselves against mastery rather than their peers. The team members who are in the wrong role will move on more quickly. If you demand mastery while giving your people what they need to achieve it you can unlock your most power asset…your people.