Blog Post: What's YOUR 20% Performance Edge?

1. 80 percent of your past job successes came from applying 20 percent of your top talents   
2. 80 percent of your current job satisfaction comes from 20 percent of your job responsibilities
3. 80 percent of your future success in the workplace will likely come from applying 20 percent of your top talents - your PERFORMANCE EDGE 

It's deceptively simple, but an incredibly powerful insight – especially for job seekers today.  Maintaining a focus on how The Pareto Principle is operating in your own career can help clarify your next step, boost your performance edge, help you earn more recognition and money, plus expand your job opportunities into areas that truly FIT your performance profile.  

Think about it.  What are your top ten talents?  According to The Pareto Principle, even when you are using all ten of those top talents, they will not all be equally effective. In fact, the 80-20 rule states that only 2 of your talents will account for 80% of your success. The other 8 will be much less effective.  Identifying those top two talents – which are your 20% performance edge - takes you a long way in achieving greater career success and personal satisfaction.

Let’s look at some samples to help you identify what constitutes your performance edge and 80 percent of your success.

Which of these talents are yours?

1. Influencing Others - the ability to personally affect others' actions, decisions, opinions or thinking to achieve buy-in and progress towards goals
2. Customer Focus –successfully and consistently providing superior customer satisfaction
3. Self-Management - the ability to independently prioritize and complete tasks within allotted time frames  
4. Goal Achievement - the ability to set, pursue and attain personal, professional and team objectives regardless of obstacles or circumstances
5. Continuous Learning – taking personal responsibility and action toward learning and implementing new ideas, methods and technologies
6. Attention to Detail – paying attention to the specific elements of a situation or work assignment to achieve an accurate outcome
7. Conflict Management – the ability to resolve different points of view constructively for all parties
8. Conceptual Thinking – the ability to mentally envision comprehensive, long-range plans or goals, and to identify, evaluate and allocate necessary resources
9. Concrete Organization – the ability to understand essential requirements in a situation and effectively bring together all necessary resources to achieve results
10. Interpersonal Skills – the ability to consistently interact with others in a positive, empathetic and productive manner

This list is only provided as a sample so you can create your own.  After thinking about your talents and uncovering the pattern of your biggest career successes, you will likely be able to identify your own performance edge – the 20% of your talents that led to 80% of your success.  The result is incredibly valuable:  you will be able to FOCUS on the job opportunities ahead that leverage your performance edge for further success!   

Sometimes people have problems seeing and valuing their own talents.  It is especially true when they are feeling disappointed, deflated and/or unsuccessful after a recent job loss.  If you are in this situation now, you may need an objective viewpoint to support you in defining your unique talents.  A certified Career Coach is ready to work with you to uncover your performance edge, and make effective plans to use it to do MORE of what makes you most successful and happy in your career!  Look for us in this blog, and call us.

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Author Gayla Doucet - A Certified Creative Life and Talent Management Coach (International Coach Federation) and a member of the Phoenix Chapter of the ICF in Arizona. Find her at People Powered Solutions LLC (www.pplpowered.com), and www.LinkedIn.com. 

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