Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 56 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: The Encore Effect – Part 6
— From The Encore Effect: How to Achieve Remarkable Performance in Anything You Do by Mark Sanborn
Welcome back to the last part of this miniseries. So far, we have learned what the Encore Effect is (from the book by the same name from leadership guru and author Mark Sanborn) and understood what it takes to create a remarkable performance, the one that causes your audience to want more and more.
The author has focused on several Ps along the way: passion, preparation, practice, etc., as the ingredients to create a remarkable performance. However, all the while, he’s been wondering what came first: the remarkable performance or the remarkable person?
“Distinguishing between remarkable performances and remarkable people is like asking which came first—the chicken or the egg?”
Sanborn says that remarkable performances often result in increased rewards. “These rewards may include money, but they also come as increased exposure, recognition, influence and opportunity. […] The person who strives to perform more remarkably without also focusing on becoming a more remarkable person is missing the larger point.”
So, how do we ensure that, along with our remarkable performances, there is also growth in the personal area?
Sanborn suggests “six areas of focus that, when developed and mastered, can’t help but make anyone a remarkable person.” He calls this The Pyramid of Possibility, and pictures each of the six areas—each one starting with a P—like an inverted pyramid (that is, in a V shape) “with potential as the foundation for being remarkable and personalization as the highest expression of it.”
It looks like this:
The Pyramid of Possibility
\ Personalization /
\ Persistence /
\ Principles /
\ Passion /
\ Purpose /
\ Potential /
Let’s take a quick look at each of the six Ps on the Pyramid.
Potential: “Our potential—both individually and collectively—has no known limits. Many of us know how good we are at our jobs and responsibilities, but none of us knows how good we could be. That is the magic and mystery of our potential.”
Purpose: “Potential without purpose is like a sheet of metal that has not yet been formed to make a useful object. Feed that sheet of metal into a press and its value is transformed. Every human being has unlimited potential. But we need the press of purpose to create a channel for expression and action. Purpose focuses potential.”
Passion: “Passion is the fire-in-the-belly that we bring to human endeavors. Of course, passion that is not tied to purpose is like lightning firing in the sky… But electricity that has a purpose—well, that’s a different story. That kind of energy can run a household of light up a city.” (For more on passion, read this post.)
Principles: “What are the beliefs that allow you to shape your world your performances) instead of being shaped by it? [… Remarkable people are] unswervingly committed to their core values, ethics and personal and spiritual beliefs…When what you say is reflected and amplified by how you live, you are almost certain to live a remarkable life.”
Persistence: There’s an important difference between persistence and endurance. “ Remarkable performers and people don’t simply endure—they exercise persistence. They refuse to give in to despair, and they work hard at doing what’s right. Persistence is a strategic word that suggests purposeful action…”
Personalization: England’s equivalent to the U.S.’ American Idol is The X Factor, where the X refers to that one “elusive and indefinable ‘star’ quality that separates one performer from the rest.” For the purposes of personalization, Sanborn wants you to think instead on what he calls the “U Factor”: “those qualities that make you unique among the world’s performers. The U Factor is not something that you have to acquire or search for. It’s something you already possess, and something no one else has… It’s how you use purpose, passion, principles and persistence to make your actions you.”
And with that, this miniseries on The Encore Effect comes to a close. I hope you liked it as much as I enjoyed writing it. What was your favorite part? Did you get any a-ha moments while reading it? Let me know in the comments here.
ACTION
TODAY: Think about your potential. How do you see yourself? How do you see others? The author asks us to ponder, “do you see yourself as ‘finished’ in terms of your spiritual and career advancement or as just getting started?”
FUTURE: Think about your goals. On which of them are you just enduring vs. purposely persisting to make them happen? Make a list of next steps to move that goal forward – there are 100 days left in the year for you to make it happen or to advance it significantly!
Know someone who is an encore performer? Please share this miniseries with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!