is peer-to-peer accountability, which is a step up and creates a stronger culture. Stage three is self-accountability, which is where game changers reside (“I do it because I said I would”). Undertakers make stage one their homestead.
Mission Unstoppable
To become an unstoppable game changer, you must master the following mindset and behavioral adjustments:
1. Don't even think about doing work that is less in quality or quantity than your absolute best. If you want to know how a game changer answers the question “How much is enough?,” the answer is simple: “All I possibly can.”
The good news for those aspiring to stand out in any organization is that it is not crowded at the top; it is crowded at the bottom. There is intense competition among the mediocre, where the undertakers and caretakers work and live. The recipe for standing out in a positive manner is both basic and brilliantly concise: Do all you can – the best you can – and do it every time.
David Williams, vice president of Horizon Forest Products, says:
Game changers are the best at what they do. They are the ones who are always at the top of the lists in regard to success in the company. They make up less than 10 percent of those in their position, not only in your company but in the industry.
They will simply outwork everyone else. They will be the ones that are in early and stay late. They do not work according to a clock or a time schedule. They will do whatever it takes to win, and they know that it does not happen in an eight-hour day. When you find these game changers, pay them well and do whatever you have to do to keep them on the team. They are successful people who will be a huge part of the success of the team. You absolutely need these people, so find a way to keep these people on your team. (David Williams, pers. comm.)
And Williams should know. He took over Horizon Forest Products, a wholesale flooring distributor, 19 years ago as it was ready to go out of business, and guided its turnaround. It is now one of the largest distributors in the industry, and one of the most profitable; and it didn't happen with a team that arrived at 8:59 and left at 5:01.
2. If you are a top performer, stay humble and know that you are not above values and rules, and that what is good for the team will not be subordinated to your personal pride, preferences, or comfort zone.
In other words, it is not all about you. So get over yourself (everyone else has), and expect to be measured by two metrics: performance and behavioral excellence – and know that excelling at the former does not excuse neglect of the latter.
3. As mentioned in the Introduction, it is important to remember that undertaker tendencies are not permanent verdicts for you or others; but to facilitate movement to more productive groups, a change in mindset will be required.
4. Use additional and helpful resources to help yourself and others create game changer performance. For daily quotes, tips, and strategies, follow us on Twitter: @DaveAnderson100 and @LearntoLead100.
Heads up to top performers – we love you, but you are not the center of the universe. That job has already been taken. You are not bigger than the team.
CHAPTER 2
THE CARETAKER
So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.”
The caretaker is a “just enough” performer. He does just enough to get by, just enough to get paid, and just enough to not get fired. While caretaker performance is a step up from the unacceptable undertaker, it is not noble; in fact, it is not even particularly notable. It is baseline, minimal, get-in-at-the-last-minute, leave-at-the-earliest-moment, pledge-allegiance-to-the-job-description, just-hold-it-all-together-while-you're-there performance.
For a caretaker, the thought of putting in extra work and effort to become his or her best self, or to get an edge and move ahead, is as appealing as a dead skunk in the middle of the road.
Do not complain about the success you don't get from the work you will not do. If you did not earn it and do not deserve it, you have earned and deserve the reality of going without it.
The Caretaker Antithesis
Phil Beckner is a men's assistant basketball coach at Boise State University and has an extended history coaching Portland Trail Blazer Damian Lillard, dating back to Lillard's time at Weber State. Beckner continues to serve as a personal coach and mentor, and trains Lillard now in two-week stints during off-seasons. Lillard has a world-class work ethic that he has developed over the years, which has lifted him to game changer status in the National Basketball Association (NBA), but it started well before he turned pro. Coach Beckner observes:
One of the most relentless and driven competitors…tireless, freak workers I have ever been around is Damian Lillard. You can easily identify Lillard as a game changer because of the impact he has had on the people and teams he has been a part of. Early on, Dame had a healthy fear;…he wouldn't accept not improving; he refused to become comfortable; he refused to become complacent;…he didn't rest on his past accomplishments. He worked hard. Period.
After his first season in the NBA and being named NBA rookie of the year, Lillard trained with the same inner circle of people he worked with the previous summer, but Lillard would still grow scared. Not scared to compete. Not scared to go up against the best of the best in the NBA at the best position in the NBA (point guard), but scared that he would not improve enough. Scared that he couldn't evolve. Scared that every other point guard in the NBA was possibly working harder, and trying to get better than him. So he used the same formula he always did – the same formula other game changers use. He worked harder, and harder, and harder. He lifted more, he trained more, he shot more, and he watched more video (Phil Beckner, pers. comm.).
For an undertaker or caretaker to shift into becoming a Damian Lillard, it does not take an additional smidgen of talent. It does, however, require a seismic shift in mindset; which, by the way, you are in control of changing. This also means you are to blame if you do not change it.
To be capable of doing more, but then to make a conscious choice not to, is just a sneakier, more creative way of quitting.
Drop the Excuses
What is worse than choosing to do less than you can is the reasoning that some use to justify their own caretaker performance, or the mediocrity of others:
“I do what I'm supposed to do. I do my job.”
“I'll do more when they pay me more.”
“My boss/coach doesn't motivate me.”
“At least I'm here every day.”
“He's not great, but he's better than nothing.”
“Well, she is at least reliable.”
“I've seen worse.”
This stinking thinking is the lament of losers
