Striving for Perfection

Chapter 3 Reaching Your Peak Performance! "My soul, pay attention to your wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding, That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge." Proverbs 5: 1-2 "There are 110 secrets to success: Don't waste time looking for them. Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty to those for whom you work, add persistence." General (ret) Colin Powell, USA 1989 "When opportunity knocks you want to be fully dressed" Colonel Charles "C.Q." Brown, USAF Being a member of the United States military is truly one of the noblest professions known to mankind. Being an officer in the United States military is one of the highest privileges that a person could ever achieve. Understanding this fact is paramount in reaching the pinnacle of success in your career. Reaching your peak, translates into striving for perfection. We all know that success or excellence is a journey not a destination. Once you board the "Success Train" there is no getting off. Well, once you are on, you do not want to intentionally get off. This chapter induces several strategies that will aid you while you are on your Success Train. Learning to be the best at anything takes hard work and consistent practice. If you are going to be a successful military officer you have to want it, and you are going to have to want it really BAD! Okay, you are probably saying I'm not afraid of hard work, but I caution you that effort is only half the battle. You have to perhaps change your thinking, what you read, people you hangout with, and immerse yourself into developing yourself into the best officer you can possibly be. Oh no, you are probably thinking "how do I embrace my heritage and at the same time change who I am?" I am not completely suggesting you change who you are as a person, but develop yourself into a "better you!" Our ancestors had enormous obstacles to confront daily, yet they found that burning desire to be the best they possibly could. They learned not to complain about trivial matters, but press on toward accomplishing their goals, striving toward bettering conditions for their family and themselves. There are thousands of Black heroes that we can use as examples on how to overcome difficulties, rise above our circumstances, and succeed in lieu of everyone telling you that you will never amount to anything, or be a failure. You see success does not occur by happenstance, it takes a concerted and focused effort to hit the target consistently. It requires you to embrace everything about you. That means knowing your past, executing success habits in your present, and pin-pointing planning for your future. It takes hard work! For example, when you were in school, being a good student meant doing all your homework, giving one hundred percent in class and you were most likely going to receive an "A" for the semester. Almost every military officer is a "good" officer, but you want to be a "GREAT' officer and that means giving one hundred fifty percent each and every day of your existence. Giving one hundred fifty percent means being competent in your duties, arriving early, and going home late in an effort to be the best officer assigned to your unit. It means learning how each sister service operates and deal s with whatever you are working on. It means researching what corporate America is doing and how to apply lesson learned and benchmark practices to make your unit better. You will find that military officers are very talented and motivated individuals. In order to stand out above your peers you have to go the extra mile by learning more than what your peers know, and learning how to apply those principles in reaching your goals. Learning to reach your peak performance consistently and embed excellence in all you do takes work. Stephen Covey states that the space between stimulus and response identifies where you find happiness. When young people make decisions they typically make faulty quick decisions, without fully considering the repercussions or consequences of their actions. The more mature a person becomes the shorter that space between stimulus and response. It is important for officers to make sound, prudent decisions on a consistent basis. Subordinates and superiors alike depend on your every decision, so learning to make good, well-thought out, and thorough decisions early on will serve you well. After many years of making mistakes and talking over professional problems with fellow officers the success strategies listed below were validated. There is no particular order to any of them, because all stand on their own merit and serve their unique purpose. Learn each of these strategies, write them down, personalize each one, and adopt them to your daily life. Keep a positive attitude. Have you ever heard the phrase that "your attitude determines your altitude?" Reaching your peak performance is more about possessing a positive attitude than it is anything else. The right attitude will put you in the appropriate frame of mind to properly handle and address the challenges of the day. The proper attitude eases confrontations and relaxes preconceived notions and biases. Additionally, being competent in your duties and responsibilities builds confidence in you, your peers and supervisors. Professional and technical competence will quickly elevate you above your peers, and will cause yow• supervisors to learn to rely on you in times of crises. Competence will assist you in having a positive attitude and feeling good about your environment. Having the right attitude is contagious and will make others desire to be around you. No one wants to be around someone too long with a bad attitude. Smile when appropriate and enjoy the moment and your time in the military. Being an officer is a tremendous privilege and will present rare opportunities for you. Take advantage of this time and keep a positive attitude. Find a good mentor. Regardless of your rank, mentorship is vital and will help to eliminate barriers you encounter and offer solutions to resolve conflict and adverse situations. Do not limit yourself to mentors that look like you. White officers have always commanded African American officers and those Black officers that have reached senior levels can quickly look back and identify numerous White officers that supported them in their climb to the top. It always helps in having a mentor in your career area, but do not allow this to hinder your search. Senior officers are always looking to assist younger officers trying to make a positive impact on the military. Be careful in your selection because selecting the wrong officer can have a devastating effect on your career. All officers need to have mentors, so do not delay and find someone who is willing to take you under their wings and offer good, sound, honest advice that will support your career. Be advised that you will not always agree with sincere and honest assessments from your mentor. Perhaps, sometimes you will have to agree to disagree, but for the most part your mentor is speaking from years of experience and has lived through the challenges you are confronting. Take tough jobs. Don't be afraid of taking on tough duties and responsibilities. It is too easy to remain in your comfort zone and not step out of your safety environment. Jobs that require long hours and frequent temporary assignments are often rewarded with positive annual evaluations that will secure your future promotion. Your supervisor is always looking for young officers willing to stand up and be challenged. They take pride in officers with the courage, tenacity, and confidence of taking on tough duties. When young officers are assigned the toughest duties their supervisors learn to call on them for future critical assignments.