Credit for this post goes to the book “Shine: Using Brain Science to Get the Best from Your People” by Edward M. Hallowell. In this book, the author covers the dream of any good manager or coach, how my people shine in their role and deliver best of their performance?

In modern business world, we often heard that the Manager’s role is no more to manage but be a coach for his/ her employees. In author’s own words “the best manager bring out the best from their people.” Manager role is to find and mine the gold that resides within everyone. Question is how? Technical skills, hard work, communication skills, self-confidence all of these are important success factors, but real power lies in lighting up the spark someone already has. Author summarizes accomplishing the peak performance as a cycle of excellence in five steps of select, connect, play, grow, and shine.

Peak performance is five step cycle of excellence – Select, Connect, Play, Grow, and Shine.

Select – Peak performance start with selecting the right job. An ideal job for high performer is the one that meets three criteria; something the person is good at, something the person like to do. and something that adds value to the project and/or organization. Excellence happen when these three criteria intersect in someone’s role.

Connect – Connection follow the selection, people should feel themselves connected to others and to the mission. Connected people not only inspire themselves but also inspire others. A connected environment is where people feel understood and safe. This environment nurture the positive energy and fuel the performance.

Play – Human brains are designed to explore, brain performs best in activity where imaginations are involved. People feel dull or apathetic, if creative problem solving is missing in the work. A good manager value play and promote it to accomplish the excellent results, creativity, and engagement across the organization.

Grapple and Grow – When creativity is involved in activity, person feel more engaged and fueled by the feeling to work hard. Play fuel the energy to work harder and harder. Grapple and grow happen when someone has right selection of task, working in a connected environment, engaged in the task that not fits the skill he/ she has but also challenges the person. Great managers make sure that right environment and challenges exist for every team member to grow.

Shine – A good manager make sure that the person’s hard work is recognized and praised across the organization. People who shine once like to shine more, their hard work is advancing them and being recognized for their advancement energized them more.

In summary, positive emotions in a connected environment, where someone is working on right selection of job, a job that is also bringing challenges and recognition is the formula for someone to shine with peak performance.