Rasmus Ankersen, expert on peak performance, thinks that organisations are firing too slow…
Here’s what he says:
Successful organizations fire too slow!
Part of the reason is that our tolerance of poor performance tends to increase when we win. For example, I would argue that the football player whose performance is mediocre, is more likely to be replaced in the club that wins 20 games a year than in the club that wins the championship.
The club that just won the championship is looking over its roster, finding a 32 year old striker whose performance is mediocre, lacking power and is probably not getting better. What do they do with him?
Had the club finished fifth instead of first the decision would be crystal clear. He would be replaced with a better player. But when the club has won the championship, it has a tendency to say: “He is only 32, this is no age in modern football, he also had some good years, and he is still quite reliable defensively. We also won the championship with him in the team last year.”
Because it won, the winning team doesn’t confront the problem. Instead, it finds excuses for the player. In this way, success tends to lower our standards, and the same is true in business.
The sales person whose performance is mediocre is more likely to be fired and replaced in an organization that does not succeed than in a successful company. For example, I have often wondered why almost no one is ever fired when a company is doing well. It is almost as if successful organizations and teams develop a fear of interfering with the winning formula.
When things go well, we have a tendency to say: “Don’t rock the boat.” But in fact this is exactly what you need to do. You should evaluate the need for change with the same urgency as a losing organization does.
Rasmus Ankersen
Rasmus Ankersen published his first book “DNA of a Winner” at the age of 22. The book became a bestseller, encouraging Rasmus to follow up his success with “Leader DNA” and “Raising a Winner“. By the age of 25 he had written three bestsellers. His desire to understand the code that unlocks World Class performance led him to be head coach of the first soccer academy in Scandinavia, which has produced several top international players, among them Simon Kjaer (Wolfsburg and Denmark National Team), Winston Reid (West Ham), Sekou Oliseh (top scorer in CSKA Moscow) and many more. He was also a mental coach for the Danish national youth soccer teams and has worked as personal coach for several World Class athletes. In 2010 Rasmus spent six months travelling around the world to live and train with the best athletes and coaches on the globe. The result is his first international book “The Gold Mine Effect – unlocking the essence of world class performance” which is currently on submissions to publishers worldwide.
Contact us at Speakers Connect today to have Rasmus as a speaker for your next event!