Not as successful as you would like? 8 Lessons To Fixing The Performance Gap.

Kobe Bryant

On January 26, 2020, Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others were traveling via helicopter to the Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, CA to attend his daughter’s basketball game.  Shortly after take-off, all tragically perished as their flight crashed amid foggy conditions.

Kobe was known for many things including his athletic prowess, NBA championships, his relationship with Shaquille O’Neal, and his post-retirement successes in the media and entertainment industry.  We will ever remember Kobe for many different things but what stands out to me is his relentless work ethic and focus on the fundamentals.  In other words, what would become known as his Mamba Mentality.

Alan Stein, Jr.

Performance coach Alan Stein Jr once asked Kobe after watching him practice the sport’s fundamentals at 3:30 AM, “You’re the best player in the world.  Why are you doing such basic drills?”  To which he responded, “Why do you think I’m the best player in the world?  I never, ever get bored with the basics.”

This leads me to Alan.  He is a high-performance coach and one of my go-to resources on the subject.  His book Raise Your Game: High-Performance Secrets from the Best of the Best is a must-have for any leader.

Recently, Alan produced a compelling video on The First Step To Maximizing Your Personal Growth And Performance.  Check it out and we will unpack some of his thoughts below.

The Performance Gap

The following are 8 Lessons To Fixing The Performance Gap we learn from Alan’s video:

1. Fixing The Performance Gap Requires Your First Asking Yourself The Right Question – “How well am I actually doing this?”
2. The Performance Gap Definition – “There’s a difference between what we know and what we do and that’s called a Performance Gap.”
3. Fixing The Performance Gap Requires Taking Action On What We Already Know – “It is the difference between what we know we’re supposed to do every single day of our life and what we actually do.”
4. Fixing The Performance Gap Is A Process – “The first step to maximum growth and achieving high performance is closing that gap.  It’s doing the things we know we are supposed to do.”
5. Fixing The Performance Gap Is Not Easy – “Just because something is basic doesn’t mean that it’s easy.  If it was easy, everybody else would be doing it.”
6. There Are No Shortcuts To Fixing The Performance Gap – “We live in a world that tells us it’s OK to skip steps, tells us we should always be on the hunt for a shortcut or hack, and implies there’s nothing wrong with focusing on the outcome and skipping the process.  But anytime you do that you are making a grave mistake.”
7. The First Step To Fixing The Performance Gap Is Admitting The Basics Work – “The basics work.  They always have and they always will.  The very first step to maximizing your growth, the very first step to maximizing your performance is to admit the basics work.”
8. Fixing The Performance Gap Requires Humility – “But it’s also having the humility to acknowledge that implementing the basics every… single… day is never, ever going to be easy.”

Kobe Bryant and Alan Stein, Jr have made us a lot better today.  Regardless of wherever you may apply your craft, take time today and admit the basics work.  Then, document what those basics are.  And finally, start working on them every… single… day.

Once again, if you don’t have Alan’s book Raise Your Game: High-Performance Secrets from the Best of the Best, click HERE and order your copy today! 

The Top 60 Leadership Quotes From 2021 Part 1 is my latest ebook.  For many entering a post-pandemic environment, leadership looks completely different than the pre-pandemic world.  People are more broken now. They are more uncertain. Fear and anxiousness are unwelcome constant companions. Cultures are more unhealthy. Relationships are more dysfunctional.  Hope seems to be in short supply.  Every day seems to bring a new hacking, natural disaster, or unexpected calamity.

Therefore, the fundamentals of leadership are more important than ever. The quotes in this book deal with the basics of leadership.  If you want to be the best leader you can possibly be, click HERE or on the image provided to download this FREE resource.  The lessons learned from last year, if applied, will sustain you for years to come.