1. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP, LLC 2014 1 D RIVING P ERFORMANCE P RESENTED BY D EV W ARREN A SCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP, LLC

2. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP, LLC 2014 Do we want our people and our teams to be better? How to we help them achieve their potential, or as we like to say, “be the best version of themselves”? 2

3. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP, LLC 2014 “To excel in your chosen field and to find lasting satisfaction in doing so, you will need to understand your unique patterns. You will need to become an expert at finding and describing and applying and practicing and refining your strengths.” Marcus Buckingham 3

4. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 1.Understanding Strengths and Weaknesses 2.Playing to our Strengths 3.Minimizing Weaknesses 4.Using Goals and Evaluations to Help Drive Performance 4

5. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 O BSERVATIONS R EGARDING S TRENGTHS A ND W EAKNESSES 5

6. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 O BSERVATION #1 Every one of us has a unique combination of strengths as well as weaknesses. Some strengths may be more valuable and/or more obvious than others. Some weaknesses may be more obvious and/or more irritating than others. 6

7. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 We have been raised in a culture that asks us to focus on correcting our weaknesses rather than maximizing our strengths. O BSERVATION #2 7

8. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 As a general rule, individuals are promoted because of their strengths and passed up for promotions because of their weaknesses. O BSERVATION #3 8

9. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 While we don’t usually turn weaknesses into strengths, we can do damage control on them to reduce their negative impacts on ourselves and others. “If you think a weakness can be turned into a strength, I hate to tell you, but that’s another weakness.” Jack Handley O BSERVATION #4 9

10. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 This idea/concept of playing to our strengths is easy to buy in to, but difficult to implement. If it were easy to play to one’s strengths in the business world, more people would be doing it. O BSERVATION #5 10

11. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 Although we have lots of choices available to us throughout our careers, most individuals seem perfectly willing to accept a work life that doesn’t neces- sarily thrill them. O BSERVATION #6 11

12. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 The predefined pattern of business operations often makes it very difficult for an individual to play to his or her strengths. O BSERVATION #7 12

13. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 It is difficult to know the full impact of our weaknesses on others without their open and honest feedback. Too few are willing to provide this feedback, even when asked. O BSERVATION #8 13

14. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 Too many organizations allow (and even promote) the existence of artificial harmony, which provides the perfect setting to keep our weaknesses tucked away, conveniently out of sight and mind. A culture of artificial harmony makes it difficult to work on personal weaknesses. O BSERVATION #9 14

15. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 U NDERSTANDING A ND P LAYING T O O UR S TRENGTHS 15

16. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 Most Common Assumptions About People: “Each person can learn to be competent in almost anything.” “Each person’s greatest room for growth is in his or her areas of greatest weakness.” 16

17. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 “Most organizations take their employees’ strengths for granted and focus on minimizing their weaknesses. They become expert in those areas where their employees struggle, delicately rename these ‘skill gaps’ or ‘areas of opportunity,’ and then pack them off to training classes so that the weaknesses can be fixed.” 17

18. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 “These are the two assumptions that guide the world’s best managers: 1. Each person’s talents are enduring and unique. 2. Each person’s greatest room for growth is in the areas of his or her greatest strength.” 18

19. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 A talent or strength is “any recurring pattern of thought, feeling, or behavior that can be productively applied.” For example: Inquisitive, competitive, charming, responsible, caring, persistent, communicator, teacher, planner, hard- working, leader... W HAT I S A S TRENGTH O R T ALENT ? 19

20. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 The definition of a strength is consistent near-perfect performance in an activity. For an activity to be a strength you must be able to do it consistently. And you must also derive some intrinsic satisfaction from the activity. Question: Can we learn to love something? 20

21. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 The key to building a bona fide strength is to identify your dominant talents and then refine them with knowledge and skills. 21

22. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 How do you help your team play to their strengths? Q UESTION 22

23. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 R ECOGNIZING A ND M INIMIZING P ERSONAL W EAKNESS 23

24. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 A personal weakness is anything that limits our ability to reach our potential. These personal weaknesses are patterns or behaviors that automatically come into play in our lives. 24

25. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 “Labeling [your weaknesses] gives [you] the ability to recognize them when they cut in for a dance and put you on auto-habit pilot. With that awareness you can be accountable for shifting them from active duty to being shut down, turned off, dismantled and relieved of duty.” Mark Weinstein 25

26. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 How do you minimize a weakness? Q UESTION 26

27. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 The first step in minimizing our weaknesses is to recognize the benefit of improving ourselves. “We acquire the strength we have overcome.” Ralph Waldo Emerson 1. D ESIRE T O I MPROVE 27

28. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 The second step in the process is to identify as clearly as possible your personal weaknesses. You will likely need the help of others to openly and honestly identify your weaknesses. You should be comfortable asking them some very specific questions. 2. I DENTIFY Y OUR W EAKNESSES 28

29. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 What do you feel are the personal anchors that hold me back? In what ways do I irritate or frustrate people? What are my limiting habits that seem to take over at times? Q UESTIONS T O D ETERMINE W EAKNESSES 29

30. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 What are the things that, no matter how hard you try, you cannot master? What things do you find yourself procrastinating? What are the things you do only because you “should” do them? What activities deplete your energy? 30 Q UESTIONS T O D ETERMINE W EAKNESSES

31. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 It generally doesn’t make sense to try and work on all of your weaknesses at once. With the help of a coach or friend, prioritize your weaknesses and develop a written plan to work on one or more of your personal weaknesses each trimester. 3. D EVELOP A W RITTEN P LAN 31

32. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 The real role of a coach, guide or friend in this process is to help you figure out what you need to do to reduce the impact of each personal weakness and hold you accountable for making the necessary progress. 32

33. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 We don’t usually eliminate (or even do major damage control on) our weaknesses overnight. Recognize that the process will take a while and learn to take some measurements along the way to find out if you are making progress towards achieving your trimester goals. 4. D ETERMINE P ROGRESS 33

34. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 To make the most of your career (and life), you need to be committed to life-long improvement. Not every goal you set will be accomplished, and not every plan will be successful. Step 5 is really about the fine tuning needed to keep moving forward. 5. A DJUST P LAN A S N EEDED 34

35. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 U SING G OALS A ND E VALUATIONS T O D RIVE C HANGE 35

36. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 Determining what you like doing most is a good place to start. Remember, there needs to be a connection to the organization’s success. A coach might help you identify your talents and also help you understand how to implement those talents to help the organization be more successful. 36

37. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 Remember that you are looking for incremental change. Work to manage your own expectations. Look for opportunities to play to your strengths. Keep in mind the proper progression... “finding and describing and applying and practicing and refining your strengths.” 37

38. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 Goal setting is a critical aspect of helping you focus on your strengths. Setting goals aimed at growing your strengths will be a lot more fun than working on goals to correct weaknesses. That being said, damage control with weaknesses is an important matter. 38

39. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP LLC 2014 Utilizing a career strategy… See session 1 from this morning 39

40. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP, LLC 2014 Another way to define high performance is to evaluate people in the six key performance areas. 40

41. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP, LLC 201441 Performance Areas 1. Leadership 2. Manager Effectiveness 3. Financial Performance 4. Team Development 5. Customer Management 6. Business Development P ERFORMANCE A REAS A ND S CALE Measurement ScaleRating World Class Performance9 or 10 Excellent Performance7 or 8 Good Performance5 or 6 Marginal Performance3 or 4 Poor Performance1 or 2

42. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP, LLC 201442 1. Leadership Proven success in developing, executing and reaching vision and strategic plan. Management unity. Open and honest dialog. No artificial harmony or hidden elephants. Willingness to commit to Company decisions. No meetings after the meeting. Consistent ability to set and accomplish goals (a culture of achieving objectives). Strong/productive management/stakeholder meetings. Effective governance. Ability to make good, timely decisions. Strengths Areas for Improvement Rating C OMPANY P ERFORMANCE E VALUATION

43. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP, LLC 201443 2. Manager Effectiveness Manager willingness to be a good example to others in the Company Proven ability of managers to create and build skills each year. Proven ability of manages to be self- accountable to commitments. Managers give best effort in becoming continuously more valuable each year. Willingness to set and accomplish stretch goals each year. Strong communication skills with other employees and stakeholders. Strengths Areas for Improvement Rating C OMPANY P ERFORMANCE E VALUATION

44. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP, LLC 201444 3. Financial Performance Excellent cash management processes in place. Consistent improvement in operating margin over past five years. Consistent improvement in employee production statistics over past five years. Excellent billing and collection processes. Top 15% of financial metrics of the industry e.g. return on assets, return on equity, debt/equity ration Strong risk management program to address company risk mitigation. C OMPANY P ERFORMANCE E VALUATION Strengths Areas for Improvement Rating

45. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP, LLC 201445 4. Team Development Strong bench strength ratio – redundancy in positions throughout the company. Willingness to provide meaningful coaching and mentoring to the best people. Proven ability to develop leaders within the company. Managers connected to strong leadership development program. Proven ability to recruit and retain key team members. Proven ability to provide effective training for all positions in the company. Strengths Areas for Improvement Rating C OMPANY P ERFORMANCE E VALUATION

46. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP, LLC 201446 5. Customer Management Proven ability to provide consistently great customer service. Reputation for amazing service. Consistent improvement in services. Quality equipment and technology providing confidence in the services/products delivered. Quality maintenance program to ensure there are no service delays because of equipment failures. Proven ability to remove D-level customers. Strong performance in customer satisfaction surveys Strengths Areas for Improvement Rating C OMPANY P ERFORMANCE E VALUATION

47. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP, LLC 201447 6. Business Development Focus on and celebrate the landing of profitable customers. Successful execution of a written strategic marketing plan. Consistent ability to cross-sell customer services to prospective and existing clients. Ability to consistently grow top-line revenue through effective marketing and sales activities. Continually building strong relationships with the business community. Strengths Areas for Improvement Rating C OMPANY P ERFORMANCE E VALUATION

48. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP, LLC 2014 48 What do you do when someone doesn’t show the willingness to improve? 80/20 Rule Powell’s Rules Questions

49. © ASCENDANT ADVISORY GROUP, LLC 2014 49 Thank You! dev@ascendantadvisory.com