🇬🇧 High Performance Without Stress – Is It Really Possible?

00:00:03: Can I get high performance without stress?

00:00:06: Yes, you can.

00:00:08: If you do a couple of things well with discipline and well-prepared peak pressure is hardly sustainable over longer period of time.

00:00:17: High Performance Is the result Of more clarity.

00:00:27: Hello And welcome to today's Lightwolf Podcast Your podcast for leading With impact.

00:00:35: And i underline Impact for a reason.

00:00:38: We all have good intentions, right?

00:00:40: You intend well I intend Well But we are not paid for our intentions.

00:00:46: We're paid for impact.

00:00:49: and today is about one particular area of impact we want as leaders And another area of impacts we don't necessarily want at least Not too much off it.

00:01:02: that's why Today's podcast is called High performance without stress.

00:01:07: Is it really possible?

00:01:10: And the answer is yes!

00:01:12: Looking across The Patch, looking at many clients we've had pleasure working for some of them more than a decade I think we have normalized Stress as if it were a leadership strategy or a leadership tool.

00:01:26: It's not and companies that learn this will be ones outperform all others.

00:01:34: Now the question is, can leaders build high-performing organizations without creating constant stress?

00:01:42: And I believe the answer is yes they can.

00:01:46: It might not be easy it might not work all the time but Yes They Can!

00:01:51: But only if we rethink what drives performance and i would like to start today by sharing three observations.

00:02:01: first sustainable performance Is not the result of ever more pressure?

00:02:07: Yes, we will feel some pressures.

00:02:10: Some at a time.

00:02:11: I assume you do sometimes.

00:02:13: i think that's normal and We can easily sustain some pressure.

00:02:17: but we should Not always drive to increase The pressure more and more And for way too long periods Of Time because peak Pressure is Hardly Sustainable over A longer period of Time.

00:02:29: high Performance is the result.

00:02:34: Teams rarely underperform because they work too little.

00:02:39: If they underperform, they do so because priorities compete decisions are delayed and expectations somewhat utterly unclear.

00:02:51: Just this morning I come from a conversation that my cooperation partner Janne & i were having with the software company That has been our client for years.

00:03:03: The relationship is growing, the trust is mutual.

00:03:07: We both have fun helping dozens and dozens of those leaders in that company grow to higher levels of performance and effectiveness.

00:03:17: However no surprise that now with AI reaching the mainstream a software company needs to change and Needs to transform.

00:03:28: And that is happening and the top management team is starting in their change.

00:03:33: That it's required to make this business fit for future.

00:03:38: however, The organization Is unclear?

00:03:43: Top Management communicates clear strategic choices and a clear strategic direction and a few key KPIs.

00:03:51: but there is A problem!

00:03:53: The organization below is uncertain unclear and doesn't really know what exactly is now coming, has no idea on the how.

00:04:02: Now How should I execute this direction that you guys are steering there up at the top?

00:04:09: So There is un-clarity.

00:04:11: The second context component is stress Is not the enemy.

00:04:17: Chronic Unmanaged Stress Is Short.

00:04:22: periods of high intensity are sustainable to people.

00:04:26: I would say short peaks might even help people grow, but living in permanent firefighting mode first slowly destroys judgment because the quality of thinking deteriorates and then it kills creativity collaboration and motivation.

00:04:44: And ultimately you risked to lose your best talent as a result if you don't intervene or manage it to sustainable levels.

00:04:52: The final observation i'd like share is The behavior of the leader determines emotional climates of teams.

00:05:01: It's not just a pressure from outside and from the world, and from tariffs and wars... And you name it!

00:05:07: ...it is also the pressure that is accelerated intensified or created in addition by leaders of those teams themselves.

00:05:17: Leaders who get excited easily and pass on pressure from top They radiate stress, they multiply stress.

00:05:28: On the other hand leaders who stay calm under pressure create calm... ...they radiate confidence!

00:05:36: They take stress out.

00:05:39: So what can leaders do?

00:05:42: What kind of leadership to you exercise when you are under pressure?

00:05:47: I would have a couple of ideas for You that may help To Stay Calm Under Pressure And that may help to radiate and create the environment you want to create around when you lead.

00:06:02: Suggestion one, replace activity with goals.

00:06:08: Don't steer with busyness Steer with clear goals.

00:06:13: Goals should not be described with verbs.

00:06:20: So on of more frequent phenomena I see in Goal agreements when they are written down is that there are some verbs in them.

00:06:30: Sometimes, They're full of verbs.

00:06:32: They describe activity after activity.

00:06:35: Why?

00:06:35: Is it the case?

00:06:37: I think That is because It's so much easier to describe an Activity than To formulate a well-defined goal.

00:06:46: its So Much Easier Because you don't need to make A decision You don't need to focus.

00:06:53: you just describe what do expect people today.

00:06:55: That's easy, but it's wrong.

00:06:59: a goal agreement Should not have any verbs at all.

00:07:05: kill them when you write your own goals.

00:07:07: Just define outcomes.

00:07:10: What result in?

00:07:12: What quality by one day?

00:07:15: scrap the rest why?

00:07:17: because it focuses on goals and outcomes rather than on activity.

00:07:23: It reduces the risk that people think they have to be busy all day, to be seen as productive.

00:07:29: No!

00:07:29: Its not about business its' about effectiveness & efficiency of achieving an outcome.

00:07:35: And thats starts with you setting the right outcome Setting the right goals rather then defining activities.

00:07:44: Let me illustrate this with two Work examples from our real work this week and last week.

00:07:52: This week six of us were together with a group of one hundred leaders From all five continents, probably we were twenty different nations in the room.

00:08:05: There was Mexico In The Room China Was In The room there was Brazil In The Rooms so Germans Were In The Roo People from the UK, Australia was in the room.

00:08:15: So really a global group of leaders from a global company headquartered in Germany and The work was about leading with impact.

00:08:28: one of the topics Was goal setting?

00:08:33: And what I've learned is that this Company had the culture and to have it until about five years ago not to work with goals at all.

00:08:42: They worked with themes, with topics.

00:08:46: And five years ago the company for first time started sharing golds at all.

00:08:50: so in top management leadership meetings it was a first-time about five years that the top management said ladies and gentlemen these are the company's goals.

00:08:59: there were paper copies of this room.

00:09:02: if you'd like to have copy help yourselves.

00:09:06: So thats when they start starting to set gold on company level.

00:09:12: And now, five years later they are intensifying the leading and guiding focus of goals because then move to define goals on top leadership at a level down yet another level down.

00:09:25: They're starting to cascade goals in their organization but also bottom up to ensure alignment rather than just broadcasting.

00:09:35: it was liberating to see the faces, hear their feedback.

00:09:41: They were really positive about those ninety minutes of a short workshop on effective goals – how to define them and how to cascade them.

00:09:52: Liberating is what I would use after that workshop.

00:09:56: And i'd also like share another piece.

00:10:00: my cooperation partners Laura & Sasha Laura Bousquet from Ingolstadt and Sasha Donbush von Kalkheim did with me at Procter & Gamble last week.

00:10:12: There we had about eighty leaders in the room, just today on my LinkedIn profile I received a really nice feedback form one of those participants – here it is!

00:10:26: The feedback comes from Matteos Henrique Maronese Brumme from Procters & Gambles.

00:10:33: Europe Quote, Hey Stefan.

00:10:36: Thank you for the connection and very rich and insightful training.

00:10:40: last week.

00:10:41: I left that room with more courage More self-awareness More humble And equipped With tools That will help me & my teams To grow & be more effective.

00:10:51: You & your team were very inspiring.

00:10:54: Keep it up.

00:10:55: Hope to meet again around Kind regards Matthäus Unquote.

00:11:00: These are just simple tools open conversations, quick practices to help people get more outcome out of less time.

00:11:10: To basically answer the question off this podcast is can I get high performance without stress?

00:11:16: Yes you can if do a couple things well with discipline and world prepared.

00:11:22: so suggestion number one replace activity with goals because we cannot create certainty even if people want it.

00:11:34: But we can create clarity!

00:11:38: Let us do it whenever we can and as best we can, It helps our people to deliver higher performance with less stress.

00:11:47: So suggestion number one Replace activity with clear goals.

00:11:52: Don't steer with busyness Steer with outcomes.

00:11:57: Suggestion number two Replace control With ownership.

00:12:03: Define clear outcomes, then give people the freedom and accountability to deliver.

00:12:11: Just this afternoon it's Friday today And once a month, Friday after noon there is Lightwolf Academy Group Live coaching.

00:12:20: One hour on one of The Deep Dives Today?

00:12:24: The deep dive was on course number one which is leading employees courses tour two to six are leading myself, leading my boss, leading team.

00:12:35: Leading a leader and leading strategically great stuff.

00:12:39: simple staff effective tools And we spend an entire hour going deep into cause number one.

00:12:47: One of the more frequent phenomena that participants and members of Lightwolf Academy shared when discussing leading employees was all too often I don't delegate enough.

00:13:00: All too often I still try to do work myself.

00:13:03: It's because i don't trust my people enough, it's because I want to control more and I should

00:13:08: not.".

00:13:09: So people realize nine out of ten leaders Don't delegate enough And one of the barriers is lack of trust.

00:13:20: so My suggestion for you Is if You're One Of The Many... ...and it happened To me as well at times If you are One OfTheMany who replace trust with control, at least gradually then reflect.

00:13:34: Do you delegate enough or should you delegate more?

00:13:38: And if you feel like you could or should delegate more than do that first thing.

00:13:44: when in the office think about what's on your plate for next week and is there one piece of accountability that you can delegate to someone else.

00:13:54: Do it!

00:13:55: Believe in people and replace control with ownership, because every single one in our organizations who's motivated and they are all motivated.

00:14:05: They have more potential than they themselves are aware of.

00:14:09: And it is your job as a leader to give them responsibility To give courage Give trust Give space Then just help when you need help.

00:14:22: So replace control with ownership.

00:14:25: Suggestion number three Protect energy as deliberately as you manage results.

00:14:32: The best teams don't work at maximum speeds and at maximum energy all the time, they know when to sprint... ...and when to recover.

00:14:42: They know where to reflect or run.

00:14:46: And very personally I'd like share with a few more suggestions as well.

00:14:54: Sleep enough and sleep well enough.

00:14:58: I focus on sleep since about five years and i see a strong correlation between the amount, timing & quality of my sleep On one hand side And my fitness My mental energy My productivity My decisiveness My energy level ON THE NEXT DAY.

00:15:17: So I do sleep enough AND I DO SLEEP WELL MOST OF THE TIME.

00:15:23: Second Kill Work AHEAD.

00:15:27: I already now look forward to next week, because i have made it a habit that on every Friday morning.

00:15:35: I start my day with a reflect and kill exercise.

00:15:40: That means I reflect the week And this week many things worked really well.

00:15:45: thanks To My team and Thanks to great collaboration and Great preparation We Really had A very productive and Successful Week.

00:15:54: I still reflect what could improve.

00:15:57: Of course, also in this week we could have done things even better and we will next time.

00:16:01: but then i look at the future... ...I look at Next Week and ask myself What can I kill?

00:16:07: And I did kill already three hours next week that.. ..i would either stop or do quite a lot later.

00:16:17: But now I have Three Hours of Quality Time next week which I will consciously invest into the most important work that I'm doing anyway next week, but i am giving it more time to get more productive.

00:16:30: So reflect what worked and didn't... And then kill some of your work ahead!

00:16:37: It works wonders!

00:16:39: A quick poll if you could please participate in this poll?

00:16:43: It just takes less than ten seconds.

00:16:46: Question To You On Your Work Do Your Own Goals Focus more on A activities or B on goals and outcomes.

00:16:58: So what is it?

00:16:59: Do your goals, more reflect activities a or b out comes.

00:17:05: please be so kind And put into the poll by just one click as soon As we have feedback that I deem valuable in.

00:17:17: this is particularly hot candidate.

00:17:20: I may come back to you with the results and learnings in one of the next Lightwolf podcast episodes.

00:17:25: So, three points in a nutshell is high performance without stress possible?

00:17:31: Yes it is!

00:17:33: Three suggestions One – replace activity with goals.

00:17:39: Do not steer with busyness Steer with outcomes.

00:17:44: Two – replace control with ownership.

00:17:47: And three Protect energy as deliberately as you manage results.

00:17:53: High performance and low stress are no opposites.

00:17:57: Sustainable peak performance comes from focused priorities, trusted people And leaders who create clarity instead of chaos.

00:18:08: I hope this inspires you and helps you on your way forward to become exactly the leader You want to be.

00:18:14: come Thank you for dialing in!

00:18:18: Again, here on the Lightwolf podcast.

00:18:21: Hopefully soon!

00:18:22: Thank you take care and bye-bye.