When I began my research on Peak Performers, Workaholics and Average Performers, I had some fears that the three groups would melt together and not be distinquishable. Then I would be back to square one with my dissertation and my family would have to throw me out of the house.
What I found, however, was that the three groups were so distinquishable my high-school-age children could pick up an interview and tell me in which performance category the person belonged.
With such stunning differences in characteristics, you may be inclined to think that people are born with –or develop– a particular performance style that more or less stays the same, much like an individual’s personality. The reality is, though, that people tend to move over time from one performance style to another. Moreover, a person may even exhibit different performance styles in diverse situations during the same period of time.
While a number of factors affect work-performance styles, my research identified one particularly significant piece of the performance puzzle: The people you know and associate with –personally and professionally — have a critical impact on your work-performance styles and, consequently, on our success and satisfaction at work.
