Motivation and Top-Performing Employees
Some years ago, I gave a retention test to a group of 100 sales professionals following a three-day course that I conducted at their company. I have taught graduate-school curriculum in the past and this test was comparable to my final exam; thirteen pages long and taking about two hours to complete.
The test scores generally ranged from the low 80’s to the “I don’t care” level. However, I had one person in this group to make a 99 on the test.
This individual also happened to be the #1 sales person in the entire company, and had been for the previous four years in a row.
Of course, he was therefore also the one who needed to make a 99 the least out of the entire group of 100 individuals who took the test.
I have always found this contradiction to be consistent when it comes to the subject of educating people: those who gain the most from continuing education are already the most successful, and those who need it the most – the average performers – retain and implement less of what they learn.
More recently, I saw this pattern repeat itself within the ranks of your profession. One of the practices that I worked with this past year was that of Dr. Terry Sellke (www.orthobottomline.com), who, as most of you know, teaches a complete and well-established program in practice management skills to doctors and staff.
My experience in working with his practice team was predictable: he has one of the very best business operations that I have seen in your profession. So one could make the argument that his group needed what I provide the least of any practice that I have worked with.
In spite of his success as both a practicing doctor and leading consultant, his staff was among the best group of participants that I have encountered. They were motivated to learn, they followed my instructions to the letter, and they implemented the process completely. Following their completion of my training process, I told his TCs that their video-taped consults were worthy of showcasing to other practices as an example of how to properly manage the case acceptance process.
This from a practice that could make the argument “we don’t need to get any better” as justifiably as anyone I have worked with in your profession.
Bill Gates once observed: “Success is a lousy teacher; it seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.” Your business is changing; now is not the time to rest on your laurels.
The key to improvement is not learning; learning is the easy part. It is implementation of what you learn that gets results. Pick three good “pearls” from this year’s conference, limit yourself to implementing only those three ideas, and have the discipline to make them a part of your practice culture.
