20 Steps to Top Performance in 2030!

Jeroen De Flander & Axelle Vanquaillie
TOP PERFORMANCE
TOWARDS 2030

Prof. Jeroen De Flander,
the #1 best-selling author of Strategy
Execution Heroes and The Execution
Shortcut, is one of the world’s most influential
thinkers on strategy execution and a highly
regarded keynote speaker. His popular blog
has 45,000 weekly readers.
Axelle Vanquaillie, graphic recorder
and visual facilitator, has helped numerous
multinational enterprises—leading research
and advisory company Gartner—among others,
in discovering the power of visual story-
telling and developing their visual skills.
More info: https://www.axellerator.beMore info: jeroen-de-flander.com

THE ART OF PERFORMANCE
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DE WETENSCHAP VAN SUCCES
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START TO DRAW
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START TO DRAW
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THE BOOKS The Art of Performance and Start to Draw is also available in Dutch:

A lot of what we believe about greatness just isn’t so.
Hundreds of scientific studies uncover a new, more
accurate view of exceptional performance and
underlying drivers. Greatness isn’t born, it’s grown.
The problem is that most of us haven’t caught up yet
with this knowledge and still operate from wrong
assumptions. The first step is to be willing to
let go of your beliefs about performance…
Write down what you believe about
exceptional performance. LET GO
What other beliefs do you
have about performance?

Passion doesn’t just pop up or stick to you
forever. So if it doesn’t show up at your
doorstep, where can you find it? According to
Benjamin Bloom’s science of passion, you can
cultivate your passion through 3 phases.
Discover what stage you are in and
understand how to develop it.
1 Discovery: Play!
- You don’t have a specific
goal in mind
- You get praised for it
but maybe you don’t like
it so much yet
- Your interest needs
external activation
2 Development: Practice!
- Invest time
- The activity itself is motivating
- Your interest needs dedication
3 Deepening: Interest has
turned into passion
- Your interest needs inspiration
- Add a unique flavour or
repertoire
YOU ARE IN
DISCOVER WHAT STAGE

Having an intimate knowledge of your
interest profile is a crucial step
on your achievement journey as it
provides fuel for everything else.
Do the online test: it’s called ‘the
Holland code’ or RIASEC interest scales.
Understand the 2 highest and 2 lowest
areas of your interest profile. Find and
bring the right balance… Maybe you
have to take some decisions or take
action to get the balance right.
TEST YOUR
INTERESTS

THROUGH NOVELTY
INTEREST
ACTIVATE YOUR

Look for and expose yourself to new
things that triggers your interest.
OUR BRAIN CRAVES NOVELTY

YOUR INTEREST
TAKE CARE OF RAISING

LACK OF NOVELTY
CREATES BOREDOM.
IT’S A SNEAKY PASSION
ASSASSIN.
1 The approach stage: you have
mastered most job challenges,
things start to come automatically
2 The plateau stage: the summit has
been reached, the job becomes
business as usual. The rush has
gone. Less ambitious people will
start to cruise, high achievers will
push the pedal down even more
3 The descending stage: performance
starts to drop significantly and
becomes visible for others
3 PHASES IN
PERFORMANCE

YOUR COMMUNITY
IDENTIFY
YOU WANT TO HELP

DEFINE WHAT STAGE
YOU ARE IN...

DEFINE YOUR STAGE
Each stage requires different
training exercises.
Novice: you just started,
so play rather than practice
Amateur: progress by practice
Expert: commit to push forward
using intensive practice
techniques
Pathfinders: to move forward,
innovate the field and open new
avenues for others as well

ARTICULATE
WHAT YOU WANT
TO PRACTICE

The difference between the skill set
of the good and the great comes from
the quality of the chunks they master,
a mostly slowly developed skill super-
structure.
Chunk it: break down the building
blocks for the next level up.
What’s holding you back the most?
1. Define 5 or 6 chunks.
2. List the sources that can help you
3. Define a practice schedule: how and
where are you going to practice?
CHUNK IT

REPEAT,
AND CORRECT,
FIND IT
FIND ERRORS

Repeat your chunks and identify your
errors. Find your bad habits. What are
the thematical errors you run into?
Correct them. Adapt your training
program.
Sometimes you have to take a step back
to move forward.
‘KEEPING DOING WHAT YOU
ARE DOING AND EXPECTING
DIFFERENT OUTCOMES IS THE
DEFINITION OF INSANITY.’ REPEAT
AND CORRECT

LIST THE SOURCES
THAT CAN HELP YOU

FIND YOUR SOURCE
Asking for help makes you
smart. There’s always someone
who is better than you (unless
you are a pathfinder).

MAKE A KNOWLEDGE
EBAY IN YOUR TEAM

– Define 3 things you want to buy
(knowledge)
– Define 3 things you are really
good at and want to sell
Share, practice and grow…remember,
it is a personal journey.

DEFINE YOUR
PERSONAL INFLUENCERS

Discover how your brain thinks about failure:Discover how your brain thinks about failure:
are you an optimist or a pessimist?are you an optimist or a pessimist?
We all have a distinct, consistent pattern ofWe all have a distinct, consistent pattern of
thinking about life’s twists and turns. It’s calledthinking about life’s twists and turns. It’s called
our ‘attribution style’. It’s that little voice in ourour ‘attribution style’. It’s that little voice in our
head explaining what happened after we failed.head explaining what happened after we failed.
Depending on how we explain bad events toDepending on how we explain bad events to
ourselves, we are either an optimist or a pessimist.ourselves, we are either an optimist or a pessimist.
Do the test (Penn university). If you are anDo the test (Penn university). If you are an
optimist, you have a higher chance of performingoptimist, you have a higher chance of performing
better.better.
OPTIMIST
OR PESSIMIST

CHANGE THE WAY YOU LOOK AT FAILURE
PAST

Control: look for ways to improve (instead
of analyzing what went wrong)
Impact: see the positive effects of your actions
instead of downplaying your own impact on
improving the situation
Breathe: contain the underlying cause of a crisis
Duration: believe that it’s only one bad run in
versus thinking that the crisis will last
In short: optimists externalize bad life events,
seeing them as temporary and solvable
CHOOSE THE
OPTIMIST LENS

Evidence: look for information showing that
your negative beliefs are factually incorrect
Alternatives: ask yourself if there are different
ways to look at the failure which are less
damaging to you
Implications: de-catastrophize the bad event
Usefulness: question the usefulness of your
beliefs
Develop your learned optimism
Optimists succeed where pessimists fail.
We can all learn to become an optimist by developing a set of skills:
learned optimism.
LEARNED OPTIMISM

ACTION-TRIGGERED MOTIVATION
FUTURE

1. Define your goal as clearly as possible
2. Break down your long term goal into achievable steps
3. Define intermediate levels to keep you going!
Put habits behind it in the training schedule!
ACTION-TRIGGERED
MOTIVATION
Break down your goal into achievable steps and
connect your ‘today’ with your ‘future’

When we are in a state of flow, we are 5 times more
productive. In this state, there’s a perfect match
between your current skill set and the challenge you
face. It’s energizing, but there’s not so much learning.
FLOW
CORRIDOR

Translate your interest profile intoTranslate your interest profile into
energizers.energizers.
Write down: what are the 3 things youWrite down: what are the 3 things you
like doing the most…? kind of things thatlike doing the most…? kind of things that
if you stop doing them you get depressed.if you stop doing them you get depressed.
When your energy goes down, do anWhen your energy goes down, do an
activity that gives you energy.activity that gives you energy.
And when you have to do things youAnd when you have to do things you
really don’t like, do them fastreally don’t like, do them fast
and short.and short.
MANAGE YOUR ENERGY

20 Steps to Top Performance in 2030!

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