Career Success For Accountants

4 Key Qualities of High Performers

People rarely go out to work each morning with the intention of doing a bad job.  The vast majority want to do the best job they can, secure a good pay rise and progress.  So what is it that makes the high performers stand out?

Drive

The first key quality that high performers have is that they are highly driven to achieve.  They are not happy with mediocrity and are always looking to improve things or achieve a standard of excellence.  They thrive on moving beyond their current level of performance and testing themselves on new challenges.  How driven are you to achieving excellence?

Commitment

High performers are committed to their own personal goals and to the common goals of their organisations.  They are ready to make sacrifices to meet larger organisational goals and are actively seeking out ways of achieving a group mission.

How would you rate your commitment level?

Initiative

Initiative is grabbing the bull by the horns and making things happen.  It might be spotting and seizing a new opportunity.  Alternatively it might be cutting through red tape and getting things done.  It might be mobilising others to get results.  The common thing that they have is that they are not standing back waiting for others to tell them what to do.  They are getting on and making things happen.

Optimism

You may have heard people being described as glass half full or glass half empty people.  People who are glass half full are generally optimistic.  They expend their energies on overcoming the obstacles and achieving the result.  The glass half empty people focus all of their energy on what is not working and what is stopping them achieving.  Some of this is to do with background and training.  Many of the most successful people are not those that are academically gifted but have the positive outlook, mindset and self belief.

At the end of the day, the high performers share one overarching quality which is motivation.  So what could you start working on to move your career, life or business towards high performance?

What else would you add?

About the Author Duncan Brodie

Since 2006 I’ve worked with in excess of 8,000 accountants and professionals in workshops, seminars and one to one helping them land their next jobs and become better leaders, presenters and business partners. Before that I spent 25 years in accountancy climbing the career ladder from Payments Clerk to FD. I’m a CIMA Fellow, Certified Professional Coach and Team Coach Facilitator.

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6 comments
Larry Kaminer says 26 June 2009

The one I need to focus on preserving is optimism. I have found I need to watch less TV and read less about the economy since the negative news seems to dominate the news cycle and takes front and center on my conscious and subconscious radar screen. And optimism is something I never usually had to even ponder. It was always there. So these days with things being bit slower I remind myself to keep looking for the silver lining around any cloud that pops into my mind

Larry

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