“She gets the results we want to see.”
“He gets the job done.”
“She had a great track record of delivering results.”
These are the things senior leaders say about people they recommend for promotion. People who get promoted have demonstrated time and time again that they know how to deliver the results that their bosses and organizations expect or need from them. Senior leaders can’t wait for people to ease into getting things done or promote people who only sometimes deliver results. They need people with a proven track record—people who get things done.
But how do these superstars produce the results senior leaders want to see? Here are five characteristics of results-driven people.
1. They know how to define a problem or issue that is challenging the organization.
Leaders who deliver can look at a challenge and define its parameters, identify its causes, and explain how solving it will help the organization. They can examine challenges with a critical eye that focuses on underlying causes rather than symptoms. Rather than simply complain about something or leave it to someone else to fix, they are willing to take on big challenges and capable of getting their arms around those challenges in a way that establishes what really needs to be done.
2. They analyze the defined issue relative to the resources that are available.
Results-driven leaders don’t stop at defining a problem. They identify two or three solutions (even partial solutions) that could resolve the problem while considering the resources they can secure. If they know they can’t solve the problem with readily available resources, they will be prepared to explain different levels of solutions—what can be done immediately and what might be accomplished with additional money, time, or people.
3. They offer recommendations to their boss.
Identifying problems and solutions is only part of being a results-driven leader. These leaders will also prepare recommendations. Instead of just dropping one more problem in the boss’s lap, they’ll deliver possible answers or recommendations at the time when they present the problem. Bosses hate problems without any suggestions on what to do, where to go, or how to address them. Results-driven leaders know how to bring problems—and solutions—to their bosses.
4. They analyze the defined issue relative to the resources that are available.
Simply driving business results can be dangerous if left out of balance. A person could deliver results by running over others or demanding unreasonable schedules. Leaders who deliver business results understand that those results must come with people results. In fact, leaders who are both results-oriented and people-oriented are rated as good leaders over 70% of the time.
Great leaders understand that they can pay for hands, but they must earn the hearts of team members. They can balance people needs with the desire to achieve the objectives of the organization.
5. They execute solutions with minimal oversight.
Results-driven leaders don’t need a lot of management. They can typically establish project parameters and checkpoints early in the process and then be sent on their way to execute solutions. Senior leaders can delegate to these up-and-coming leaders with confidence that they will do exactly as they promised.
Those who are “proven-results people” will get the nod over those who don’t. It’s interesting how people in the same organization, with the same resources, with the same support system, with the same peers, with the same exposure to the boss, still deliver the results that others don’t. These are the people who get noticed, stand out, and get promoted. They are the ones with INITIATIVE. Their work speaks for itself.
When leaders see that you deliver excellence at your current level, they are likely to think that you could achieve results at a higher level. When an opening occurs, it’s likely that your name will already be in circulation as a person who gets things done.
SELF-CHECK:
- Is there one challenge or issue that I can see that’s hampering organizational progress?
- Can I identify solutions or partial solutions to this problem?
- Is there one way I can improve my ability to deliver results?
