Good afternoon from a spectacular day in Vancouver! I've been working with a client over the past few days as they wrestle with a couple of team building issues; specifically, what do we mean by a high performer? I've been reminded of Jim Collins in Good to Great, who says that the two factors commonly exhibited by the CEOs of the 'great' companies, and not as evident in the CEOs of the good companies were: humility and a drive to action. Then I came upon an interesting strudy, published in the June 2010 Harvard Business Review that tries to define "high potential employees."

That survey suggests there are four "intangible" factors:

1. A drive to excel, even at a cost to their personal lives
2. A catalytic learning capability, that transfers learning into productive action for their customers and organization
3. An enterprising spirit, a spirit of taking chances, including risky career moves
4. Dynamic sensors, that is "they have a feel for timing, an ability to quickly read situations and a nose for opportunity."

I find these points all rather interesting, and keep coming back to something one of this week's coaching clients said, "it comes down to making choices." To be successful as a leader, I need to make choices about the level of commitment I'm willing to give to the success of the organization, and still be true to what I hold as valuable in my family life. To be successful as a leader I need not only to learning all the time (and that requires humility), I need to be able to choose to apply the learning, to try things out, and to make mistakes as I learn. To be a leader I need to choose to take some risks, and to face challenges. To be a leader, I need to choose how to be when and where opportunities present themselves.

I wonder then, if our biggest competency as leaders is making and living with choices? What choices have you to make this week? How are you living with those choices? What did you learn from them? What difference did they make in the life of your organization, and for you team?

I hope your days are filled with opportunities this week, and that you relish the opportunity to make a choice, because most people on the planet don’t have that luxury.