Ask Yourself This Self Appraisal Question: Are You Living In Your Zone of Genius?

At 15Five, we believe that everyone has a zone of genius. This belief is one of the core philosophies that guide us every day. Everyone’s zone of genius is unique. It is the physical and mental space where your interests, passions and skills converge to make you unstoppable in your employee performance.

It’s no coincidence that the companies that are constantly two steps ahead of the competition are the same ones who have recruited high potential employees and built their organization around maximizing and managing their performance.

What is a zone of genius?

Your zone of genius is your unique power. It is a one-of-a-kind quality that you bring to your life and to your work and lets you do certain things better than almost anyone else. Often times this is at the intersection of your innate talents and passions and is often difficult to distinguish in yourself as unique or special because it comes so naturally. While we might share common skills, interests, or work styles with others — your zone cannot be replicated by anyone else.

You know you’re in your zone of genius when achieving work objectives leaves you energized, you can and want to improve your employee performance forever, and you experience a sense of timelessness and flow. Operating in your zone of genius in service of your WHY is a surefire way to produce the best results and attain the highest degree of sustained satisfaction in your life. Uncovering this zone often comes with understanding your innate talent, something most of us neglect to identify in the course of self evaluation.

“Typically, people equate talent with what they do–singing, playing a sport, or performing surgery.  But true talent has more to do with how you approach your work,” explains Laura Garnett in her write up for Inc.com. With talent falls passion, “an activity that you could do for countless hours with joy. This is not always straightforward, but can be embedded in your psychology and linked to your personal journey.” Combine your passion with your talent and you have found your zone of genius.

Employee Performance Goals: Living In the Zone of Genius

Now imagine waking up every day in this zone. Ask yourselves the following self review questions: Who would you be as the highest-performing individual you could be and how would your organization benefit? What if your co-workers were performing at that level as well? What goals for work would you accomplish?

While living and working in your zone of genius won’t always be comfortable —  it often involves pushing your boundaries for a time, in order to get to the next level of employee performance where working in your zone of genius becomes effortless — there is no question that harnessing your true potential leads to greater productivity and employee satisfaction.

The Economics of Purpose in Organizational Culture

“Forget about the fast lane. If you really want to fly, harness your power to your passion. Honor your calling. Everybody has one. Trust your heart, and success will come to you.” – Oprah Winfrey

We’ve all read the studies: healthy, happy and engaged employees make for successful, profitable companies. And while it’s (fairly) straightforward to support physical health and wellbeing — how do we create a work culture of happy, purpose-driven employees?

The solution, again, lies in the zone of genius.

When an organizational culture is set up in a way that facilitates individuals reaching their highest potential and maximizing their employe performance, they can expect three key benefits:

Happy Workers and Improved Employee Engagement

When we are not only allowed, but encouraged to explore our unique talents, strengths, skills and interests, we are taking important steps towards a fulfilled life. Not only does personal fulfillment do wonders for employee retention and productivity, it also improves overall physical and mental health. The truth of the matter is that happy and engaged workers are productive workers, and true happiness comes from having the opportunity to live out our calling in a meaningful way.

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Innovative Thinking for Achieving Department Goals

Embracing the zone of genius might mean veering away from job descriptions and strategic plans, but if you’re willing to take the leap, you’ll be rewarded with ideas that will breathe new life into the organization. As business strategist Barry Boltz explains, staff “are less worried about the day to day tasks and can dream of new possibilities” and “become more resilient, less risk averse and can more easily bounce back from failures”.

Better Team Engagement

When individuals are performing at their peak, that power will have a ripple effect throughout the company in improving morale and team engagement. They feel more energized and excited about their work and the work of the company, and enthusiastic about moving shared work goals forward. They are also likely to have increased confidence, which makes them more likely to take on management and leadership roles and support their teammates.

Facilitating Serendipitous Genius

‘Facilitating serendipity’ sounds like an oxymoron. I mean, how can you facilitate something that just happens naturally? But in order to reap the full benefits of a workforce operating within their zone of genius, organizations must create a work culture and an organizational structure that makes it easy for this to happen.

The truth is that there are many simple, affordable things that any company can do to help their staff live and work in their zone of genius:

First and foremost, leadership must provide simple education and help in distinguishing their zone of genius. Once employees understand their zone of genius, maximize the amount of time they spend in that zone by creating an ideal work environment that facilitates that type of work. This includes flexible, comfortable work arrangements that ensure that staff needs are met, allowing them to focus their intellectual and creative energy on their work.

Whether it’s allowing staff to work in the hours in which they are most productive, or providing healthy lunches and snacks so that team members aren’t limited by their (lack of) nutritional intake, taking care of their basic needs allows them to focus on what you hired them to do.

Finally — improve communication at work to make sure everyone knows what each others zones are, so that they can act as a team making sure the right people on the team take on the right projects and tasks that leverage their genius.

The great irony with the zone of genius is that one of the most common barriers to attaining this natural state of flow is realizing that it is something that comes naturally to each and every one of us. Most people don’t even see it so they keep pushing and trying to improve their weaknesses, instead of taking a moment for self evaluation and discovering and owning their genius, and putting that to work.

As a manager, the best thing you can do to help create a work culture centred around living in the ‘zone of genius’ is to find your own through effective self assessment and appraisal.

Have you ever experienced working in your zone of genius? What was it like? Leave a comment below…