To build championship performance in any environment, whether it be on the athletic field or in business, organizational leaders need to evaluate team members (athletes or employees) for three key attributes:
- Ability
- Attitude
- Aptitude
Now, if you read the article two weeks ago Creating Championship Performance in Small Business Workplaces that offered 5 C.H.A.M.P. traits of a championship culture, you may be wondering how these three attributes relate. You may be thinking I’m just adding more traits to the list.
Here’s the difference.
The 5 C.H.A.M.P. traits are culture driven by the organization’s leadership and how performance and behavior expectations are communicated and managed.
These “A” attributes are driven by what the individual team member brings to the organization.
Let’s take a look at each:
- Ability – This is the skills an individual brings to their role. What does their present level of ability allow them to do for the organization within the role for which they are hired? How can their ability contribute to the success of the team and organization?
- Attitude – This will determine how well the individual will apply their ability to their role and how they will interact with other members of the team to create collaborative results at the highest level. It will also determine how they will integrate the 5 C.H.A.M.P. traits that are the expectation for a championship caliber team member.
- Aptitude – This attribute speaks to individual team members’ capability to learn and grow within their role, or other roles that will allow them to grow and develop even further. All team members should strive to continually develop, get better in their role and present abilities, while also building new skills and abilities. A team with individuals with high levels of aptitude provide greater flexibility throughout the organization.
Assessing one’s ability and attitude is easier than assessing aptitude when looking to bring in team members into the fold.
To assess an individual’s aptitude should start with their attitude towards learning new skills. Often attitude is 80% of it.
Then, a look at the individual’s past history regarding how they have evolved in their previous roles and how quickly. If there is a history of positive growth and career acceleration you can delve deeper into the factors that led to development, which would speak to both their attitude and aptitude to learn and grow to become an even more valuable team member.
The attributes of ability, attitude, aptitude combined with the 5 C.H.A.M.P. traits will create a team capable of performing at a championship level, however that may be defined, which we’ll address next week.
