Achievement Drive 

having high personal and professional standards, and striving to improve or meet new, higher standards of excellence; continuously learning 

 

People with this competence: 

• Are results-oriented, with a high drive to meet their objectives and standards;

• Set “stretch goals” -- challenging yet reachable;

• Take moderate, calculated risks;

• Pursue information to reduce uncertainty and find ways to do better; and

• Learn how to improve their performance 

 

People lacking this competency: 

• Tend to avoid firm, fixed standards of performance, whether actively and overtly or passively and covertly;

• Work without regard to expectations and do not push themselves;

• Often do the minimum to get by;

• Don’t take goals seriously, and if pressed to make them, set easy goals they can effortlessly attain or impossible goals they fail to meet (so they can say “I told you so”);

• Accept the status quo, don’t “rock the boat”;

• Do what’s required of them and no more;

• May get the work done when goals are set for them, but don’t demonstrate an interest in working independently to an internal standard of excellence 

 

Development tips: 

• Set goals and standards of excellence;

• Get in touch with the emotional pull of what you want to achieve and why – what do you gain by going the extra mile? What do you lose by not taking action or going for more?;

• Establish moderate risks for achieving your goals;

• Make your goals “SMART” – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed; 

• work with a GANTT chart or other means of measuring progress;

• Keep a daily log of your achievements; and

• Take at least one step each day toward your goals 

 

Quotes

“Life is no brief candle for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations." - George Bernard Shaw 

 

“A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline.” - Harvey Mackay  

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