Smart Business Growth with Nicky & Ness

The 70-20-10 Rule, a Framework for Success

• Nicky & Ness • Season 2 • Episode 19

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In this episode, Nicky and Ness delve into the often misunderstood concept of high performance in business. They discuss what high performance truly means and why it's crucial to define it clearly within your team. They also introduce a powerful framework to help businesses achieve and maintain high performance without burning out.

Episode Highlights:

  • Understanding High Performance: The importance of a clear, shared definition within your team.
  • 70-20-10 Framework: A balanced approach where 70% is results, 20% is being a person of influence, and 10% is grace.
  • Clarity and Communication: How to communicate expectations effectively to avoid misalignment.
  • Grace and Influence: The role of behaviours and internal attitudes in creating a thriving team environment.
  • Future-Proofing: How a holistic view of high performance can sustain long-term business success.

Join them as they explore these concepts and provide actionable steps to help you and your team achieve true high performance.


Learn more about Nicky and Ness https://businesstogether.com.au

Buy a copy of Healthy Hustle: The New Blueprint to Thrive in Business & Life www.healthyhustle.com.au

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Nicky LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/connectwithnicky/
Ness LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessamedling/

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Nicky Miklos-Woodley 0403 191 404
Vanessa (Ness) Medling 0400 226 875

Or send us an email hello@businesstogether.com.au

Music by Jules Miklos-Woodley

Nicky:

Welcome to the Smart Business Growth Podcast with Nicky and Ness.

Ness:

We would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of country, the Turrbal and Bunurong people of Brisbane and Melbourne respectively, where Nicky and I both work and live both work and live Ness.

Nicky:

Today I want to talk about a topic that is somewhat overlooked, and I say that because I feel like the term high performance gets bandied around a lot, so there's a lot of people talking about it, but I say overlooked in that actually going deeper to understand what does it actually mean? We talk a lot in our business and with our clients around peak performance and within that, absolutely high performance is a part of that, which is well. It can mean many different things, and that's why I want to have this conversation today to help our listeners really get clear on what does high performance actually mean for you? I'm looking at you, I'm talking to you through the airwaves. What does it actually mean for your business? And have you taken the time to not just say we're a high performance team or we're all about peak performance, but what work have you done around what that looks like, clarity of expectations and working towards that together as a team? Because what we've noticed is that with every client that works with us on a business health check, you know that's looking under the hood of the business. What areas are working well, what are the blind spots, splots, blind spots We'll make up words as well.

Nicky:

We ask, we ask team members, what is the definition of high performance in your culture?

Nicky:

And we ask the business owners and the leaders and whilst there's some commonalities, we've not yet come across a team that is exactly like on the money exactly what high performance is.

Nicky:

So there's some benefits to really getting clear and taking the time to have this conversation with ourselves, in that we're reflecting and actually writing down, getting it out of our head and then having the conversation with the team, and I want to share with you a model today, a framework that I love. I came across it and there's just no better, in my opinion, at this point in time of recording this podcast. But before we get into what the framework is and if you love it as much as we do, you can certainly use it it's not mine. I'll reference it and source it, but I think we need to just start with like why does this actually matter? Why would a busy business owner that's thinking, oh my goodness, you're getting me to do something else now? Why is this so important for them to take the time to get clear on the definition and meaning of high performance across the entire team?

Ness:

Great introduction, because I think that this is something that we do see turning up in businesses, where we look under the hood and where we've been asked in, because often what happens? People go into business, they're very good at what they do and they have, you know, whether it be through their value set or whatever it is that they want to stand for out in the market. They want to be the best at whatever it is and therefore, once they grow to a point where they bring people on, then it becomes like Chinese whispers. So my definition of high performance and my team's definition of high performance could vary very, very much, even though we call it the same thing. And this is where I think it's so important in any communication to be very clear on what the definition is about, what we're talking about, and often with that sort of, when we fall down the slippery slope of it's just quicker and easier if I do it myself, or the frustration that we can get when our team aren't up to the standard that we expect of them or want of them, really we've got to hold the mirror up right and just say well, where have I perhaps not been clear in relation to what I mean by that. So, number one, getting a definition, and we ask for that in the business health check.

Ness:

What's your definition of a high-performing team?

Ness:

And you're right, I think often the leader is very clear and succinct, or the owner of the business and the team may have or may not have something that aligns to that, and that could be because that isn't the commonality of language that people are using to describe what done and complete and at standard or even above standard looks like.

Ness:

But it's also really important if that is something that you want in your business and let's face it, I think we all want high performing teams, high performance from ourselves, and really having that conversation that says, well, this is in this business, this is what high performance looks like. For you to be really successful in your role here, this is what's expected of you. So it's not just a job description. It goes deeper than that, into the kind of behavior you would expect to see, the kind of results that you would expect to see, the kind of timeframes that you would have on certain aspects of your business. And I think that this is where we often as business owners, sometimes even as parents or partners, just assume that everybody understands because, like it's obvious. It's kept an obvious to me, so why isn't it kept an obvious to you?

Nicky:

So well said and, you know, nothing has meaning, except the meaning that we give it, of course. And so I just ran a workshop this morning and went around the room and asked everybody what is urgent to you, and out of five people there were four different answers. It's kind of similar, yeah right, so it's like, okay, yes, we all have an idea of what urgent is, but depending on the team, the business, the environment, is urgent in the next hour, is it immediately, is it in 24 hours? It's the same kind of thing it leads to be these unspoken ground rules, and what you said there, dennis, is so true. Around.

Nicky:

It's so easy for leaders and business owners to get frustrated with their team members why, or feel like they're not delivering on our expectation. But we have to reflect, we have to put that mirror up. First to say, was I clear in my expectation? And things that seem, captain, obvious to you may not be to them, and I hear this all the time with leaders, but it's so obvious. But is it To who?

Nicky:

There's many factors that come into play as to why we think differently and we see things differently and we view the world differently. And I also want to bring in we talk a lot about thriving without the burnout. So thriving is basically a high performance, right? If we look at it as we're hitting revenue targets, we're making good money, the business is profitable, you've got an autonomous team, you can step back from the business Amazing, we could say that that's a thriving business. But if it's at cost of life, if it's at cost of health, is that still high performance? Is that still high performance?

Nicky:

And for some businesses and some cultures, the answer is yes, and we're not here to say don't do that, Although kind of, because at what cost? But sure, there's going to be businesses. It will take generations and eons for these cultures to break the hustle culture and that is what is determined as high performance and success. But is that the business that you want to create? Is that what you want your team to be feeling? Or is it actually all those things I mentioned? Plus you have time, freedom, plus you have an engaged, optimal, happy, healthy team, and I know for us here it is high on our priority list. That is absolutely what we're about. But as our team grows, we need to communicate that to the team. Also, depending on where they've come from, they might think that the hustle culture is high performance.

Ness:

That's right, and then that plays out in the unwritten ground rule. So the difference between what we say our business stands for, the values we might have on the wall or espoused in the induction program, and the reality of. I remember one of the businesses I worked for many years ago. You know you had your hours. We finished at five o'clock. If I left that office anytime between 5.30 and six, the looks that I got that I was slinking off and getting off work early. I remember I was very young at the time and I just remember thinking why should I, why am I feeling guilty for working 45 minutes past my finish time, which was promised that these are the hours I work?

Ness:

But the culture of the business was most people left work around seven o'clock and if you left early you actually weren't performing or you're slacking off or whatever that is. And now, knowing what I know, I kind of reflect on that and go how productive were those people in that last two hours of the day? Like, for what purpose are we sitting here till seven o'clock at our desk? I just it's mind boggling as to what all the myriad of reasons could be, which could be work related, it could be personal related it could be. You know, like this influence the culture within the team. So, and being young and naive and not understanding it because I hadn't been in the workforce for very long, I didn't challenge that and I got. I kind of moved into that later and later time slot until I checked to see is everyone else like can I leave at quarter past six? And then I don't get a greasy look, it's crazy, isn't it?

Nicky:

Even as an adult, I mean, it's that peer pressure thing and we're designed, our survival instinct is to belong. We don't want to stand out, we don't want to be judged, and also, again, that's why we're here, because it has worked and where you know that whole pack mentality. So it is hard to break that cycle because in our world now we don't experience that personally, but it still happens so much out there, especially in corporate, but even in business. And you know, that is the cycle, of course, that we have to break. But you were going to say something else, ness.

Ness:

No, I think I was just getting excited and on a roll in relation to that, because it is a cycle that needs breaking and we come back to what we said earlier. We need the same definition and be as leaders. We need to be very clear for our team what that looks like, feels like, sounds like, what the end result is expected of them. We've got to really set them up and ourselves up to succeed. And then the other thing that I love, which you're about to go into, is we need some sort of reference point or a model or a framework that's going to help us stay on track. So let's jump into that, nick.

Nicky:

Yeah, I agree, that's so important. Before we do that, do the smart growth survey in under 60 seconds to get your hands on our smart growth blueprint. You'll get immediate access to our four favorite strategies for sales, profit planning and team, and you'll identify which phase of smart growth your business is currently in whether it's crisis, build growth or momentum mode so that you can move your way to the next phase with ease. All you have to do is click the link in the show notes this I don't know what the state of this particular. I don't know if you've heard of this Ness, and by the time this ep goes to air, you know I'm not sure what will have happened, but I read an article recently and in the title it said burnout capital. There's a couple of politicians, so Sally Rugg I don't know if you've heard of this and I can't remember, but she was working for a politician, essentially, was expected to work 70 to 80 hours and yeah, and then when she and look, I don't know the details, I've read one article, so if anyone's listening and you know more about this than me, you know, feel free to fill me in, but what I took out of it was that it was pushed it was, she was. She was pushed against that and actually fired. So I know there's legal proceedings and things happening, so it's in the media at the moment.

Nicky:

What I find so interesting about that is I watched a video from Sky News and I was watching the anchor. I don't watch Sky News Because they're a reliable source, but it hooked me in and I couldn't stop because the anchor was talking about the what's? The younger generation, millennials, that they're lazy, that they, you know, oh, you don't want to work like actually mocking her because she's taking it to legal proceedings and you know, you don't know what it's like to work hard like we do, et cetera, et cetera, and I couldn't believe it. And I bring it up because it really made me realize that in, as I said, in our world we're breaking hustle culture. We want to live in a different way. Why would we want to literally in some cases, kill ourselves over our work from stress and being overworked? We've talked to Chris Boucher recently about the statistics of stress and cardiovascular disease, all of that kind of stuff. But there are so many people out there and there are so many cultures and businesses out there that still believe and strive for this way of working, for the 70 to 80 hour work week or whatever that might be. So I think what's really important here is to remember that if you are in a culture, you might have to buck some of these trends, and it does take courage. And if you're maybe a leader and you don't know what the definition of high performance is for your team, talk to your leader, talk to your boss, talk to the people that you can create it together. And if you're not a leader, you're an employee, do the same thing, and that's why this matters. Imagine if those two people got clear on what's the expectation of high performance in the early days. Then they wouldn't be down this path.

Nicky:

So the model, the framework let's get to that, shall we? Ness Sounds amazing, excellent. Now, this is a model I came across quite a few years ago with an amazing client that I've been working with for eight years, and this work is the work of Andy Meikle and it's a business called Elkium, and essentially I love this model, this framework, because it's simple we like things that are simple and it incorporates a holistic view at what high performance is. Having a sales background. For me personally you know I've worked with salespeople that it was just all about the result, ie the money, and that was not the culture that we were striving for. So you know, oftentimes those careers in different cultures are shorter lived or they adapt right, like if you know your expectation, you can adapt to it. So certainly a big portion of you can adapt to it.

Nicky:

So certainly a big portion of high performance comes down to results. So of course, if it's business or sales, there's going to be revenue components in that. But even if it's not specifically sales, there's always going to be results, like what's the outcome, the purpose of our department, of our business, and how do we know if we're achieving that? So Andy Meikle talks to a 70-20-10 rule. 70% comes down to your results, it's your KPIs, it's your goals, it's your business tangibles. Again, there's so many examples. It could be because there's a whole bunch of types of businesses that are listening, but 70% comes down to results. That means that there's 30%, according to this definition of high performance. That isn't actually in the results and I agree with that so much because the 20% comes down to being a person of influence.

Ness:

My hands are flailing about as I say this this is how passionate.

Nicky:

I am. I've got one hand flailing, I don't know the other one's pretty chill.

Nicky:

So, being a person of influence. What does this mean? It means your behaviors. It means who are you being externally? How are you displaying the values you know? We talk about values and the unwritten ground rules. I think I keep calling them unspoken ground rules, the unwritten ground rules. Are you living the vision, the mission, the purpose? Are you participating in meetings? Are you openly communicating? It's all of this stuff. Do you take on feedback? Are you open to coaching and development? How are you a person of influence? And I like to look at this as the external how am I influencing others? Am I helping the people around me succeed? Am I sharing this worked with me? What about you could try it? Or don't give advice, but openly sharing your success strategies.

Nicky:

Love it, the way that you know if you're being a person of influence. A really good way to know this is if people are coming to you and asking you for support, for help. How did you do that? Picking your brain, because success can be replicated and when we understand the formula, when we share the formula. Now you're starting to see how this creates a high-performance environment instead of just a high-performance person. So, 70% results you've got to be there to do what you need to do.

Nicky:

20% is down to being a person of influence, sharing your thoughts and being open. And then the 10%. I love this so much. The 10% is being a person of grace, or bringing grace, bringing humility. But it's a balance of being proud of what you do and you can still talk about what you do with humility, sharing. So the way I like to look at this is it's the internal stuff. What's my attitude? How am I being resilient? How am I showing up on the tough days? How am I managing my mindset? Again, am I open to feedback? Am I responding or reacting, or am I being the graceful duck?

Nicky:

analogy there might be a whole lot going on, you're paddling underneath, but you're not throwing your toys out of the cot, having a tantrum in the middle of the office and bringing everybody down with you. So, again, I really hope that I'm doing justice to this model. It's not mine, but that's how I interpret it. It's that internal grace, the external influence and getting out there and achieving the results. And the problem is when we don't have that holistic view and balance, when it's 100% results, that's when you can burn relationships, that's when you can have a culture of bringing each other down. That's when you are actually risking the future of your business.

Nicky:

When you create a culture that's based on a 70-20-10 high performance definition, you are future-proofing your business. That's how serious I think this is, because you are engaging people that will be with you for the long-term or contribute their whole and wholly and solely whilst they're there. You know it's this whole thing as well around. It's actually a compliment when you develop people and if they move on to better things, that's not a bad thing. Great if you can keep them, but don't clip their wings, you know. And 70-20-10 allows this growth and blossoming to happen. So that's the 70-20-10 framework, ness. I would love to get your thoughts and how you think it can apply for our clients or ad listeners.

Ness:

Absolutely. Look, I think what I love about that model and I'm not overly familiar with it, this is sort of more your wheelhouse in this model, but I love that it brings grace into it, because I look at that through the lens of grace isn't just about how you are around your team and the people that you work with, but it extends itself into your life. So I think of pockets of time in my career, in my business, where it's all been about having to achieve a result, and so maybe that 70% is taken up, the 100% right, because it's all at all costs, even if you've got to stay back late, even if it means you let people down because you make promises you have to break, even if it means I come home and I'm cranky and I'm taking it out on my family because I've had a stressful day at work. So this reminds me that you know where the grace comes into. It is who are.

Ness:

Like Leah Mehta's favorite question what's it like to be around me? So in the pursuit of success, if you're nearing burnout and you're exhausted, one where's the grace for yourself? You know, like, where's that grace to say you need nurturing right now, you need the rest, you need to step back and somebody else can nurture you. And then also, where is that grace to the others that have to live around you day in, day out and work around you day in, day out. So it really does bring a beautiful element into it that is not just outcome driven and focused on that sort of like masculine energy of result, result, result, result, at all costs, elbowing people out of the way to get there.

Nicky:

Sorry just even with the example that you gave around, I would you know if you stayed in that job, like stayed at the office till 7pm and you're doing it because the people around like that's the expectation, but the productivity, the output, is low and like that is not being grace, because grace is about the outcome, like it's not. I have to be there for X amount of time. It's about productivity and efficiency and it's about not getting stuck in that busy trap. So it's so well said. You know linking that all together.

Ness:

Absolutely, because grace is about how you respond to others around you, so it is so much in that, and then when you bring the 20% in around the person of influence like that really does help you to open up to curiosity. So somebody in your team or your business and actually I just saw this today on Leah Mether's LinkedIn and she was using the example of a younger leader who was she had an older guy in her team, had been working in the business for 30 years and he was old, system this way, like doing things. He didn't really like stepping outside of that box and she wanted him to embrace technology and it was just a resistance point to where the discussion was. I may have to now performance manage this person because clearly, not operating at that high level, there's no high performance coming out of him because he wasn't following the system and keeping up. It's like that mentality of this is how we've always done it. It works this way.

Ness:

I don't want to change and through sort of opening up the questioning which is where we bring grace and influence in was discovering that actually he wasn't aware of the technology. He was probably feeling too embarrassed to say that he didn't know how to do it. And so, rather than go down this path of you're being disobedient and you're not following it and you're not having high performance results because you haven't moved with technology and got to where we are, instead, she just shadowed him and showed him and stepped him through bit by bit so that he didn't have to have that experience of having to explain that he didn't know how to do it and he wasn't comfortable with it. And so, within that, you know that curiosity has got to come into play, I think, for yourself and for others, when you embrace that 30%. So it's not about we can't stay there for the whole hundred percent and just fluff around and check in around.

Ness:

You know all of that stuff around, the introspection and and the influence. It's got to be that beautiful balance around. Yes, the focus got to be here, but let's not forget that we're human and we're working with humans. We want people to be engaged and you know, had I been at a different point in my career back then, I might have asked better questions. Or, you know, being able to help those around, to be able to understand that it's not just about the hours on the clock, it's not just about that.

Nicky:

Absolutely, and I think also what this gives us is the freedom, the ability to really focus on. When we look at 70-20-10, that 70% is above benchmark, above, you know best like it's best practice, so we can really strive for that. But when we have the influence and grace component, you have a team that have optimal energy, that want to show up for work, that feel supported, that do get that coaching and support. I love that story. Thank you for sharing it.

Nicky:

You know the surface level problem is not usually the real problem when we are focusing on the influence and grace. It allows the space and time to uncover what's really going on. And that 70% is about. It's not minimum standard, it's above, you know, minimum standard and we can strive for that. I think the problem is that when people strive for it's a hundred percent results, like then, they're like you said, they're not optimal, they're exhausted, they're on their way to, if not, a burnout, they're bloody tired, they're not performing, they're not thinking optimally either. So that same scenario in a different environment could have gone down such a different path. Oh, so powerful, all right. So action.

Ness:

Yeah, I think that we need to wrap this up with an action, nick. So I'm going to throw to you for the one thing that our listeners and viewers can do within the next 24 hours. That's going to help to move towards that high performance.

Nicky:

I love it. Look, and I think it's got to be do you have your definition of high performance written down? You know, if you don't and you love 70-20-10, that could be a formula that you use, or there might be a different way that you want to go about it. But just reflect, am I really clear and not in your mind? So have I written it down? Is it just like a PD or a vision or a value? Is it written down? And then part two of that is are your team on the same page?

Nicky:

This particular client where this formula was introduced to me, and over the years we have done we even did a full day workshop we are constantly talking about this 70-20-10. What specifically does it actually look like? So the action is have you got your definition of high performance written down? And if you don't, you need to get that on paper. Second is do your team know what it is? If you do or if you don't, you need to get that on paper. Second is do your team know what it is? If you do or if you don't do, have a conversation, you know, do a workshop with them, have a conversation around it. I mean, this is the kind of stuff that work, that Ness and I do as well. We can come in and help run some of these workshops, but really think about getting it down on paper and sharing it with your team and getting on the same page.

Ness:

Love it. So that's a really, really chunky action we can get away and do today. Thank you so much, nick, for sharing the model, sharing your thoughts and your experience, and thank you, listeners and viewers, for tuning into another podcast episode. We'll catch you next time. See you then. Thanks for listening to today's ep. If you loved what you heard, connect with us over on LinkedIn and let's continue the conversation over there. Nicky

Ness:

and I are obsessed with helping businesses install smart business growth strategies and leveraging people leadership for peak performance. We bring two business minds and two perspectives into your business, and our number one goal is to make sure that your business is thriving, your team are thriving and you are thriving. We offer a 30-day business diagnostic taking you from chaos to clarity in just 30 days. Are you curious to find out more? Send us an email or go old school and give us a call. Until next time, happy listening and here's to thriving in business and in life.