In the research we measured people against five different levels of performance: poor, average, above average, excellent and genius. My use of the term “genius” doesn’t mean a person’s IQ, rather it is a title that grew out of the study and it represents the highest level of performance we measured. As we interviewed the very best people, again and again those we talked with would make statements like, “You should see Tom, he is a genius at what he does”, or “Mary is an absolute genius it when it comes to this work.” So, our use of genius in the study simply means someone who has consistently achieved the highest level of performance possible, regardless of field, level of title. In this sense of the word, anyone can learn to become a genius at something. The question is, “at what?” What’s Your Genius asks the simple question, “What are your natural talents, and how can you leverage them to become better at whatever you do?” I think you’ll like the answer too.

In the study two key differences emerged between the top and bottom performers. The first key difference is that 5th level performers all have much higher levels of self-awareness. Self-awareness is all about really knowing what your natural talents are – and are not. The natural talents I’m talking about btw are your mental talents for things like: complex problem-solving, creativity, empathy, big-picture thinking, competitiveness, attention to detail, organizational thinking, persistence and a host of other cognitive abilities as measured in the study. The second key difference is that 5th level performers are significantly more authentic. They make sure that whatever roles they fill are as dependent as possible on the mental talents or abilities they naturally possess, not their ability to try and acquire new ones. Authenticity means filling a role that is true to who you are, not spending all of your time trying to develop new natural talents. The reason this is so important is because according to everything we know about how the human mind works, we can’t develop new thinking talents. Unfortunately, this is what most 1st through 4th level performers try to do. In other words, those who struggle to achieve significant success spend a lot of time trying – in vein – to change the core of who they are while those who succeed choose to focus their energy on better maximizing that which they already are. As the elder statesman of management theory, Peter Drucker, once said, “The key is to make weaknesses irrelevant.” Notice he didn’t say, “fix them.” Making them irrelevant means filling a role where they simply aren’t important or needed.  That’s authenticity!