The double-edged sword of being a high performer

When you look around in our industry everybody is telling you to aim at being a high performer.

High performer = the de facto standard

Big tech companies in particular have devised countless methods to assess the individual and collective performance of their staff. You want to be in the high performer bracket to be noted down for promotions, pay raise and generally to be considered as a person who adds value to the company.

That being said being a high performer or, put differently, being considered one is not all glory. If your environment and particularly leadership see you as a high performer they might reward you. Likewise, there are sufficient downsides to this categorization.

I have my fair share of experiences with being considered of high performance. Equally, for me it wasn’t all roses and unicorns. 🌹🦄

Don’t get me wrong — I have not been considered a high performer in every context. I have never been a low performer or gauged to be in that bracket. And most of the time I was in the upper to higher levels of what is considered to be good performance.

Benefits and drawbacks of being a high performer

Let’s break it down: what are some of the upsides on the downsides of being a high performer?

Upsides:

• In many companies you are eligible for a high to higher pay raise.
• You are often included in the important conversations and your perspective matters.
• You are asked to guide and mentor others.
• You have opportunities to go into leadership and develop further.
• You get opportunities handed to you.
• You might acquire a sponsor or several sponsors.
• You are considered to be an inspiration for your colleagues.
• You have the opportunity to build a network.

Now let’s look at some of the downsides that come with being a high performer:

• You earn the envy of many of your colleagues (I’ve been on the receiving end of insults connected to this perception!).
• You will get more and more tasks and tasks and you are overloaded with missions.
• Everyone has high expectations of you. So if you disappoint them once they are VERY disappointed.
• You might not get that promotion because you’re so good in your job that your boss doesn’t want to move you anywhere else.
• You end up doing two or three jobs at the same time because the company can get away with paying you one salary for three jobs.
• You go into burnout because of all the afore-mentioned topics.
• You feel that it’s hard to exchange with others because the things that interest you don’t necessarily interest them.
• You keep the machine well oiled and everything running and you barely get a thanks for it.

My own experiences

Now for me personally I’ve had lots of experiences with all the kinds of upsides and downsides.

While I’ve gotten a fair share of benefits and positive outcomes out of my status as a high performer and I have examples for it I do also see the negative sides.

Hence I personally don’t recommend high performance status in every aspect of your career! Maybe it’s better to do this in phases or to think of it as a strategic measure that you can showcase at a crucial axis in your trajectory.

So what was some of my double-edged experiences with being a high performer?

At several points I was given extremely complex and seemingly unsurmountable missions, one example being the creation of a wiki page when I was working at an online consumer portal.

We got a fair share of press coverage. However, we hadn’t yet had our own Wikipedia page established. This was partly due to the fact that we were fairly young.

My boss came to me and he essentially said: “Franziska, you as the go to person for everything that’s linked to community and so forth you should know how to establish a Wikipedia page for us!”.

Now in hindsight I find that a bit naive. Actually he was the one who had more experience with Wikipedia than I did. But me being me and me being at a fairly early point in my career I felt that I had to treat this mission as sacrosanct. I simply HAD to make it work.

Consequently, I prepared every single applicable case over the next weeks. I got everyone on board. I set up a detailed project plan that allowed for failure. Simply put, it was a battle strategy.

An lo and behold we actually managed to get our Wikipedia page approved at first try! It stands to this day and you can still see the version that I set up.

In hindsight I realize that I did get quite a bit of praise for it. Nonetheless, it felt very hollow because this was a project that did not have a lot of success probability. Me being barely a senior trying to get this over the finish line — an unpredictable endeavor — what I got was basically a handshake and kudos.

From then on everybody expected me to do five times better than everyone else. I got very complex projects which I didn’t have the right to fail on.

That ended up actually becoming a hallmark of my career throughout. Once I had proven myself it was fairly difficult to be accepted for who I was nor was I allowed to make mistakes.

I do not draw this conclusion from my imagination only, on the contrary. I had two managers that told me outright — independently of one another — that they expect me to do better than peers.

Being put into the high performer category, in some jobs I was eligible for talent pools and raises. So once I was in the category I was treated really well on that particular aspect of my career.

But again this also comes with downsides. If you get to a certain position, level or pay rank there are people who you know will not believe that you put in the work. Or they will not be convinced that you showed that performance or that you know your stuff.

How to leverage HP status right

I came to the conclusion that maybe at some points in your career it’s actually good not to give it your all and then some. It’s beneficial not to showcase again and again that you are really good or that you are capable of delivering that outcome.

If you set the bar too high for yourself in the eyes of others you might be pushed without the corresponding rewards. Or without even receiving that verbal acknowledgement. Or without getting that position that gives you the necessary authority.

You always have to weigh the pros and the cons in any given context. Saying that I still mean that you should put in your honest best effort.

Reserving to go the extra mile can be smart at times. This conserves your energy and helps you to deliver amazing results exactly when you need to. And that, in turn, gives you fodder for your showcase for promotions, pay raises and the like.

How to be considered a high performer

Now what do you need to do to be considered a high performer? That’s a question I get all the time, particularly from my coaches and mentees.

The answer is a bit vague to begin with because what is considered to be high performing in one company does not necessarily have to be considered so in the other company.

Try to figure out what the standards and the expectations are in YOUR respective environment.

This could be hustle culture, staying over over ours and working on weekends (which by the way I don’t endorse!). Another company might place value on you finishing on time. If you do overtime you could be considered not to be effective in your work.

In another company you are only measured by the documented results you deliver. So artifacts that you can showcase help immensely. In yet another company it’s more of a trust-based relationship and decision-makers will assess you more on your likeability. Here, your links to certain members of management and so forth are important. Consequently, relationship building might actually be much more useful and convenient than investing more time into your results.

To repeat, I’m not advocating for slacking off at work. This is not a good idea. It’s simply best to be strategic about where you put your resources.

If you don’t buy into the expectations at your company there might not be a good fit and mismatch. Ultimately, this could lead to you feeling like you are out of place.

Not being able to live your own values can negatively impact your performance. Hence, it is advisable to check the work environment thoroughly before you start there. For instance, you can ask about what high performance means.

Acting in a data-informed way, this can later help you to showcase your impact and be perceived as an inspirational figure — again helping with HP status.

As I am someone who believes in balance always I would always say strife for a well-thought out approach no matter what you do. This gives you part of your power back, helps you to influence the part of belonging you can influence and be a role model for others.

What is your experiences with being considered a high performer? Have you ever been considered one? Is that something that you are aiming for? Let me know in the comments!