ARE you an elite performer?
learning from the elite to take your business PERFORMANCE
to another level
What's the REAL Challenge
for you Today AS A BUSINESS PERFORMER ?
You have to compete in an ever-changing and increasingly competitive global marketplace, where the performance demands placed upon you are increasing exponentially.
We research and work with performers like you, the diagram below shows today's business arena to be one best defined by the following:
So, what's the answer?..
Just tough it out?
There is an alternative to just toughing it out and working harder and longer. The solution is to learn how you can make small changes to the way you perform, that will make a big difference to the way you think, feel, act and the results you achieve.
It's about you learning about performance, how to take your peak performance to another level and increase your performance capacity - which is the ability to work harder and longer with greater ease.
​
KPA are experts in helping performers like you to learn the art and science of Elite Human Performance through our work in the world of sport, with elite business performers, elite military forces and the the performing arts.
​
We can build your performance capacity through helping you truly understand human performance, what human performance skills are and by measuring, monitoring, managing and enhancing these skills. We can ensure that you can operate at a higher and more sustainable level of performance, day in and day out.
at kpa we call this selp....sustained elite level performance
Why the Elite are Different
There is one key factor that sets the Elite apart from the rest– they have a different mindset when it comes to performance.
This mindset ensures that the elite are able to think, feel and execute differently from the rest. Our research and daily work with the elite shows that this mindset consists of 15 key skills. All of these skills can be learned by you, and make a critical difference to your absolute performance levels, your performance capacity and the results you achieve.
​
15 skills of an elite performer
do you really understand elite business performance?
You hear the term performance all the time but do you really understand what performance is? More importantly, do you know what to do to really improve your performance and the results you achieve? Do you know how to take your peak performance and performance capacity to another level?
Working with hundreds of elite performers in sport, business, the military, performing arts and education we developed The KPA Elite Performance Eco System™. This is a simple, yet powerful way of understanding performance and how to perform like the elite do; in a sustainable manner.
The basis of the The KPA Elite Performance Eco System™ is that your performance is made up of six key factors:
Performance Culture
The performance environment which you create for yourself and which surrounds you on a day to day basis in work and personal life.
​
Physical Skills
The physical needs required to support performance like sleep, wellness, nutrition and appropriate exercise.
​
​Mental Skills
The mental toughness and mentality required to excel in your role such as resilience, confidence, focus and motivation.
​
Technical Skills
Learning the skills required for your role/position, for example, IT, Finance, Sales, Management, etc.
​
Tactical Skills
Understanding the ‘X’s and O’s’ of your role and knowing what to deliver, when and how.
​
Lifestyle Skillsfestyle Skills
The ability to achieve balance and manage the demands of family life, personal and spiritual needs with appropriate business requirements.
How well you are able to execute each these skills has a direct relationship to the outcomes or results you achieve. Put simply, the quality of your technical, tactical, mental, physical and lifestyle skills combined with the quality of your performance culture will dictate success or failure!
This model is represented visually below.
The KPA Elite Performance Eco System™
1. These are skills!
​​
Firstly, these six performance components or interconnected cogs are skills. That means they can be learned, developed and nurtured like any skill. They are not, “gifts”. They are not something you’ve either got or not, nor are they set in stone. They can be improved.
2. Elite performance is interconnected
​
These six skills do not live in a vacuum, they impact and influence each other. They are like interconnected cogs in a highly tuned machine. Turn one cog and it affects others. If one of the cogs is defective, it affects other cogs.
The bottom line here is that performance, the stuff you do that gets your results, is holistic and your performance skills are integrated. Your technical and tactical skills do not live in a separate universe devoid of any influence from your lifestyle, mind and body.
​
3. Focus on mental, physical and lifestyle aspects of performance
​
Not enough time in the business arena is spent on developing the areas that allow performers to be truly elite and perform at a consistent and sustainable level – the physical, mental and lifestyle skills cogs of performance. These cogs drive the technical and tactical skills cogs.
Elite sports performers and military performers, for example, work hard on areas like relaxation, sleep, regeneration, mindfulness, mental preparation, food and hydration for performance, personal management, wellness and physical preparation and capacity.
4. We all have individual performance needs
​
One size fits all, just doesn’t work. For example, one performer may need to hone in on improving lifestyle skills areas like work life balance and sleep. Another performer may need to work on mental skills areas such as resilience or confidence, while yet other performers may need to work on physical skills like nutrition and exercise whilst another may need to focus on sleep from a physical, mental and lifestsyle perspective. One size certainly does not fit all when it comes to elite performance!
​
5. Performance Culture is huge
As you will see in the model, culture is the overriding performance component or cog that drives all the other cogs. If you don’t get your personal performance culture right or if the culture in which you perform is rotten, this will have a huge negative effect on your ability to be a truly elite performer. Culture is where the motivation for change, development and improvement comes from and without it, performance cannot flourish or be sustained.
"right stuff" motivation™ & elite performance
What is “Right Stuff” Motivation™?
One of the things that sets elite performers apart is that they are driven by what we at KPA call “Right Stuff” Motivation ™. Do you have “Right Stuff” Motivation™ ? Here's what it looks and feels like.
On the surface, when we see truly great sports performers prepare and compete or a great business leader lead or performing artist practice or perform, we see things like energy, determination, dedication, enjoyment, fun, drive, authenticity and great attitude.
But these behaviours are driven and fuelled below the surface at a mental, physical and emotional level by something deep within. The drive and fuel for this performance fire is “right stuff” motivation (RSM). The good news is that RSM isn’t something you’ve got or you haven’t got. It’s not some magical gift. It’s a learned skill!
In essence RSM is a combination of three critical factors, which when integrated provide the foundation for sustained elite level performance - SELP
1. Internally motivated - Performing because of a ‘love of the game’ and mastery of what they do.
​
“You can motivate by fear and you can motivate by reward. But those two things are only temporary. The only lasting motivation is self motivation”
Homer Rice – Legendary Athletic Director
The more a performer's behaviour is driven ‘from the inside’, the more positive the consequences we will be in terms of performance outcomes, physical and mental wellbeing and effort. In contrast, the more behaviour is determined ‘from the outside’, the less positive the performance and wellbeing consequences. For example, we know from our research and work with sports performers, business performers and performing artists that those driven primarily by money and reward (outside motivators), perform less effectively over time than those driven by mastery of a task, enjoyment and challenge (inside motivators). Basically, the more you learn to develop a ‘love of the game’, the better you will perform and also there will be positive consequences for your wellness.
2. Living with passion - A desire to be the best you can be with unrelenting enthusiasm
​
“Nothing is as important as Passion. No matter what you do with your life, be passionate”
John Bon Jovi – Rock legend
Elite performers are different because they are driven by long term energy and engagement for what they do - passion. Be it sport, music, dance, selling, leading, entrepreneurism, etc, passion is true engagement. But don’t confuse passion with unbridled emotion! Emotions are usually brief in nature, lasting only moments, where as passions are more enduring, more permanent and define performers in relation to their chosen calling. Passion is about being driven by your values and purpose everyday! That’s what elite performers do.
3. Goal committed - Sticking to their goals on a day to day, month to month, year to year basis with unwavering focus.
​
“Many people fail in life, not for lack of ability or brains or even courage but simply because they have never organized their energies around a goal”
Elbert Hubbard - Author
The third aspect of “Right Stuff” Motivation™ is being goal committed. Elite performers, have a clear dream and vision and a set of goals that drives their commitment on a day to day basis. These goals are created and executed in a special way that ensures performers remain focused and committed to these goals in the short, medium and long terms. Elite performers set and execute their goals, monitor their performance on a daily basis , learn, unlearn, relearn and stay focused on meeting objectives. That’s what elite performers do so brilliantly.
stress, cortisol & its effects on your performance
Elite Performers and Stress
​
One of reasons Elite Performers are different is because they are brilliant at building performance awareness by measuring and monitoring their performance. Why guess when you can measure and know! Measuring and monitoring the salivary cortisol stress responses of business performers is a key aspect of our work at KPA in partnership with Soma Bioscience.
In this way, business performers can scientifically understand the effect stress has on their performance in the workplace and in other aspects of their lives. This is turn allows us at KPA to put in place the physical, mental and lifestyle changes with you the performer to build your performance capacity – the ability to work harder and longer with greater ease.
Understanding Stress
​
Stress comes in all shapes and sizes and varies through time and with your environment. In essence there are two types of stress, firstly chronic stress, which is the ever present day-to-day life stressor like working long hours, constant work pressures, financial worries and relationship challenges. Then secondly is acute stress, which is ‘short term’ stress caused by events such as pressing deadlines, presentations, important meetings and critical business and life events. Chronic stress in particular has shown to suppress your immune system and affect your sleep, thus causing mores stress and a vicious cycle of decline.
Using Cortisol as a Stress Biomarker
The Science Bit!
​
Research shows that chronically elevated cortisol has many varied health effects ranging from increased body fat (particularly abdominal fat), decreased immune response and libido, decreased bone density and muscle mass, alongside decreased memory and learning. Cortisol is also a biomarker of fatigue, burnout and exhaustion. So at KPA, working with Soma, we use cortisol to measure the stress responses of corporate performers to help them understand how cortisol is impacting their health, wellness and performance – especially when used alongside other key monitoring tools as part of the Elite Performer Experience.
By simply taking 5 samples throughout a given day with a quick saliva swab, we can very accurately measure the impact of both chronic and acute stress on performance. We can then use a number of interventions – physical, mental, lifestyle and cultural to ensure that both the peak performance and the performance capacity of you as a performer, is maximized.
The Elite Performer Experience
There is an alternative to just toughing it out and working harder and longer. The solution is to learn how you can make small changes to the way you perform, that will make a big difference to the way you think, feel, act and the results you achieve.
We are experts in helping performers like you learn the art and science of Elite Human Performance based upon our work in the world of sport, business, elite military forces and the performing arts. We can help you learn about performance, how to take your peak performance to another level and increase your performance capacity - which is the ability to work harder and longer with greater ease.
​
We can ensure that you can perform at a higher and more sustainable level. At KPA we call this SELP … Sustained Elite Level Performance.
Through the KPA Elite Performer Experience, a research based, cutting edge process drawing upon our 25 years of experience working with the ‘best of the best’ we can ensure you achieve the following:
-
Greater physical and mental energy levels
-
“Right Stuff” Motivation™ to ensure day in and day out commitment
-
Enhanced resilience to stress and setbacks
-
The ability to perform consistently under pressure
-
A greater capacity to perform at their/your best on a daily basis
-
Higher and more consistent confidence levels
THE KPA Elite Performer EXPERIENCE is designed to:
1. ensure that you can UNDERSTAND PERFORMANCE
2. Build Your PEAK Performance LEVEL
3. BUILD YOUR PERFORMANCE Capacity
4. ENSURE and Think, Feel and Act like an Elite Performer
Request our Elite Performer Questionnaire
and find out if you have what it takes to be an Elite Perfomer