At the time I’m writing this, the top money earner on the PGA tour is Justin Thomas. He’s earned over $8M from 20 events. Number 50 on the earnings list is Adam Scott who’s earned a little over $2M from 19 events. Despite earning 400% more money, Justin’s scoring average for 18 holes is only 1.3 shots better than Adam’s.
There is a common misconception that the most successful organizations and leaders must be much better than those that are average. But there is very little difference.
When it comes to achieving greater personal and organizational success, you do not need to make huge improvements in the effectiveness of your activities. Small improvements can make a big difference. I call this “The Slight Edge”.
There are numerous opportunities in your personal and professional life to create a slight edge. Want to save and extra $50/month? Skip going out to lunch once a week. Would you like to get home 30 minutes earlier each day? Learn to make your meetings 5-10 minutes shorter. Would you like an extra three to four weeks of productive time each year to spend on your most important projects? You’ll get it if you save 30 minutes a day from interruptions and email management.
Developing a slight edge is not hard to do, but it does require some effort. Often, it’s as simple as making a commitment to make a small change. Make that small change a habit and you’ll have a slight edge. Here are some more slight edge examples:
- Do one extra thing to support your team each day. Impact: Higher employee engagement.
- Ask each of your team members what their career goals are, or what they would like to do in their next role. Impact: Higher employee retention.
- Delegate one additional responsibility to a team member each month. Impact: Greater employee motivation and team productivity.
- Spend 5-10 minutes each day planning your day and week and prioritizing your action item list. Impact: 30-60 minutes per day of extra productivity.
There is no better time to begin increasing your success than right now. Pick a slight edge to develop and get started!
Previously published, Valley Business Front Magazine, Dec. 2018