CEO Reveals The One Trait That Separates Superstar Employees From Everyone Else
If you do this at work then you’re probably a superstar employee.
Gyorgy Barna | Shutterstock Sophie Hirst is a former senior manager at Google and the CEO of Workbaby, a company specialized in helping young people advance their careers through coaching. Soph, as she prefers to be called, has stated that the best part about work was unlocking potential in her team and that is what she would like to share with others.
Today, she helps people by giving them early-career advice so that they can fast-track their success without growing to hate work. She recently took to TikTok to share the one trait she has learned to identify in young professionals that separates the superstar employees from their peers.
The CEO shared that ‘bias for action’ is the main trait that separates top performers from all others.
In her video Hirst explained that "bias for action" is a communication tactic that can be learned to broaden the conversations in meetings or when asking questions.
Bias for action helps build up your reputation at work as someone who finishes projects and gets things done.
fauxels | Pexels
There are four key factors that are required for bias for action: having an ownership mentality and a proactive mindset for problem solving, moving forward with only 70% of the information you need for a project or initiative, being willing to take calculated risks, keeping up momentum through small successes.
Basically, having bias for action means you are actively engaged in forward thinking and movement even if all the problems aren't 100% worked out yet. Your goal is to problem solve through action instead of waiting for problems to simply arise.
Communication is key with bias for action in both literal language and in your actions. A simple example Hirst shared involved scheduling a meeting that stakeeholders needed to be in attendance for. Instead of waiting for all the responses, and delaying the process, someone using bias for action would say, "I've heard back from 6 of 8 stakeholders. I'll move forward with scheduling this and we can make adjustments later if we need to."
Bias for action is all about moving quickly and being willing to take calculated risks.
Communication must be supported by action. According to InterviewGenie, "Having a bias for action means you’re not afraid to make decisions and then act on them, even when (especially when) you face uncertainty." Or as Amazon describes the principle, "Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking."
Of course some risks pay off and others don't, but the principal isn't centered around high risk. It's centered around calculated risks. That means even if the plan has to change the risk did not derail the initiative. When a person commits to embracing a bias for action, they don't wait for answers and directions — they make things happen.
Sylvia Ojeda is an author with a decade of experience writing novels and screenplays. She covers self-help, relationships, culture, and human interest topics.