What Do Ironman Finish Lines and Performance Reviews Have In Common? – a DisruptHR talk by Steph Corker – People Consultant at Steph Corker, Inc.

DisruptHR Vancouver 1 – November 4, 2015 in Vancouver, British Columbia. #DisruptHRYVR

Steph Corker recently completed the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. But it took her 8 attempts to get there. In order to qualify for Kona as a female, she had to come in the top two of female finishers at previous Ironman events, but she’d never managed more than top 5 – and that wasn’t good enough. After 8 failed attempts, people began to question why she continued trying. But she does it because she loves it, and because of the awesome Irontribe that supports each other.

As Steph approached the finish line, she was in a race with another woman for 10th place, and decided to give it everything she had to finish 10th – not 11th. Why? Would anyone care if she finished 10th or 11th? It didn’t matter what anyone else thought. SHE cared.

Whether or not someone cares about their work can’t be quantified on a performance review. We miss out on the three dimensions of human beings when we try to put them on two dimensional quadrants. A boss can’t quantify it, and peer reviews won’t show whether someone cares about their work or not. We have to consider that humans are three dimensional, not two dimensional. Humans have a heart.