The road to leadership has never been more open than it is today. Companies are scrambling for leaders, often missing out on growth and profit, because they simply don't have the people they need to take advantage of promising new opportunities. So how can you take advantage of this situation? How can you maximize your performance and accelerate your climb up the career ladder?
According to research in Expert Performance psychology, people who reach the top aren't smarter or more talented than anyone else. But they do take a different approach to learning and perfecting their skills. The good news is that by adopting these strategies and habits of expert performers, you too can set yourself apart from everyone else and get on the road to leadership.

Here's how to get started.

Limit Your Focus. You don't have the time or energy to do everything well. Identify your key tasks - the ones that have the greatest impact on the goals you want to achieve. Focus as much attention as possible on them, eliminating, delegating or deferring as many non-essential tasks as you can.
Optimize Your Activities. Instead of trying to simply complete important activities and cross them off your list, aim for better results each time. Ask yourself how you can save time, save money or achieve better results?
For example, if one of your major tasks is sales presentations, was your last presentation better than the previous one? Did you improve your delivery, give better information in less time, offer more compelling visuals, make more sales?

Practice Frequently and Strategically. Ronald Reagan, the "great communicator," didn't stumble accidentally on speaking success. In his early career as a spokesman for General Electric, he found that his talks weren't getting the response he wanted. Instead of just going through the motions hoping for a different result, Reagan spent hours improving his presentations. By the end of his contract with GE, people were complimenting his ability, and suggesting that he run for political office.
While frequent practice is essential for mastery of any skill, how you practice is just as important. To become the best, you can't just go through the motions, you need to have goals for each practice session.

Each time you practice a presentation, for example, focus on delivering a better one, even if no one's listening. Consistently striving to do better each time, even when it's "just practice" will create new mental patterns and cement these higher levels of performance as habits.

Get Feedback. You may think you gave the best presentation ever, but what does your boss think? How about the heads of other departments? Most people avoid criticism. But top performers welcome feedback and coaching, knowing that without it, they won’t continue to improve.
Never Stop Stretching. Getting better requires stretching beyond what comes easily. While most of us are happy to practice the things we're already good at, top performers know that if they stop to rest on their laurels, they're destined to remain at less than their best.
In the late 1990s, Tiger Woods recognized that the skills that had brought him early success and worldwide recognition weren't enough to take him where he wanted to go. He hired a new coach and began to rebuild his swing. The natural slump that followed brought public criticism and decreased support, but Tiger's perseverance clearly paid off. He's now on track to surpass the records of history's greatest golfers. The only things standing between you and your goals are your determination to achieve them, and the approach you take to building your ability.

Put these steps into practice, aim for consistent and never-ending improvement, and we guarantee you'll see higher levels of performance more rapidly than you've ever imagined.