Mudassir Iqbal

Perform Under Pressure “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” We’re all familiar with this saying, and many people believe that they are better off under pressure. But in the 18-plus years of my career, I never felt that. Let’s get this straight: No one performs their best under pressure. There are situations that bring the best out in you, but that’s completely dependent on your surroundings and the methodology you follow. I may not able to comment on your surroundings, but I hope the following tips will work for you in most cases… 1. Think of high-pressure moments as a challenge instead of a threat. Many employees see pressure situations as threatening. which makes them under-perform at work. Considering pressure as a threat damages your self-confidence and provokes fear of failure. It’s a great idea to shift your thoughts. Instead of seeing it as a risky situation, see it a challenge. When you see pressure as your challenge, you are enthused to give the atte...

Many business owners think that getting peak performance from employees is simple—just tie cash rewards to goals. This technique is a mistake. One size doesn’t fit all, as every human being is at a different stage of their life and will be motivated by different rewards and recognition. The biggest challenge in creating the right initiatives can be the human resource department, which may suggest this kind of scheme simply to match its KPIs. Here are some reasons why monetary rewards are not the answer for inspiring motivation: 1. They’re shortsighted. A reward may give a short-term boost in productivity to achieve the desired target, but employees may tend to overlook their other responsibilities (and the reason they are getting paid in the first place). A  recent paper  by the Incentive Research Foundation notes that “There is growing academic evidence that investments in non-cash rewards can elicit equal levels of performance for less cost than cash.” 2. Intrinsi...