Performance is your currency
Performance is the most important thing—it’s what gives you value.
George Russell is one of the best Formula One race car drivers in the world.
His job is to perform well.
For a Formula One driver, good performance means driving fast, without crashing. It also means winning races, or at least finishing near the front.
Recently George was asked about his contract negotiations, and whether he was worried about the situation.
His response:
“From my side there’s literally no stress, no worries whatsoever,”
“When it comes to contracts, everyone gets so excited about it, but the fact is drivers have contracts, and if they don’t perform, they’ll get booted out.
“Performance is our currency. That’s what we’ve got, and if you perform, everything is good.”
Why is George so relaxed about his future? Why is he not worried about getting booted out (losing his contract)?
The reason is because he has performed well, and like he said, if you perform everything is good.
What does he mean by “Performance is our currency”?
The normal meaning of currency is a system of money. The currency in Europe is the Euro, or the currency in Japan is Yen, for example.
In this case, George is using the term currency as a metaphor (a word picture) to describe something that has worth and can be exchanged for other desirable outcomes. Performance is the most important thing—it’s what makes him valuable to the team.
If he performs well, his worth to the team increases, and in exchange his team will want to give him a new contract.
For George, as a Formula One driver, there is only one thing that matters.
Performance. Winning (or at least being as close as possible to the front).
It’s the one thing that can secure his future reward.
What is your currency?
George has identified his currency, the one result that creates real worth in his context. All his time and attention is focused on achieving that result. As long as he wins, everything else will be ok, and in the future many desirable outcomes will be available to him.
So the question is what is your currency?
What does “performance” mean for you?
What is the result that will create value for you and allow to secure your desirable outcome?