The Attributes: 25 Hidden Drivers of Optimal Performance Hardcover – January 26, 2021

There are several great reasons to read The Attributes: 25 Hidden Drivers of Optimal Performance by Rich Diviney. You'll discover why all-star teams often fail. You'll learn why you or someone else comes up short even though you seem to have the skills and you should be able to perform. You'll understand why you need both training and education to be your best. But the big benefit is that you will learn a framework you can use to improve your leadership and personal development.This book was filled with insights for me. Here's a review, starting with my first insight and why you might not want to pursue peak performance.Go for Optimal Performance, not Peak PerformancePeak performance sounds good, but there is a basic problem with pursuing it. To get the best possible performance you need the best possible conditions. Peak performance is an unrealistic goal when things start to go sideways on you, which is often.Rich Diviney thinks you should go for optimal performance instead. Here's his definition. “Optimal performance is about doing the very best that you can in the moment--whatever that moment might be.”SkillsThe book draws a clear distinction between skills and attributes. Skills, like throwing a ball, riding a bike, or cooking a steak are things you can learn. They direct behavior. Skills are relatively easy to assess, measure, and test.Those “Hidden Drivers”Mastering skills is only part of performance. In sports, we see lots of players who have mastered the skills but who, somehow, don't seem to be able to perform up to their ability. In leadership, it's common to see leaders who know how to lead but can't turn that knowledge into behavior.According to Diviney, “Attributes are simply the innate traits that determine how an individual will absorb, process, and respond to the world around them.” Attributes are elemental. They are major components of who we are. We can change them, but only slowly, consciously, and with great effort.Attributes inform behavior, they don't direct it like skills. We might have the skills to handle a particular situation, but our attributes determine how we deploy those skills. Unlike skills, attributes are difficult to measure and test.The AttributesThe core of the book is about 25 “foundational” attributes. Diviney groups 22 of them into core groups. Grit attributes are courage, perseverance, adaptability, and resilience. Mental acuity attributes are situational awareness, compartmentalization, task switching, and learnability. Drive attributes are self-efficacy, discipline, open-mindedness, cunning, and narcissism. Key leadership attributes are empathy, selflessness, authenticity, decisiveness, and accountability. Teamability attributes are integrity, conscientiousness, humility, and humor.I think of those as “more or less” attributes. When you think about them and how they apply to your behavior, you think of how much or little you have of each one. But if you've been counting, you'll notice that they’re only 22 of the promised 25 attributes.The other three attributes are different. I think of them as “either/or” attributes. Each seems to have two sides of the attribute. The three are patience, competitiveness, and fear of rejection.The idea is to use your list of attributes and determine which ones are needed in a particular situation. That will help you do things such as picking the right people for leadership roles and selecting the right members for a high-performing team.Why all-star teams often failIf you've been in the workplace any time at all, you've witnessed a team made up of experts and top performers that failed to achieve its goals. Many times, the problem is that the team was put together based on skills alone.Then, when the team starts working together, conflicts and disconnects begin to appear. Considering attributes can help you make better judgments about which top performers can work well together.Training and EducationIf you want to reach your full potential, you need both training and education. Training is where you get specific skills. Education is about increasing your general knowledge, clarifying your values, and gaining experience.You need training so you have skills you can deploy effectively. You need education to recognize the situation and determine which tools are best to use.In a nutshellThe Attributes: 25 Hidden Drivers of Optimal Performance by Rich Diviney introduces you to concepts you can use to make your self-development more effective. There's also sage advice on creating high-performing teams.Companion ReadsHere are three books that can help you create a framework for your leadership development and personal growth.The Attributes: 25 Hidden Drivers of Optimal Performance by Rich Diviney.The CEO Test: Master the Challenges That Make or Break All Leaders by Adam Bryant and Kevin SharerCall Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead by James Mattis and Bing West

I read a lot of leadership and business books, including those by authors who are retired from the military. This is one of my top two or three books ever. I rank it that high because it is one of the very few to explain people and ways of assessing them in a practical and usable way. It first explains the clear distinction between skills and attributes. It is easy to confuse the two, and as a hiring manager and supervisor for many years, it was clear how important this is to understand the difference. Then it goes through a thorough explanation, chapter by chapter, of the most important attributes to optimal performance (not peak performance). Inside each chapter are also stories from the author that reinforce the attribute and entertain (I especially enjoyed the stories from his family).This book presented the material in a very easy-to-use format I can apply each day in my professional and personal life. It is also directly applicable to my roles as a supervisor, hiring manager, and parent. I can see myself using the knowledge gained from this book every day. For those reasons, this is one of the best books I've read in years and will continue to be one I reference often in the years to come. Thank you Rich Diviney for sharing your experience and knowledge.

Heard about the book on the Jocko podcast and was very, very interested. It really breaks down the drivers of your life - the only thing I wished was that it was more focused on what the AVERAGE person can do once you identify some of your attributes. It's geared towards businesses, which is great, but the normal person reading it would be more interested in what they can do personally to help/overcome the deficiencies.

This book is a very, very strong 4 stars. It is well written and clearly makes the case for why we need to identify, understand and address our attributes. For me at times though, I felt the book dragged on a little bit too much, resulting in my decision to give it four, rather than 5 stars.There is much to read in the personal development genre. A lot of it just says the same thing someone else has said, just saying it a different way. This book is very different.It is the first book I have read in the personal development genre to specifically focus on attributes and why we need to focus on them as part of our growth and development. The fact that the author was a U. S. Navy SEAL commander who specialized in the fusion of physical, mental and emotional disciplines adds a lot of value, in my opinion, to the subject of attributes.This book has opened the attributes door for me. As a result, I now know I have to go deeper to better inform my thinking about and my framework related to the development of SELF.

Having just received the book a day ago, I'm only about one third the way through it. I tend to read slowly in order to highlight and absorb. The book is organized well, easy to read and full of so much good material... such valuable gold from the very beginning!If you are a parent, on a team, lead a group, personal or business, whatever, you will have such good information that you can't help but improve your current situation or relationships.Get this book, you won't be disappointed! I'll try to remember to follow up my review once I'm done reading it.

I got interested in the concept of attributes after listening to Rich promote his book on a podcast. Later that week, I attended my 21 year high school reunion and they had honored some alumni displaying those attributes; it wasn’t about celebrating their material success. Our society puts too much emphasis on titles and awards without looking at the entire package of the person. This was definitely a self improvement book on how to become a better person and team member. If you’re a leader, this will also help you evaluate people on their potential.