Most professionals think they know what performance gets noticed.
So they say things like:
“I perform well under pressure.”
“I perform well in a team.”
“I perform at a high level.”
Sure, those things matter.
But they’re expected in any job.
You want to know the kind of performance that will actually turbocharge your career?
It’s how you respond when something doesn’t go your way.
When your manager tells you the promotion isn’t happening.
When you hit your KPIs but there’s no bonus.
When you get assigned work that feels beneath you.
These moments are the real defining moments of your career.
It doesn’t mean pretending you’re fine or never speaking up.
It’s about showing maturity.
It’s about staying composed while others spiral.
It’s about impressing your manager by how well you take bad news.
If you see yourself as a high performer, then you should be responding in ways that make your peers respect you and your leaders remember you.
That’s performance people talk about.