High Achiever Personality Page Image with picture of man saying that he is intelligent, doesn't want to disappoint people, and that incompetence drives him crazy.

PERSONALITY TRAITS OF HIGH ACHIEVERS

One of the most common High Achiever personality traits is the desire to know if one is measuring up to a standard. For this reason, they often ask if their viewpoints or behavioral patterns are normal. The goal of listing the personality traits of High Achievers is to help develop a common framework for conversation and to help High Achievers feel less alone. Not all High Achievers have all of these traits. Similarly, people who do not self-identify as High Achievers may still have some of these personality traits. 

Small pink circle showing outline of one person's head, representing personal or individual challenges for High Achievers

PERSONAL

  • Intelligent
  • Continuous Learner
  • Responsible
  • Honest
  • Strong-willed
  • Big picture thinker
  • Action-oriented
  • Likes challenges
  • Hates incompetence
  • High expectations of self
  • Tendency to view weakness as failure
  • Struggles with work-life balance
Small green circle with outline of two people and arrows going back and forth between them to represent interpersonal challenges for High Achievers

INTERPERSONAL

  • Cares deeply about people
  • Prefers straightforward communication
  • Eager to help and problem-solve
  • Perceived as very competent
  • Dislikes small-talk
  • May have difficult trusting others
  • Hates disappointing others
  • Difficulty asking for help
  • May feel deficient despite receiving high praise
  • May want to change people
  • May rely on logic to resolve emotional arguments (Hint: This doesn’t work.)
Small blue circle showing three connected people to represent organizational challenges of High Achievers

ORGANIZATIONAL

  • Excellent at seeing gaps in vision
  • Able to identify system inefficiencies
  • Open-minded toward innovation
  • Seeks progress; hates stagnation
  • Values org success over ego
  • Frustrated with employee incompetence
  • Stressed by political maneuvering
  • Struggles with determining reasonable expectations 
  • Focuses on innovation and growth
  • Fueled by strategic thinking; drained by operational tedium

THE HIGH ACHIEVER DESIRES

  • To feel understood
  • Specific tools and strategies
  • To not feel alone
  • To be respected
  • Results
  • Progress
  • To feel confident about decisions
  • Meaning and fulfillment
  • To be authentic
  • Confidence

Diagnoses versus High Achiever Profile Characteristics

You may be very successful and not resonate with these high achiever personality traits. There is no “high achiever” diagnosis or formal classification. In the same way that popular personality and work style assessments provide frameworks to start a conversation, these characteristics are profiles, not facts or diagnoses. The list of high achiever personality traits was derived from a qualitative research framework in which I reverse-engineered outcomes and surveyed clients. Over time, specializing in this subset of leaders has allowed me to predict difficulties, reinforce strengths, and provide information and assistance that is tailored to this subset of leaders. If you are a high achiever, I know that the path can be hard. You may have difficulty finding “your people.” Hang in there. In your uniqueness, you also have the capacity for greatness.

“I often wonder if I’m getting it right. I think I’m right, but maybe I’m the crazy one.”

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” – T. Roosevelt

The Shadow Side of a High Achieving Mindset

Many High Achievers are hard on themselves when they encounter an area of “weakness.” Carl Jung was a psychoanalyst who use the term “shadow side” to describe the parts of people’s personalities that they try to repress compared to those aspects of which a person is consciously aware. While Jung used the term to focus on subconscious areas of personality, I’ve borrowed and repurposed it to represent the flip side of our strengths.

The shadow side exists because of strength.

Most strengths have a cost attached, a shadow side if you will. For example, a generous High Achiever may struggle with setting boundaries about how much to give others. Alternately, a High Achiever who wants to see the best in people may have difficulty knowing when to fire an employee. High Achievers who are very responsible may take responsibility for things that are outside of their control. Finally, the High Achievers with high standards of execution may have difficulty recognizing what “good enough” looks like, for both themselves and for others.

High Achievers can reframe their perception of weaknesses by assessing their strengths.

High Achievers can learn to give themselves grace if they are able to identify the strengths that are associated with areas of struggle. This identification often reduces feelings of failure and shame because the shadow side is linked to strength. It’s a ‘side effect’ of strength rather than a separate area of deficit.

High Achievers can begin reframing perceived weaknesses by making a list.

High Achievers can gain insight by making a list of their “weaknesses.” After they’ve made the list, they can think about whether those “weaknesses” are a byproduct or linked to areas of strength. The linkage to strength allows High Achievers to focus on and celebrate the upside while continuing to grow in their skills at managing the shadow side.

Responsibility Pie for High Achievers by Dr. Tricia Groff. First pie chart shows a split of responsibility among You, Person A, Person B, and The System. The second pie chart shows the High Achiever's Emotional tendency to take responsibility for almost the whole pie, with just a thin slice assigning responsibility to everything else.

Responsible - A Double Edged Sword

One of the best characteristics of High Achievers is their high integrity. They take responsibility for their actions and outcomes. This trait helps them develop strong relationships and a good reputation. At the same time, it can create emotional difficulty because High Achievers tend to take responsibility for things that are not their fault. The tendency to take all blame on themselves creates an emotional drain and can also inhibit problem-solving. A solution to help sort through the variables that contribute to less than desirable outcomes is to draw a pie and assign the responsibility across multiple variables. This visual representation provides a more accurate view of what they need to change versus relationships that may need to change or situational variables that were outside their control. 

Small pink circle showing outline of one person's head, representing personal or individual challenges for High Achievers

Profiles of High Achiever Clients

(Names Have Been Changed to Protect the Innocent)

ANGIE is a founder and owner of several companies. She is a visionary who builds and creates. As a human, she is warm, honest, and unwilling to settle for the status quo in any facet of life. She leads with both intellect and passion, always seeking to empower others’ success.

JOHN is the owner of a rapidly growing business that is in the teenage phase. He is funny, easy-going, and whip-smart. John is strong-minded and open-minded, so he’ll consider new paths if the argument is solid. He continuously strives for business and personal excellence.

KYLE is a founder and executive of a VC backed company that is rapidly expanding its territory. He quickly implements new strategies, and he embodies the commitment to whole-person excellence. Kyle sometimes spices up a serious conversation with sarcasm that leaves one laughing for hours.

BRENT is a specialist and leader in the health industry. He is brilliantly logical and prefers any explanation of human behavior to be translated into a flowchart with supporting rationale and applicable examples. Brent is funny, willing to tolerate extreme discomfort, and remains uncompromising in his dedication to excellence.

AL is a C-suite executive who synthesizes information at the speed of light and is an early adopter of all good ideas. He is an amazing human, who seeks peak performance in himself and his team. He works hard to balance high expectations with compassion and flexibility.

Lisa is a senior executive in a company that innovates at warp speed. She sees connections and patterns that others don’t see; so she constantly works to contain chaos without slowing the growth. Her dedication to excellence in unrelenting, which usually means that she’s hard on herself.

Related Services

Whole-Person Executive Coaching focuses on the multi-faceted areas of wellness, business growth, and peak performance for High Achievers. Each person is already fantastic, and so the work is collaborative and synergistic. High Achievers who work with me 1:1 also have priority for any organizational offerings.

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