WHAT HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS DO

If you are part of a team, you’ll know the feeling of looking forward to work, knowing anything is possible, feeling charged up with energy, and having a real sense of belonging. But I bet there have been times in your life when you were part of a team from hell, with constant disagreement and conflict, when you walk on eggshells daily, and were afraid to speak up.

With a New Year just just beginning I thought I’d share a few principles I have picked up from working as a Performance Coach, with World Class Teams. You might find them useful. You don’t get much more High Performing than in F1, and when coaching inside one particular team, I spot these principles in evidence every day:

A High Performance team wants to go the extra mile, every day. High performing leaders create energy and enthusiasm by inspiring, more than they drive, so the teams behave more ‘pull’ that ‘push’.

Differences, issues and problems are addressed quickly and directly. This requires trust and maturity. When people believe that they are trusted and others have their back, disputes can be resolved. Team leaders that focus on competition versus cooperation never achieve outstanding results.

People don’t really want to come to work and do something that any other team could accomplish; they want to do something extraordinary. World Class Leaders set stretching goals that create an internal drive to succeed.

Team Leaders Communicate, Communicate, Communicate The Vision And Direction. They help team members to be focused on the vision. 

High-performance team leaders stay on message, they constantly communicate and keep people focused on the vision and mission to accomplish. 

High-performance team leaders keep people informed, up-to-date and on track.

Allow people to thrive and create – dont constrain their talents.

Team Leaders Are Trusted. If a team leader is not trusted, they can’t be inspiring or trusted to resolve conflicts, get the team to embrace stretch goals or believe their communications. 

Be the first to admit failure – others will feel safe to follow. The lack of trust slows down everything. 

There are three basic pillars that build trust: 

The first pillar of trust is relationships. We trust people that we like. We trust our friends and we distrust our enemies. Building a positive relationship increases trust. 

The second pillar of trust is knowledge or expertise. We trust people that have the right answer or can provide insight. We trust people when they can help solve problems. 

The third pillar of trust is consistency. When you say you will do something and you do it, people trust you. Be consistent , walking your talk