Creating High Performing Teams
High performing teams are teams with PURPOSE and TRUST. Truly high performing teams don’t need a principal leader; each team member leads within their area of expertise or capability. A “leader” can help inspire and focus the group on a shared PURPOSE. Authentic leadership understands that every team member has their own unique perspective and broadens individual thinking to align the team. At one startup, I took over a team with individuals from Google, Apple and Amazon. Each was an expert in their area but had an entirely different perspective on how to work as a team. The Googlers expected open-ended collaboration, the Apple folks were all about defining the “DRI”(Direct Responsible Individual) and the Amazonians were accustomed to team members having a cogent plan to discuss. To make matters worse, they were also intimidated by each other’s pedigrees and were afraid to ask clarifying questions for fear of appearing stupid. Here was a situation where highly capable and intelligent individuals were completely frustrated with one another and progress was paralyzed. My value was to establish the team view-point that there was no stupid question and to recognize each comes from a different culture – so don’t be offended if you are questioned in a way that rubs you the wrong way. Focus on the intent of the question vs. the delivery and drive action towards the goal.
For me, the TRUST attribute of high performing teams covers:
Communication – You are going to tell me what you need
Integrity – You will do what you say you are going to do
Capability – You have the skills to do your job
A “leader” supports an environment of trust, and there are plenty of books and articles on how to do this. Once you have the basics established, I think the most critical role of a “leader” is to coach, and as needed, to remove team members that are not able to step up to the trust standards of the team. At a turn-around I joined, one of the problems was that underperforming team members were being passed from group to group – one person was passed across 4 different roles in less than 18 months! The company was rife with people who were not up to standard, often doing work others found confounding. It created an atmosphere of “total crap is OK”. An authentic leader knows that eliminating someone’s livelihood is one of the most impactful decisions they make. Therefore, their priority is team success while respecting the individual. In these situations, I make sure there are clear expectations, my leaders are addressing skill gaps where possible, and we assess if the person has strengths that are a better fit in an available role (don’t expect a fish to climb a tree). There are only three acceptable outcomes, the individual becomes a valued team member, the individual self-selects out, or we let them go with resources to get them back on their feet. Leadership in these situations requires hard work, compassion and courage.
Share how you have built a high performing team in the comments below!
Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash