Building A High Performance Team Is Not A Puzzle

Think back to the best celebration you ever experienced. Perhaps recall what it was like to part of a perennial sport powerhouse, a best-in-class performing arts group, a high-impact nonprofit or business team.

Remember when you were part of an amazing group producing those results?

Do you remember how understanding of and commitment to the goal was shared by all involved – how everyone was clear on their role and roles of others?

• No one took anything personally because they were out to achieve something bigger than themselves.
• There was no room for self interest in achievement of the main goal.
• It was OK (and expected) all would hold each other accountable for doing their parts.
• Performance results were passed down to others joining the team to maintain or exceed previous levels.

An aligned team is one that exhibits all of these characteristics. They make every other aspect of increasing the effectiveness of an organization easier. It is a unique and wonderful sense of accomplishment when a team is aligned and produces results consistent with this “coming together.”

An aligned team does not have to like or agree with each other. BUT…they do have to respect and choose to work together.

Established rules of engagement help leaders worth following and their teams to stay focused on the goals at hand.

Many organizations ask what the biggest challenge is to developing an aligned, high-performing team. At Milestone Leadership, our advice would be to start at the top. If the key leader is not focused on and willing to be transparent, efforts will seldom produce desired results.

Many leaders approach high performance like a puzzle.

They believe if they can get the right players in the right seats at the right times, desired results will come. While important, these actions and elements alone are not enough. Great leaders are actively involved in the process. Their buy-in and enthusiasm must be seen through readily observable actions to achieve actual results. Whether accepted or not, every leader has a great amount of power and responsibility to either make, or break a high performance team.

How will you bring about or enhance the kind of alignment your organization needs to go next-level?