What are the factors that distinguish teams that perform well and those that do not?
When the team does not perform, it is usually the coach that is held accountable. What do successful coaches do to drive to Team performance that other coaches may not?
We have found that balancing the four variables of 1) Time 2) Energy 3) People and 4) Communication is often the key. When the right recipe is found, given the uniqueness of a particular team, it unlocks discretionary effort and performance.
1) Time – We all get 168 hours a week. That’s it. And how the leader chooses to invest that time and with whom often spells the difference between mediocrity and success. So the first variable is the leader must be adept at understanding the importance of where their time goes. Nothing replaces meaningful uninterrupted 1:1 time with the leader. You spend time with them, and they will spend time for you. New leaders often make the mistake of getting stuck in the transactional spin cycle versus the strategic without re-purposing time on calendars to lead. Invest time and reap the rewards as a Team.
2) Energy – In addition to managing time, the leader must be aware of their own personal energy clock in order to show up at their best. We are not all wired the same way. I have a friend who we affectionately referred to as the Energizer Bunny. We are not all Energizer Bunnies. Fundamental to leadership is understanding when our energy reserves are at their highest and applying those reserves appropriately to the situation at hand. Don’t make the mistake of showing up depleted to something that requires energy.
3) People – Relationships are the conduit by which we do business and Trust is the currency. As we are working with and through people, trusting relationships are instruments of exchange. And like currency exchanges, the exchange rate can fluctuate. Trust may be defined as the level of confidence a person has in the leaders future actions. Remember, nothing replaces meaningful, uninterrupted 1:1 time with the leader to build trusting relationships. Give them the tools to do their job, set realistic expectations, trust them to do their jobs and then get out of their way. As Ken Blanchard points out, all people are valuable, and it is advisable to flip the traditional hierarchical pyramid upside down. This means pushing responsibility in a downward direction while increasing responsiveness of the Team.
4) Communication – It has been said that communication is the cause of and solution to all managerial issues. When it flows freely and with integrity good things tend to happen. This includes times when the leader must deliver challenging feedback. Many times leaders will chicken out from delivering needed course corrections which results in poor performance. The leader owns this. A good way to learn how to communicate well includes thinking about ourselves less and thinking about others more. This builds transparency. Courage and transparency equals genuineness, a key ingredient of success.
Many times leaders will develop a sort of managerial writers block. It can be frustrating not to know intuitively the best way to handle certain individuals or situations.
Here’s a tip, Try the opposite. If you are the sort of leader that has concerns or anxiety about how to deal with a particular person try doing the opposite. This means if you tend to become reactive, don’t. If you tend to clam up, don’t. If you tend to over analyze, don’t. If you tend to run over people, stop.
Please check out this brief three-minute video of school kids who are playing the opposite game and observe how quickly they all get on the same page, display integrity, mutual accountability and some fun.
Be on the lookout for Part II of Teams That Perform, where we will discuss: Development, Remediation, Ownership, Execution and tips for dealing with the largest segment of the workforce in the USA today.
