Leading and building a high-performance team is hard. But as a leader, you must learn this essential skill. The essential skill to bring people of various backgrounds, values, principles, beliefs, and life experiences on the same page is powerful.
It has many starting points but in this I want to share three powerful group exercises that will lay the foundation for bringing your team together and giving you the glue needed to blend into a high-performance team.
Share Your Story and Vision
As a leader, you need to openly share your story. Whether you believe it is great or not. That is not your right to judge. It is your team’s right to find themselves in your story. The more open and truthful you are, the better they will connect with you. Remember, people can sense when you are not being authentic. Share your story, be open and authentic, and answer all questions if your team has any.
Next, share your vision for your future as well. Your team and you will spend a lot of time at work together. Let them understand why you, as the leader, are going to be coming into work fired up each day and what you are driven by at work on each day.
A few extraordinary ways to share this can be a PowerPoint with pictures and examples, a poster board with magazine cutouts as well, and even just share with your voice. Word to the wise do not be monotoned and boring.
Whichever way you choose is not as important as you be honest and authentic. Remember the truth will set you free. After you are done sharing. Make sure you allow everyone on the team to share their story and vision as well. Because each person has their own unique story and vision.
You may not be able to reach and connect with everyone on your team. But by everyone sharing their story and vision, your teammates may be able to find someone they can connect with.
Build Your Team Identity
A high-performance team only describes how the team functions to the outside world. More importantly, you must choose how your team will identify internally. Every team knows what their value and standards are. Tony Ribbons says that we live by the standards we set for ourselves. That holds true for your team, too.
Why doesn’t the New England Patriots football team celebrate conference winning and having a perfect game season. Their standard is to be Super Bowl Champions and if they don’t reach that then have failed. Other football teams would be happy to win their conference or have a winning season because that is the standard they carry. Answer these questions with your team.
- What do you want to collectively be known for as a team?
- What values do you want to hold as a team?
- What are the standards set for the team?
Set A Time Outside To Connect
True lifelong connections are made outside of the office. It is easy to be a good employee and follow the rules but to be able to do life with someone and go thru something with someone is when you know if they are your true friend.
In my time as an American Soldier in the U.S military, I had to work with people that didn’t share similar views with me. In the military, you can’t just quit because you don’t like the mission or because you had a rough day.
In your company, people have the ability to quit and walk out any second they feel like. When they are connected to their teammates thru life instead of just a job relationship they will stick longer at the job and fight harder for each person on the team. The best team I ever been on was the team in which we all carried our weight and then some.
In your team, you have to set a time for your team to blend outside of work. Because at work, you have to put on a certain face and demeanor. Ones you get outside of work. People let their hair down and show more of their personal side and self-expression.
That blend of personal touch and personal responsibility will lead you to crushing your task as a team and others calling you a high-performance team. You will not have to tell others you are a high-performance team because they will tell you and even come asking for how you did it.
Put It All Together
As the leader, you are the one that sets the tone and the standard. Lead from the front by sharing your story and vision. It is not your right to judge if it will do anything. Just be honest and authentic.
As a team, lead them to pick what they want to be known for, the values you will hold, and the standard that will be set. Take time away from the office to let personal relationships build and grow.
In no time, you will have a high performance not because you said it. Because other leaders will ask how you did it, and how you made it happen.
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