Standing on the edge of the district’s swimming pool as a timer, I am struck with the distinctive cultures and activity of the four results-driven high school teams preparing to compete. The diverse groups of athletes mill about in excitement, and complete their warm-ups as they envision themselves competently executing their strokes in the upcoming individual and team events.
Coaches are on-hand to consult on technique and offer encouragement to each athlete. With excitement and focus, the athletes enter the pool, cut through the long meters of liquid resistance and determinedly push to the finish. Energy spent, the swimmers slowly pull themselves from the pool, shaking out the ache of tensed muscles, and check their times – some walking away pleased and some not.
High performing and results-driven business organizations are no different than the teams competing in our recent swim meet. The key to both athletic teams and successful businesses is results-driven talent. What I saw so brilliantly in play at the pool that night were those elements and principles that form the bedrock of a high performing, results-driven team in any organization:
Performance Elements For A Results-Driven Team
- Diversity is Key – A results-driven team successfully leverages a strategic combination of varied experiences, perspectives, competencies and abilities in order to successfully compete.
- Alignment/Focus – Understanding the big-picture, strategic objectives and the impact that a single role has in achieving those objectives is imperative. Align team development, competencies and efforts in executing on the end-goal/desired results. The value of aligning people to strategy is powerful!
- Competency and Collaboration – Whether in an individual contributor role, or performing as a member of a distinct team, all employees are, first and foremost, members of the larger organizational team. Leverage both individual competencies and team competencies; each person’s role is critical and must be done in an aligned, results-driven and team-minded way.
- Live The Culture - Live the team/organizational culture – always and consistently. Culture is the glue that unifies and aligns team members’ performance to the desired results.
- Do it! – Jump in, execute efficiently, effectively and consistently, plow through the resistance, and give a best effort.
Leadership Principles
- Define Roles – Define each team member’s role and how that role integrates with the other roles of a results-driven team.
- Communicate and Orchestrate – Clearly and consistently communicate the defined roles and performance expectations within those roles. When strategy shifts, orchestrate a clear change management effort.
- Lead with Passion – Teach, develop, mentor, and coach with enthusiasm, confidence, engagement and heart.
We can help you unlock the potential and capacity of your people by helping you develop results-driven teams. We can help you realize the value of aligning people to your culture and strategy by assessing, developing and aligning people's performance against your organization's culture, strategy and objectives. The impact to your organization is an engaged workforce, a high performance organization and improved results.
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