As I prepare to leave for Brazil next week to attend some World Cup soccer games, I started thinking about what makes some of the teams more high performing than others. With soccer teams, as with any team, there are some fundamental characteristics that must exist to be successful: technical expertise, individual star players, a desire to improve, commitment to a shared goal and lots of hard work.\u00a0 So what can we learn from the best World Cup teams to ensure our organizations builds high performing teams?<\/p>\n
When I\u2019m watching a great soccer match, a few things jump out at me about the best teams:<\/p>\n
I think there are several ways that we can mirror these traits in our own teams.\u00a0 As a leader, consider if your team knows what success looks like?\u00a0 Is everyone focused on achieving the same goal (winning)?\u00a0 Are all team members vested in, and passionate about, getting to the finish line? If not, what needs to be done to ensure all team players are committed to success?\u00a0 Sales teams provide a great example of the passion to achieve results \u2013 their sales targets are clear goals for everyone to strive for.\u00a0 Think of ways you can create a defined outcome that everyone on your team can rally behind.<\/p>\n
Determine the strengths that lie within your team and how you can maximize them to outperform<\/strong>.\u00a0 You might be competing externally with another organization or internally to be the first team to achieve a company-wide goal.\u00a0 By taking stock of your strengths and how to emphasize them, you can stay one step ahead of your competition.<\/p>\n As a leader you need to demonstrate situational leadership all the time<\/strong> \u2013 from managing differing personality styles, to generational differences, to geographic uniquenesses \u2013 so you need to be chameleon-like in your role\u00a0 Your team members must also be quick to adapt, adjust and change based on operational and market needs.\u00a0 A team that can do so will be more productive and high performing.<\/p>\n A team that works well together will develop its own rhythm and symbiotic nature<\/strong>.\u00a0 Colleagues will know when others are having a good day or not.\u00a0 They will know what to expect from their peers and will be able to predict with a high level of accuracy what their colleagues will be able to achieve.\u00a0 By building a strong team bond, performance is enhanced because team members can trust each other and can leverage their individual strengths to complete projects faster, better and first.<\/p>\n Every team need a cheerleader<\/strong>.\u00a0 We don\u2019t all have fans cheering us on everyday nor do we have the positive energy of their desire for us to win.\u00a0 But as a leader we can encourage our teams to reach great heights t by being a \u2018super fan\u2019.\u00a0 Trust in their abilities.\u00a0 Cheer the team on.\u00a0 Celebrate their successes. When the going gets tough, don\u2019t let them give up\u2026let them know you believe in them.\u00a0 A great fan is someone who is invested in the same outcome and believes that success if possible.\u00a0 Your team will feel your positive energy and will push themselves to be even higher performing.<\/p>\n Finally, high performing teams don\u2019t give up<\/strong>.\u00a0 If they lose or fail at something, they lick their wounds, regroup to figure out what went wrong, and commit to doing better that next time.\u00a0 A team that is quick to rebound and doesn\u2019t abandon their goals when they face obstacles will be more successful and will feel a stronger sense of accomplishment than one that easily glides into success. Obstacles build resilience and can strengthen the team\u2019s commitment to achieving success.<\/p>\n Winning the World Cup requires a series of wins that is predicated on months and years of training.\u00a0 Becoming the best in the world is a well-executed plan that comes together on the field.\u00a0 Having a high performing team in your organization requires the same level of commitment, focus, drive, ambition and planning.\u00a0 Drawing inspiration from great teams, wherever they reside, helps your team realize we can always push ourselves more and continue to improve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What it Takes to Have a High Performing Team As I prepare to leave for Brazil next week to attend some World Cup soccer games, I started thinking about what makes some of the teams more high performing than others. … Continue reading