As leaders, we strive to have high-performing teams.. but is that enough? Can I move beyond high-performing? Why move my team beyond high-performing?
These are great questions to consider.
As leaders, we might have a bit of a danger in stopping at high-performance:
· High-performance becoming a ‘place of arrival’. Team performance is really a continuous and evolving process.
· Achieving success by an over-rotation to internal and short-term goals – not on the value the team creates for others and growing your capacity for future fit.
· Attempting to be the best team has been by improving your own performance at a cost to other parts of the organization.
High-performance often focuses more on inputs and outputs rather than the value creation, where the focus on outcomes and impact the team creates for others.
There is another level that you can bring your team to!
Team coaching guru Peter Hawkins captures this sentiment well when he says, “A Team is value creating when it continually co-creates greater beneficial value with, and for all, their stakeholders, current and future.”
It is time for you to consider team coaching if you are seeing:
· A lack of focus in your team achieving what is most important for your stakeholders;
· Your team struggles with addressing their real issues with each other; when the “meeting after the meeting” culture starts to emerge; and
· Team members tend to prioritize the completion of their own tasks without consideration of supporting others to complete work that is on the critical path to achieve the goals set.
Look for – or create – opportunities to more strongly connect your stakeholders to your team’s work. Together you just may discover a path to build more value for all.
About the Authors
Dean Fulford, Leadership Development Practice Lead, Stratford
Dean brings more than 20 years of experience and a deep expertise in leadership development, organizational development and design, project management, process mapping, and best-practice benchmarking activities. With an extensive background in organization development and effectiveness, performance consulting and process improvement, Dean compliments his HR background with strong process management and competency-based project experience. With an Engineering degree he brings a high technical aptitude to his engagements that make him a credible voice with deeply technical clients. Dean’s particular areas of expertise include:
- Leadership development strategy and program development
- Instructional design and facilitation; talent management program design and implementation
- Process design and project management
- Driving pragmatic, metrics-driven solutions
Michelle Schafer, Leadership Development Coach & Facilitator, Stratford
Through 1:1 coaching and facilitation, Michelle helps new and experienced managers develop leadership competencies so they can lead, motivate and inspire their teams more effectively. She facilitates group “coaching circles” for Leadership for Success, a 7-month leadership development program that combines classroom learning, coaching and e-learning. Michelle helps leaders identify a development goal for the program and specific “actions” that will help them build leadership habits, landing their progress and helping to brainstorm solutions to address challenges they experience. Facilitation topics include leadership and career development.