SPEAKING INTO A DIGITAL VOID? A CULTURE OF OBLIGATION MIGHT BE THE ROOT CAUSE.
It’s yours!
The prospective client you’ve been pouring countless personal and team energy into for months has just confirmed that your brilliance earned their business.
Heck. Yes.
Or perhaps your energy has already shifted into…
Oh. No.
Your once open, free flowing, creative energy that won the business has quickly moved into a full-blown panic and now you’re tempted to throw all your leadership influence into assembling and demanding the highest performing team that can deliver immediate confidence to your new client.
Before you act, please, please I beg of you, breathe.
Replace your coveted orientation towards quick action with a thoughtful pause.
The future health of your aspiring team and budding client relationship depends on it.
Here’s what you need to strategically consider before enforcing a culture of high-performance:
How do you define high-performance? Start by clearly defining what a high-performance culture means to you. Consider the specific goals, values, and behaviors that align with this culture. Share expectations and invite input from team members, ensuring they understand the desired outcomes and how they contribute to achieving them.
In what ways might you lead by example? Before expecting your team to embrace a high-performance culture, demonstrate it yourself. Model the behaviors, work ethic (while respecting boundaries), and commitment to excellence you wish to see in your team members.
Who will help you assess team alignment? You need an un-biased partner to help evaluate your team's current skills, strengths, and insecurities. Plan to provide well-paced, and meaningful training, resources, and in-the-moment support to reassure gaps.
Where can you earn mutual respect? Create an environment where team members feel comfortable sharing ideas, concerns, and feedback. Actively listen to their input, facilitate solutions, acknowledge their contributions, and address any issues that arise promptly.
How will you prioritize genuine performance conversations? Have a stance on expectations and a vision for individual and team success, but leave room open for dialogue. You want all parties to walk away from discussions with a clear understanding of their individual responsibilities and how their work contributes to the team's overall success. This should feel like a positive negotiation that empowers rather than depletes your team.
Who is assigned to provide foundational, ongoing team support? Regularly check in with individuals to discuss their aspirations, provide guidance, and identify areas for improvement. By investing in your team's development, you empower them to reach their full potential. Offering formal and informal coaching, mentoring, and training opportunities are critical on an ongoing basis beyond regular one-on-one conversations. Decide who is primarily responsible for being your team culture quarterback and reflect that in their allocation.
How will you nourish individual and collective creative freedom? Encourage cross-functional collaboration, knowledge sharing, and teamwork. Over-index on celebrating individual contributions and how it fostered more connection among the group and elevated the output. Do this publicly and privately. You want everyone to feel a personalized sense of growth and forward motion to push business ambitions even further.
What resources will you use to reward behavior? Implement a system that acknowledges and rewards individuals who consistently go above and beyond but don’t perpetuate a burnout culture. Recognitions can take various forms, such as bonuses, promotions, professional development resources, specialty courses, visibility into larger leadership decisions and planning, etc.
Place a marker on your calendar a month from now to check back in, map out iterations, repeat. And most importantly, enjoy the hum of thoughtful high-performance team nurturing – it’s only forward and up from here for all involved!
