Why Leadership Training is Essential for High Performance
Poor performance in teams can have a negative impact on the individual members of the team, as well as the organisation as a whole. When team members are not performing up to standard, it can lead to frustration and tension among the group. This can impact productivity and lead to missed deadlines or low-quality work. In addition, a team that is not performing well can hurt the company’s reputation and make it difficult to attract new talent.
One of the best ways to ensure high performance in a team is to provide leadership development training for all of its members. This type of training can help individuals learn the best way to lead a team and how to handle difficult situations. It can also help team members understand their own strengths and weaknesses, and how they can best contribute to the team. In addition, leadership training can help team members develop better communication skills and learn how to work more effectively together. The best leadership training courses can help ensure that the team functions at its best and achieves its goals.
Increasing Productivity
When it comes to team productivity, leadership training is essential. By providing leadership training for all members of the team, you can help ensure that the team functions at its best and achieves its goals. Leadership development can help team members learn better communication skills and how to work more effectively together. This can lead to a more productive team that is less likely to experience tension and frustration. One of the advantages of leadership training is that it can often help team members learn how to handle difficult situations and make better decisions. All of these skills can help increase productivity in the team.
Improve Organisational Culture
When a team is able to achieve high levels of performance, it can have a positive impact on the overall organisational culture. A high performing team can set the tone for the rest of the organisation and show other employees what is possible. In addition, a team that is able to achieve success can make employees feel more engaged and motivated. They may be more likely to take pride in their work and be more committed to the company’s success.
A high performing team can also help attract new talent to the organisation. Talented individuals may want to work in an environment where they can be part of a successful team. And when employees leave an organisation, a high performing team can be a major selling point to potential new hires.
“A high performing team can set the tone for the rest of the organisation and show other employees what is possible.”
Reduces Burnout
Organisations with a leadership development program in place are less likely to experience employee burnout. When employees are given the opportunity to develop their skills and grow professionally, they are less likely to feel overwhelmed or overworked. Leadership development programs provide employees with the training and resources they need to succeed.
Development opportunities help employees feel more connected to their work and gives them a sense of purpose. They may be more likely to take pride in their work and be more committed to the company’s success. When employees feel supported and appreciated, productivity and performance increases.
High performing teams are essential for a successful organisation. By providing leadership training for all members of the team, you can help ensure that the team functions at its best and achieves its goals. Developing leadership skills training can help team members learn better communication skills and how to work more effectively together. This can lead to a more productive team that is less likely to experience tension and frustration. In addition, leadership training can help team members learn how to handle difficult situations and make better decisions. All of these skills can help increase productivity in the team.
For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you unlock performance through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.
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Senior executive coaching is needed in high performance teams because it helps individuals and the team as a whole achieve their goals. Executive coaching can help individuals learn new skills, develop strategies, and improve their performance. Coaching can also help teams stay focused on their goals and work together effectively. Executive coaching can be a valuable tool for high performance teams to reach their potential and achieve success.
Understanding Core Values
When it comes to high performance team development, having a set of core values can be incredibly beneficial. These values help guide team members and keep them on track while they work together. When everyone on the team shares the same core values, it creates a sense of unity and purpose. This can be extremely helpful in achieving success as a team.
It’s important for team members to understand and embrace the core values of the team. This way, they will be more likely to act in accordance with them and work towards the team’s goals. If there is a conflict between an individual’s personal values and the team’s core values, it can create tension and hinder progress.
Ultimately, it is up to the team leader to ensure that everyone is aware of the team’s core values and that they are acting in accordance with them. By doing so, the team can stay focused and achieve their goals.
Leverage and Elevate Existing Strengths
When it comes to high performance teams, it’s important for everyone to be able to contribute their skills and strengths. This way, the team can work together effectively and reach their goals.
In order to leverage these skills and strengths, the team leader should take the time to understand each individual member’s strengths. This can be done through interviews, senior leadership development, or assessments. Once the team leader has this information, they can begin to put it to use.
For example, if one team member is good at coming up with ideas, the team leader can assign them projects that require creativity. Or, if another team member is good at organizing and planning, they can be put in charge of tasks that need to be completed efficiently.
By developing leadership skills and leveraging the team’s existing strengths, the team can work together more effectively and achieve more success.
“Developing leadership skills and leveraging the team’s existing strengths, the team can work together more effectively and achieve more success.”
Build More Productive Relationships
Leaders sometimes build relationships with people who are only like themselves rather than expand their social circle. This can limit their effectiveness. Leadership coaching helps you see the tendency in yourself and provides strategies to work against it, including making you more aware of your own assumptions about people who don’t share similarities with you. Furthermore, they give guidance on how to establish strong working relationships with a wider variety of individuals.
In order to build more productive relationships, team leaders need to be aware of their own biases and assumptions. They should also take the time to get to know people who are different from them. By doing so, they can learn new things and expand their perspective.
Building more productive relationships can be beneficial for the team as a whole. High performance team development requires team members to work together effectively. If team members have strong relationships with each other, they will be more likely to cooperate and achieve success.
Foster a Growth Mindset
A growth mindset is the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed. People with a growth mindset see failure as an opportunity to learn and grow. They understand that effort leads to success, and they are always looking for ways to improve.
A coach can help individuals foster a growth mindset by providing guidance and support. They can also help people understand how to overcome challenges and setbacks.
Fostering a growth mindset is beneficial for high performance teams because it helps team members see failure as an opportunity to learn. It also helps them understand that effort leads to success. By fostering a growth mindset, the team can achieve more success.
High performance teams need coaching in order to achieve success. An executive coaching program can help team members understand and embrace the team’s core values, leverage and elevate existing strengths, build more productive relationships, and foster a growth mindset. By doing so, the team can stay focused and achieve their goals.
The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and high trust organisation.
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The Benefits of High Performance Coaching for Teams
Senior leadership coaching can provide many benefits for teams. It can help them to develop a shared vision and objectives, identify areas where they need to improve, and create an action plan to address those areas. Additionally, senior leadership coaching can help team members to build trust and communication, strengthen relationships, and learn new skills. Ultimately, executive coaching can help teams to achieve their full potential and be more successful.
Enhance Program Learnings
Executive coaching provides a safe space for executives and senior managers to explore their own limitations while learning how they can improve. Executive coaches challenge them by getting involved in ongoing leadership development programs, which will help the employee accept feedback so that both parties are more open-minded about accepting change or new ideas from each other as well outside sources such as colleagues within your team. The journey towards self discovery begins with understanding who you really are without any obstructions. This is what having a leadership development plan does; it allows you to focus on the areas where you need to grow without any distractions. It also gives you an opportunity to get new perspectives about your leadership style and how it affects your team’s performance.
Action-Oriented Feedback
Leadership coaching is not consultation; it is a partnership between the client and the coach. The role of executive coaching is to provide an objective, outside perspective and help the executive take action to improve his or her leadership skills. This type of coaching is different from other types of coaching, such as sports coaching or life coaching, because it is specifically focused on improving leadership skills. This coaching helps executives and professionals throughout organisational changes. It ensures the effective implementation of that change, allowing them to own their actions and roles in order for teams to be successful at implementing imposed new ones effectively.
Improved Organisational Performance
One of the ultimate goals of executive coaching is to help organisations improve their performance. This can be accomplished by developing the leadership skills training that involves the executives and senior managers within the organisation. When these leaders are able to effectively lead their teams, the organisation as a whole will be more successful. Additionally, executive coaching can help to create a high performance culture within an organisation.
“When employees feel that their leaders are invested in their development and growth, they are more likely to be engaged in their work.”
Improved Employee Engagement
Another of the advantages of leadership training and development coaching is that it can improve employee engagement. When employees feel that their leaders are invested in their development and growth, they are more likely to be engaged in their work. When leaders receive coaching, they are better able to model the behaviours that lead to high levels of employee engagement, such as effective communication, delegation, and conflict resolution.
Reduced Employee Turnover
Leaders who receive coaching learn how to create a work environment that is conducive to retention, such as providing high performance team development opportunities and offering regular feedback. When employees feel supported and valued by their leaders, they are less likely to leave the organisation.
Executive coaching provides many benefits for teams and organisations. Coaching can help individuals learn new skills, enhance program learnings, take action-oriented feedback, improve organisational performance, improve employee engagement, and reduce employee turnover. Executive coaching is an effective way to develop leadership skills and improve the performance of teams and organisations.
For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you unlock performance through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.
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Creating and Sustaining Psychological Safety in High Performing Teams
High performing teams need psychological safety. This means that team members believe it is safe to take interpersonal risks without fear of negative consequences such as criticism, punishments, being ignored or laughed at. When people feel accepted and respected, they bring their best selves to work. They are more likely to take risks, share new ideas, and give constructive feedback.
Creating psychological safety starts with the team leader. Leaders need to set the tone and make it clear that everyone is valued and respected. They should encourage open communication and discourage blamed-based thinking.
Sustaining psychological safety requires ongoing effort from everyone on the team. It takes time and patience to build trust and create an environment where people feel comfortable taking risks. But it is worth the effort, because high performing teams are able to achieve amazing things.
The Difference Between Psychological Safety and Trust
There is a key difference between psychological safety and trust. Psychological safety means that team members feel safe to take risks without fear of negative consequences. Trust means that team members are willing to cooperate and work together towards a common goal.
Trust is essential for any team to function effectively. Team members need to be able to rely on each other, and they need to trust that everyone is working towards the same goal. It is about how individuals treat and interact with one another.
Psychological safety is a shared belief and team norm that all team members adhere to. It allows team members to take risks and share new ideas, which can lead to innovation and creativity. Everyone in the group feels secure enough to participate.
Creating Psychological Safety In High Performance Teams
Creating psychological safety in high performance teams can be a challenge. However, there are a few things that team leaders can do to set the tone and encourage open communication.
1. Leaders need to set the example and be role models for healthy behavior. They should create a safe environment where taking calculated risks and voicing new ideas is encouraged.
2. Leaders should avoid blame-based thinking and engage in difficult conversations. When team members are able to communicate openly, they are able to resolve conflicts quickly and efficiently.
It is essential for team members to feel safe to take risks and share new ideas. Understanding the importance of cultivating a psychologically safe environment is an important factor in ongoing leadership development. When team members feel valued and respected, they are more likely to bring their best selves to work and contribute to the success of the team.
“Understanding the importance of cultivating a psychologically safe environment is an important factor in ongoing leadership development.”
Sustaining Psychological Safety In High Performance Teams
Encourage Risk-Taking
Allowing teams to make calculated risks is essential for their success. Risks can lead to innovation and creativity, which are essential for high performance teams. When team members feel safe to take risks, they are more likely to share new ideas and contribute to the team’s success. However, risks need to be calculated in order to avoid unnecessary mistakes.
Team leaders should encourage their team members to take risks, but also remind them that mistakes are part of the learning process. By taking risks and learning from their mistakes, team members can continue to improve their performance.
Tolerating Mistakes
When someone makes a mistake, it can be easy to get angry or criticize them. However, this can actually discourage people from taking risks and sharing new ideas. It can also damage relationships and hinder team progress.
A better approach is to focus on the mistake itself, not the person who made it. Ask what can be learned from the mistake and how you can prevent it from happening again. This is an integral part of high performance team programs. When mistakes are treated as learning opportunities, you create stronger teams and help them in developing leadership capabilities that will make them successful both now and in the future.
For high performing team development to be successful, participants need to feel safe in order to cooperate and work together effectively. Creating psychological safety is essential for building an effective high performance culture. Leaders should set the tone and example for healthy behavior, avoid blame-based thinking, and encourage open communication. When team members are able to communicate openly, they can resolve conflicts quickly and efficiently. Sustaining a psychologically safe environment is important for high performance teams so that they can continue to take risks, learn from their mistakes, and improve their overall performance.
The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and high trust organisation.
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High performance teams are characterised by a number of distinct features. These teams are typically highly cohesive, with members working closely together towards common goals. They also tend to have high levels of communication and collaboration, as well as a strong sense of collective identity. In addition, high performance teams typically exhibit a high degree of adaptability, able to rapidly change course in response to new information or challenges. These teams consistently meet or exceed expectations.
While there is no single formula for building a high performance team, there are a number of characteristics that these teams typically share. By understanding and cultivating these features, you can create an environment that is more conducive to high levels of team performance.
Prioritise Communication
One of the key characteristics of high performance teams is communication. This means that team members are able to effectively share information and collaborate towards common goals. In order to facilitate this, it is important to prioritise communication within the team.
Some ways to do this include:
Making sure that everyone has an opportunity to share their ideas, and that no one is shy about speaking up
Encouraging open discussion and debate, so that everyone can understand different points of view
Creating a culture of trust, where team members feel comfortable sharing information and asking for help
Establishing rules or norms for communication, such as using clear and concise language, avoiding distractions, or taking turns speaking
The best high performance team programs are effective because of the emphasis placed on communication to make them successful. By prioritising communication, you can create a team environment that is conducive to high performance.
Understand Emotional Intelligence
One of the key factors that separates high performance teams from the rest is emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence refers to a person’s ability to recognise and understand their own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. It is this ability to manage emotions that allows high performance teams to thrive.
Some ways in which emotional intelligence can benefit a team include:
Improved communication: When team members are able to recognise and understand their own emotions, as well as the emotions of others, they are better able to communicate effectively. This can lead to improved understanding and cooperation within the team.
Reduced conflict: Emotional intelligence can help team members to manage conflict effectively. When everyone understands and recognises their own emotions, as well as the emotions of others, it reduces the chance for conflict to arise.
Better decision making: High emotional intelligence can also lead to better decision making. When team members are able to control their emotions, they are less likely to be swayed by them when making decisions. This can lead to more rational and effective decisions.
Managing emotions is one of the key factors that contribute to high performance team development.
” It is important to be realistic in setting your goals, and to make sure that everyone on the team is on board with the plan.”
Have a Development Plan
In order to create a high performance team, it is important to understand where your team is currently and where you want them to be. This means setting clear goals and objectives for the team, and developing a plan to help them reach those goals.
The first step is to assess the current state of the team. This includes looking at factors such as communication, cooperation, and productivity. Once you have a good understanding of where the team is currently, you can begin developing a plan to help them reach their goals.
Your plan should include both short-term and long-term goals, as well as specific steps that the team can take to achieve those goals. This can include providing additional resources, support, and leadership training. It is important to be realistic in setting your goals, and to make sure that everyone on the team is on board with the plan.
By having a clear development plan in place, you can help your team reach their full potential and perform at their best.
Value Regular Feedback
Feedback is a crucial part of developing leadership skills training. It is through feedback that team members are able to understand how they are performing and identify areas for improvement.
When providing feedback, it is important to be clear, concise, and specific. It is also important to be objective and avoid personal biases. Feedback should be given regularly, and should cover both positive and negative aspects of the team’s performance.
You can assist team members by providing consistent feedback and revealing areas for improvement. Executive leadership courses can be a useful tool for tracking performance over time while providing participants with the skills needed to make those necessary improvements. This can help them to reach their full potential and perform at their best.
High Levels of Respect Between Leaders and Team Members
High levels of trust and respect are essential for any high performance team. When team members trust and respect one another, they are more likely to cooperate and communicate effectively.
Trust is built through mutual respect and positive interactions. It is not something that can be forced or faked. Team members must be willing to trust each other, and must be open and honest with one another.
Respect is earned through actions, not words. It is based on the understanding that every team member is valuable and contributes something unique to the team. Respect must be mutual in order to be effective.
When leaders and team members have high levels of trust and respect for each other, the team will be more successful. The relationships within the team will be stronger, and communication will flow more smoothly. Trust and respect are key ingredients for a high performance team.
High emotional intelligence, a development plan, regular feedback, and high levels of trust and respect are all essential ingredients for a high performance team. When team members have these qualities, they are more likely to cooperate and communicate effectively. These are just some of the advantages of leadership training. By developing a clear plan, you can help your team perform at their best by encouraging them to reach their full potential.
For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you unlock performance through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.
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The nature of our work has changed substantially from bygone days, particularly in the last two-plus years. Technological advances have further accelerated change. This means that work today is done quite differently than it was even a decade ago, let alone a century or more in the past. How we work has changed and continues to do so at an ever-increasing pace. This raises important questions: What does work mean in today’s world? How has the concept of work changed and what challenges does this present for an organization it’s and employees?
The Lone Wolf Never Wins
Although history has celebrated the lone-wolf entrepreneur, building high-performing teams far outweighs the solo game in modern organisational success. As digitalisation has changed the workplace and influenced many industries, building highly efficient teams is essential.
Too Many Teams Don’t Live Up to Their Potential
The experiences we have all had as a team member has no doubt varied widely. At some point in our lives, most of us have worked in a less than desirable team environment where toxic behaviours are the norm. In contrast, joining a high performance team can be rewarding and motivating for team members. Development of high-performance teams through training becomes an essential capability for organisations both small and large. Equally, developing the type of team leader who truly understand what it takes to build high-performing team members that consistently demonstrate outstanding results is paramount. One productive team will always achieve more than an average team. The added benefit of developing teams is that employee development occurs at the same time. Skill gaps are addressed concurrently through focused training and feedback.
Smart Versus Healthy
Many researchers and authors have written about and contrasted performance (or being smart) and organisational health. Partick Lencioni, for example, describes health as when an organisation’s management, operations, strategy, and culture fit together and make sense. Further, any organisation or team that wants to maximise its success must come to embody two basic qualities: it must be smart, and it must be healthy.
However, the focus for most teams is to be smart. Lencioni summarised it well in his book, The Advantage when he said:
“Smart teams are good at those classic fundamentals of business, but being smart is only half the equation, yet somehow occupies almost all the time, energy, and attention of most leaders. The other half of the equation, the one that is largely neglected, is about being healthy.”
– Patrick Lencioni, The Advantage
Successful organisations of tomorrow will be those that can create and sustain high-performing teams. So, what are the key elements of a high-performing team? We break them into two areas: (1) the Foundations and (2) the Seven Elements to build high-performance teams.
The Foundations
In our work with teams, we begin with a rigorous assessment of the foundations and the required key characteristics then turn to the seven critical areas that have been demonstrated to drive teamwork and team performance. While there is some overlap, we find that having an in-depth understanding of the foundational conditions and the seven drivers of high-performance creates a deep understanding of the team and therefore the development focus.
The six conditions of team effectiveness is based on the data science of Harvard scholar-practitioners Drs. Richard Hackman and Ruth Wageman who studied over 1,000 teams and includes:
Being a Real Team (not in name only);
Having the Right People on the team (complementary to each other);
Compelling Purpose (knowing why they exist);
Having a Sound Structure (e.g. the right team size);
Creating a Supportive Context and
Having effective Team Coaching readily available and being goal-orientated.
Seven Elements of High-Performing Teams (model below)
Healthy teams:
Know where they’re heading and how to get there;
Lives the values (behaviours are aligned);
Have high levels of trust and can engage in real dialogue (effective communication);
Coach and develop each other (and others around them);
Engage in constructive collaboration;
Have strong capability to innovate in service of their goals; and
Outperform expectations by delivering critical business imperatives.
This article will focus on the seven critical elements that drive high performance and health in teams.
1. Shared Sense of Purpose and Direction
High-performing teams have a clear direction, aligned mission and know their measures of success.
Myth: The team’s purpose is the same as the organisation’s purpose.
A team’s mission (or purpose) should never be the same as the organisation’s, yet many teams frame their reason-for-being in this way. A team’s purpose must be an enabling force to achieve the strategy rather than the strategy itself. This is a key difference. The team’s purpose must support the organisation and its employees, not the other way around. A useful way to formulate a team’s mission is to ask ‘What would be missing if we (the team) weren’t here?’
A high performing team requires a clear sense of direction and common goals. If it is the top team, then this may include the overall vision for the company. If, on the other hand, the team is responsible for a business unit, division or site, then the vision and direction would pertain to it at that level. This might sound obvious, but it’s often overlooked. Purposeful teams also celebrate success.
In our consulting, we always ask the following question of teams, ‘Which is your first team?’. This question is always met with puzzled looks and a myriad of responses. The correct answer is ‘this one‘, not the team they manage (or their functional team). If a team is to truly lead the organisation (or division or business unit, etc.), then it needs to be the team they are a part of, not the team they lead. Leaders must therefore be able to understand and separate the different approaches required in leading their functional areas versus the role and function of the leadership team. A common business goal, and being goal-orientated, must be agreed upon with such clarity that there is zero chance of misunderstanding.
2. Live the Values
High-performing teams have a clear set of values and behaviours which are agreed to, referenced and lived.
Myth: The organisation’s values can serve as a team’s values.
Virtually every team we work with – at least initially – believes that because there are organisational values they need team values. Team values and norms of behaviour become the ‘normal way of behaving’ by providing clear behavioural anchors regarding what is okay and what is not. Values are the beliefs that guide our behaviour, while norms are the expectations of each other’s behaviour.
Team norms should be focused and specific to the present day and what will be important in the next 12 months. Organisational values on the hand, aim to guide the entire organisation in a more general sense. Values and norms can change over time as the team evolves and as the members of the team change and usually reflects the results of the DiagnosticConnect feedback methodology.
Formulating an agreed set of values and behaviours makes it much more likely that the team is aligned and pushing together rather than against each other. This creates a sense of trust and mutual respect within the team, and enhances teamwork which is essential for effective collaboration. Everyone doesn’t need to share the same values but must be constructive and aligned in serving the team’s purpose.
3. Trust and Real Dialogue
High-performance teams trust each other, accept different views and engage in constructive, robust dialogue.
Myth: We don’t experience major ‘blow-ups’ or conflict because we have high trust.
Teams often attribute a ‘lack of conflict’ to high levels of trust, whereas it’s usually the exact opposite. Issues and challenges, including between team members, are usually suppressed and simply not addressed or at least not addressed fully. A lack of conflict is usually a symptom of a lack of trust and therefore candour. High-performing teams have the confidence and capability to communicate effectively by engaging in robust discussions without making it personal.
Trust is essential to feel connected, enabling team members to share ideas and information openly and provide feedback early and often. Without trust, team members will be reluctant to demonstrate vulnerability and engage openly, stifling communication, creativity and innovation. To use Brené Brown’s definition (TLS is certified by Brené Brown to deliver the Dare to Lead™ program), vulnerability is the emotion we experience during times of uncertainty, risk or emotional exposure.
It’s not about inappropriate disclosure. Being able to communicate openly means that people feel free to openly express their ideas and opinions without fear of judgement or reprisal. This open exchange of ideas is essential for generating creative solutions to problems.
4. Coach and develop people
The fourth element in creating and sustaining team performance is for leadership teams to coach and develop each other and those around them.
Myth: Developing ‘talent’ means developing your best people.
The ‘talent myth’ is alive and well in organisational life. There is very little evidence to suggest that developing employees who appear to be ‘talented’ or high performers will translate to a better return on investment than a more broad-based approach where everyone benefits from an uplift in capability, particularly in teams. In our High-Performance Team Framework, talent development means the creation of a context that allows everyone to shine in your team or organisation by leveraging strengths and building capability. It makes little sense to invest in the top 5% of employees for example while the other 95% also need to perform and make up a clear majority. There is power in a shared approach, language and baseline capability development.
Leadership teams must therefore be enablers of talent horizontally and vertically. Leveraging the work of Ken Wilbur, enabling strategies occur in four dimensions:
Mindsets;
Behaviours;
Culture; and
Systems, Structure and Processes.
If the Integral Model is the ‘what’, coaching is the ‘how’. Coaching is much more than asking open questions or the GROW Model. It is a leadership philosophy that goes beyond techniques. High-performing teams coaching each other and value peer-to-peer accountability above top-down accountability from managers. Managers also need to play an important role and be available when needed to support their charges.
Coaching allows the development of skills, knowledge and abilities in a safe and supportive environment – while addressing key priorities. The team culture, therefore, becomes one of support and collegiality where communication issues are addressed, emotional intelligence is valued and psychological safety is deepened. Coaching fosters being goal-orientated with clear objectives and utilising complementary skills already present in the team. Continuous learning becomes the norm.
5. Engage in Constructive Collaboration
The fifth element is that healthy teams act as one, enabled by collective work goals to create meaningful, constructive collaboration.
Myth: Teams must collaborate to achieve the objectives of individual silos.
While it is true that high-performance teams should be helping each other achieve individual objectives, it’s not enough. Real teams do real work together centered on a common goal. This means that individual goals must be subservient to common business goals. Common team goals foster collaboration and set the team up for success, ultimately creating superior results.
True collaboration links back to the ‘first team’ principle. If team members truly see the team they are a part of, rather than the one they lead, as their first team, it is highly likely they will act for the common good across the team rather than downwards. Leaders must focus primarily on their peers not downward to their own teams.
This reduces turf protection behaviour and frees teams up to be much more agile and responsive to each other’s needs. This kind of collaboration can be difficult, as it requires individuals to set aside their egos and work towards a greater goal. However, the rewards are well worth the effort. Collaboration allows team members to draw on a wider range of skills and knowledge, leading to more innovative solutions. In addition, those who engage in constructive collaboration develop deeper relationships with each other, resulting in a more cohesive team. When done right, collaboration can be an immensely powerful tool for achieving success.
6. Foster Innovation
Team members challenge current approaches while encouraging and supporting each other to foster innovation.
Myth: Innovation only comes from creative genius or big picture thinkers.
Innovation does not always have to be a revolutionary product or service; it can also refer to incremental changes that improve existing products or processes. In reality, innovation often happens when people take a fresh look at existing products, services, or processes and find ways to improve them. Finally, some believe innovation always requires big risks and massive investments. While this may be true in some cases, there are also many examples of innovations developed with little investment and risk. When done right, innovation can be an immensely powerful tool for success.
The key here is that communication is open and new ideas are not quashed before they’ve had a chance to breathe. Teams must avoid the one question that is fatal to innovation, ‘Yes but how would you do that?’ This immediately shifts the mindset from creation to logistics – a real brainstorming killer. Each person needs to encourage real learning by reflecting on their own and the team’s performance and looking for ways to improve.
7. Deliver Performance
The team meets or exceeds its goals and is a role model for getting things done.
Myth: We need to focus on performance to improve performance.
This myth is perpetuated across organisations all over the world. Teams believe they need to be smarter rather than healthier and focus on performance more than the soft stuff. There is simply no evidence to support this approach. Yes, you read (or heard) correctly. There is no evidence to support the notion that the vehicle to improving performance is through traditional methods of management – finance, marketing, strategy or technology. There needs to be a very solid ‘and’. I wrote about this over 10 years ago when reviewing the data and research from some of the most robust research available.
Since then, other authors have also put a line in the sand and made similar assertions. For example, Lencioni in his book The Advantage, makes a solid case for why teams need to focus on health more than performance. Again, not instead of….as well as.
In Tom Peters’ final book (according to the author of 18 books), the management guru says that all throughout his career he has been asked numerous times, ‘Tom, why have you focussed so heavily on the people side of business?’ to which he answers, ‘What else is there?’. I love his response.
While you can focus on the seventh element of performance all you like, it’s the other six elements in our High-Performance Team framework that will deliver performance. You can read more about how and why performance and health matter equally here.
The seventh and final element in our framework, then, is that healthy teams consistently outperform expectations.
Gaining Clarity
When all of these elements are present, the result is a high-performing team that is able to achieve amazing results over time. If you want your team to be successful, creating a healthy working environment is essential.
By focussing on these seven areas, teams can get clarity on:
Strengths and capabilities that can be harnessed more fully by the team.
Underlying issues and blockers, both personal and systemic.
‘Undiscussable’ issues that negatively impact the team.
Patterns and systems issues that are difficult to identify under normal circumstances.
Individual and/or leadership behaviours that enable and block team success.
Opportunities for individuals and the team (s) to improve performance.
The desired future and the role you choose to play.
Conclusion
Building high performing teams that consistently deliver results and where its members feel valued and engaged, requires team leaders to address all aspects of performance and health holistically. By only focusing on performance, teams will not achieve nor sustain the very thing they are seeking.
Things You Can Do From Here:
Get immediate results on your team by completing our HPT Survey.
You can also download our white paper: Another Poor Report Card on Organisational Culture: What Can We Learn?
The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and high trust organisation.
https://theleadershipsphere.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/pexels-sora-shimazaki-5673507-scaled.jpg17072560Philliphttps://theleadershipsphere.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TLS_Blue-Grey-Horizontal-300x124-fix.pngPhillip2022-08-03 15:09:002022-08-16 21:05:00Seven Essential Elements of High-Performing Teams
There’s no denying that strong leadership is critical to the success of any organisation. But what kind of leadership results in the best outcomes?
Values based leadership has been shown to be one of the most effective types of leadership, resulting in high performance in organisations. Here are some of the benefits of values based leadership:
1. It builds trust and respect
When leaders operate from a set of core values, it instils trust and respect in their team members. People know where their leader stands and what they stand for, which creates a sense of safety and security. Leadership training that helps participants to develop their leadership style in accordance with their values often results in more successful performance and longevity.
2. It drives engagement
Values based leaders are passionate about their work and their team members. This passion is contagious, resulting in a highly engaged team. Leadership development training can help leaders gain deeper insight into the values that drive them to succeed and how to leverage their own enthusiasm to engage and inspire others.
3. It fosters creativity and innovation
Because values based leaders are focused on the collective good, they create an environment where creativity and innovation can flourish. When people feel safe to take risks and experiment, they are more likely to come up with new and better ideas.
“People want to work for leaders who share their values and who will challenge them to be their best. “
4. It builds a strong culture
Values based leadership development is important for establishing a high performance culture. This culture is characterised by high standards, accountability, and a commitment to excellence. When leaders make decisions and act in alignment with their values, their teams become empowered to do the same.
5. It attracts top talent
Organisations with strong cultures that are aligned with their values tend to attract top talent. People want to work for leaders who share their values and who will challenge them to be their best. The best leadership courses also provide the opportunity for organisations to ensure their values are embedded into their training for new and current employees.
If you’re looking for a leadership style that will result in high performance, values based leadership is a great option. When it comes to developing leadership skills, approaching training from a values based perspective creates a personal connection to larger objectives and deeper investment in delivering high performance. By operating from a set of shared values, you can build trust and respect, drive engagement, foster creativity and innovation, build a strong culture, attract top talent, and lead your organisation to success.
The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and high trust organisation.
https://theleadershipsphere.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/pexels-rodnae-productions-7490877-scaled.jpg17072560Philliphttps://theleadershipsphere.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TLS_Blue-Grey-Horizontal-300x124-fix.pngPhillip2022-08-03 09:00:002022-08-16 14:42:21The Benefits of Values Based Leadership
Why Should Your Personal Values Align With Your Organisation’s?
It is important for your personal values to align with those of your organisation in order to create a harmonious working environment. By sharing similar values, you and your organisation can work together towards common goals and maintain a mutual understanding and respect for one another. Additionally, when your personal values align with your organisation’s, you are more likely to be satisfied with your job and motivated to do your best work.
Effective Communication
It’s no secret that effective communication is essential to success in any organisation. After all, how can high performance team members work together effectively if they can’t communicate with each other? Likewise, how can an organisation function smoothly if its members can’t communicate effectively with each other?
However, what many people don’t realise is that effective communication doesn’t just happen by chance. In order for communication to be truly effective, it needs to be aligned with the organisation’s values.
When communication is aligned with an organisation’s values, it creates a common understanding and language that everyone can use to work together more effectively. For example, if one of an organisation’s core values is “honesty,” then all members of the organisation should be open, truthful, and kind to each other when communicating. This creates an environment of trust and respect, which is essential for effective teamwork.
Likewise, if an organisation’s core value is “innovation,” then a leader who communicates a vision of innovation is much more likely to inspire others to follow than a leader who simply talks about being different.When leaders communicate their vision in a way that is aligned with the organisation’s values, it creates a strong connection between the leader and their direct reports. This connection is essential for developing leadership capabilities.
“Values are the beliefs that an organisation holds to be true, and they should shape everything from the way the organisation is run to the way it interacts with customers and clients.”
Managing Conflict
Conflict is a natural part of any relationship, and it’s no different in the workplace. In fact, conflict can actually be a good thing, as it can lead to new ideas and solutions that wouldn’t have been thought of otherwise.
Not all conflict is created equal. For example, constructive conflict is the type of conflict that happens when people are disagreeing in a way that is respectful and productive. This type of conflict can lead to positive outcomes, such as new perspectives and creative solutions.
On the other hand, destructive conflict is the type of conflict that happens when people are disagreeing in a way that is disrespectful and unproductive. This type of conflict usually leads to negative outcomes, such as decreased morale and productivity.
When managing conflict in the workplace, it’s important to encourage constructive conflict and discourage destructive conflict. One way to do this is to create an environment where people feel safe to disagree with each other. This can be achieved through leadership development programs that give teams the tools to lean into tough conversations.
Another way to encourage constructive conflict is to provide leadership training on how to handle conflict in a productive way. This can help people learn how to disagree without being disrespectful, and it can also help them understand when it’s appropriate to escalate a disagreement to a higher authority.
In short, managing conflict in the workplace is essential for maintaining a positive and productive work environment. By encouraging constructive conflict and discouraging destructive conflict, managers can help create an environment where people feel safe to disagree with each other, and where new ideas and solutions can be found.
Values are the foundation of any organisation, and they should be the guiding force behind all decision-making. Because of this, determining which values are most important to you can be an essential part of your leadership development. The best leadership training courses will help you understand how to lead authentically by keeping your values at the forefront. After all, values are the beliefs that an organisation holds to be true, and they should shape everything from the way the organisation is run to the way it interacts with customers and clients.
For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you unlock performance through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.
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High performance teams are built on a foundation of trust. Trust allows team members to feel safe to take risks, be vulnerable and share ideas openly. When trust is present, team members are more likely to be engaged and committed to the team’s success.
Trust is essential for high performance teams because:
· Trust enables team members to feel safe to take risks.
· Trust allows team members to be vulnerable and share ideas openly.
· When trust is present, team members are more likely to be engaged and committed to the team’s success.
Building trust within a team takes time and effort. It starts with each individual team member making a commitment to being open, honest and respectful. As team members build trust with each other, they will be better equipped to handle challenging situations and achieve high levels of performance.
3 Ways to Build Trust
Develop Team Members
For trust to develop within senior leadership teams, members must be competent and dependable in their performance. High performance team development is an integral part of establishing skills and building trust. When teams are confident in their ability to overcome challenges, they are more likely to be successful in the risks they take.
Encourage Vulnerability
A high performance culture is one that allows team members to be vulnerable. When teams are able to be open with one another without the fear of being shut down, they develop stronger personal connections. It is these connections that cultivate trust and make them more receptive to each other’s ideas. Establishing psychological safety in this way is particularly important in leadership development as it helps to create an environment where team members feel comfortable showing up authentically.
“When there’s trust present on a team everyone has greater commitment towards achieving success.”
Foster A Sense of Belonging
When team members feel like they belong to something larger than themselves, they are more likely to trust the people around them. A sense of belonging can be fostered by instilling a shared purpose within the team. This could be done through project-based work or setting common goals that everyone is working towards. One of the advantages of high performance team programs is that it provides the opportunity for teams to develop a deeper understanding of one another and ways of using that understanding to achieve goals. As team members feel more connected to each other and the team’s purpose, trust will begin to develop.
Building trust within a team is essential for high performance. It enables members to feel safe and confident about taking risks, being vulnerable with one another in order to produce creative ideas that will meet goals. When there’s trust present on a team everyone has greater commitment towards achieving success. Trust takes time and effort to develop, but it is worth it in order to build a strong, high-performing team.
The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and high trust organisation.
https://theleadershipsphere.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/pexels-mododeolhar-5241772-scaled.jpg19512560Philliphttps://theleadershipsphere.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TLS_Blue-Grey-Horizontal-300x124-fix.pngPhillip2022-07-27 09:00:002022-08-16 14:38:56Why Trust is Essential in High Performance Teams
A high performance culture is one where employees are encouraged to continually improve their performance and contribute to the organisation’s success. It can lead to increased employee engagement, motivation and productivity. In order to create a high performance culture, organisations need to invest in their employees and provide them with the tools and resources they need to be successful. There’s no single recipe for success, but there are certain drivers of high performance that organisations can focus on to create a culture of excellence.
A Clear Purpose and Direction
When everyone in an organisation is aligned around a shared purpose, it can be a powerful motivator. High performance teams often thrive under pressure, and are able to do so because they are given a clear purpose and direction from their leaders. Having a clear sense of direction gives employees a sense of ownership and responsibility for achieving organisational goals.
Defined Roles and Responsibilities
It’s essential to have the right mix of skills and expertise on your team. But it’s also important that everyone is in the right role, with clearly defined responsibilities. Assessing the capabilities of your team can be an essential factor in high performance team development. When everyone knows their part in the bigger picture, it can help to create a sense of unity and collective purpose.
“Creating an environment where employees feel valued and respected is needed to create a sense of loyalty and commitment.”
Opportunity for Continuous Improvement
Organisations that are constantly looking for ways to improve their performance are more likely to achieve high levels of success. Encouraging employees to identify areas for improvement and implementing changes can help to keep everyone focused on moving forward. By developing leadership capabilities in your team, you ensure that they have the tools needed to help them reach goals now and in the future.
Effective Communication
Clear and effective communication is essential for any organisation. When everyone is on the same page, it’s easier to make progress towards shared goals. One of the advantages of leadership training is that it provides a common language around new concepts that help teams to communicate more effectively. Having regular updates and open channels of communication can help to ensure that everyone is informed and engaged.
A Positive Culture
A positive workplace culture can make a big difference to an organisation’s performance. Creating an environment where employees feel valued and respected is needed to create a sense of loyalty and commitment. Providing senior leadership training can help to instil trust in your team members and demonstrate that you are invested in their development. Fostering a positive culture can also help to attract and retain top talent.
By focusing on these drivers of high performance, organisations can create a culture of excellence that will help them to achieve their goals. This includes providing leadership development opportunities, as well as setting clear expectations and goals. Furthermore, organisations need to create an environment where employees feel valued and appreciated. When organisations have a high performance culture, it can lead to a number of benefits including increased profitability, improved employee morale, and reduced turnover. Additionally, high performance cultures are more likely to attract and retain top talent.
For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you unlock performance through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.
https://theleadershipsphere.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/pexels-karolina-grabowska-7875898-scaled.jpg17072560Philliphttps://theleadershipsphere.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TLS_Blue-Grey-Horizontal-300x124-fix.pngPhillip2022-07-25 09:00:002022-08-16 11:52:495 Drivers of High Performance
High performance thinking is a process that allows you to think more effectively and efficiently. It involves breaking down your thinking into smaller, more manageable chunks so that you can better focus on each individual task. This type of thinking can help you to improve your productivity, performance and results. Leaders with a high performance mindset don’t place limits on their potential for growth and success. Through leadership training, leaders can learn to leverage this type of thinking and allow them to excel in high-pressure environments.
Having a Positive Perspective on Failure
One of the best things about high performance thinking is that it doesn’t see failure as a negative. In fact, leaders who have a high performance mindset see failure as an opportunity to learn and grow. They use each setback as a chance to reflect on what went wrong and how they can do better next time. This type of thinking helps them to stay positive and motivated, even in the face of adversity. High performance thinkers are always looking for ways to improve and reach their goals. Engaging in senior leadership development can help them to build this mindset and push themselves to be better than they were yesterday. This attitude is what separates leaders who achieve great things from those who don’t take action.
Taking Action
High performance thinkers don’t just sit around and wait for things to happen, they take action. They are proactive and always looking for ways to improve their situation. Leaders who take action are more likely to achieve their goals because they are constantly moving forward. A leadership workshop or program can help you and your team develop the skills they need to be successful and overcome challenges. When you take action, it sends a powerful message to yourself and others that you are serious about reaching your goals.
“Leaders who take action are more likely to achieve their goals because they are constantly moving forward.”
Having a Clear Purpose
Another important aspect of high performance thinking is knowing your ‘why’. This means having a clear purpose or goal that drives you to achieve excellence. Leaders who know their ‘why’ are passionate and committed to what they do. They have a strong sense of purpose that keeps them focused and motivated. They are not easily distracted by irrelevant information or outside influences. Executive leadership programs that align with your focus and keep it in focus allow you to be more efficient and effective in everything you do. When your purpose drives your actions, it becomes easier to stay on track and achieve your goals. It also makes it easier to overcome obstacles and challenges along the way.
Being Coachable
Being coachable is another important trait of high performance thinkers. This means being open to feedback and willing to learn from others. Leaders who are coachable are always looking for ways to improve. They know that they can’t do it all on their own and they are always willing to listen to others. Being receptive to other people’s ideas is an important skill to hone when it comes to leadership development. It demonstrates that you value your team’s opinions and contributions to collective achievements. Being coachable also shows that you are humble and confident enough to admit when you need help.
High performance thinking is a vital quality for any leader who wants to be successful. It allows you to see failure as an opportunity, understand your purpose, take action, and be coachable. All of these qualities are important for anyone who wants to achieve their goals. Leaders with a high performance mindset are always looking for ways to improve and reach their goals. The best leadership and management courses provide tools to leverage high performance thinking to overcome challenges. This attitude is what separates leaders who achieve great things from those who only dream about it.
For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you unlock performance through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.
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Executive coaching is important for effective leadership and teams. It can help leaders to better understand themselves and their impact on others, as well as develop the skills necessary to lead effectively. A coach can help a leader to reflect on their own values and beliefs, as well as understand the impact they have on others. In addition, a coach can provide support and guidance as a leader works to develop the skills necessary to be an effective and authentic leader.
Integrity
There are many qualities that make a good team leader, but integrity is essential for creating a positive and productive team environment. Leaders with integrity gain the trust of their team members, coach them effectively, and build strong relationships. These qualities enable leaders to create successful teams that are able to achieve their goals.
Integrity is the foundation of effective leadership. It is the quality of being honest and ethical in all decisions and actions. Leaders with integrity have high levels of self-awareness. Coaching for senior leaders can help them to gain clarity around their values and how they apply to their approach to leadership. In doing so, they set the example for their team and inspire them to be their best.
Vulnerability
Vulnerability is often seen as a weakness, but it is actually one of the most important qualities for an effective team leader. Being vulnerable means being open and honest about your own shortcomings and fears. It allows you to build trust with your team members and create a more open and collaborative environment.
Leadership is not about being perfect. It’s about being authentic and leading with integrity. When you are vulnerable, you are showing your team that you are human and that you trust them enough to share your weaknesses. One way that leaders can demonstrate this is by offering opportunities for teams to participate in high performance training programs. This builds respect and loyalty from your team members while fostering deeper relationships that lead to stronger performance.
“Vulnerability is often seen as a weakness, but it is actually one of the most important qualities for an effective team leader.”
Value Continuous Learning
Effective leadership requires a deep understanding of people and how they tick. Leaders must know how to motivate and inspire those they work with, and they must be able to handle difficult situations with tact and diplomacy. Leading teams training can help leaders to implement strategies that drive their teams to greater performance.
Leaders who are committed to learning are constantly expanding their skills and knowledge base. They are always looking for new ways to improve their performance, and they are open to feedback from others. Engaging in senior leadership coaching provides them with the opportunity to identify and develop in specific areas for improvement. This willingness to learn ensures that leaders are always growing and evolving, which is essential for long-term success.
Leadership development coaching is an important tool for leaders to enhance their skills and grow in their ability to lead successful teams. Leaders who focus on integrity, vulnerability, and a commitment to learning are more likely to create positive and productive team environments. These qualities enable leaders to build trust, coach effectively, and inspire their team members to be their best. When leaders are committed to personal growth and development, they are better able to achieve success for their team
The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and high trust organisation.
https://theleadershipsphere.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/pexels-tima-miroshnichenko-5439390-scaled.jpg17072560Philliphttps://theleadershipsphere.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TLS_Blue-Grey-Horizontal-300x124-fix.pngPhillip2022-05-26 10:00:002022-05-31 14:19:533 Qualities of Effective Team Leaders
It’s tough to be a leader when your team isn’t performing. You may feel like you’ve tried everything to get them back on track, but nothing seems to be working. There are an infinite number of factors that may be affecting team performance. Understanding your team is often key to understanding the issue and how to overcome the challenges they face.
Filling Competency Gaps
Competency gaps can have a negative impact on organisational performance, as they can lead to a lack of skilled employees who are able to meet the demands of the organisation. Talent development can help to identify and fill competency gaps, by providing employees with the opportunity to enhance their skills and abilities. By offering development and training opportunities, businesses can ensure that they have the right mix of skills and abilities to meet their organisational needs.
Succession Planning
Succession planning is a key part of talent management, as it ensures that there is a pool of skilled and qualified employees who are able to take on leadership roles in the event of turnover or retirement. When leadership development programs are provided to individuals at all levels, not only does performance increase in the short term, it sets both them and the business up for future success.
“When senior leaders involve their teams to implement positive change, employees become more engaged with the work and experience higher job satisfaction.”
Employee Retention
Employee retention is a challenge for many organisations, as it can be difficult to keep talented employees from leaving. Talent management can help to improve employee retention by providing opportunities for growth and development. Leading teams training increases engagement within senior leadership teams as well as their own direct reports. When executives and other senior leaders involve their teams to implement positive change, employees become more engaged with the work, experience higher job satisfaction, and are less likely to seek external opportunities.
Talent management is about more than just hiring and firing employees. It is also about providing employees with the opportunity to grow and develop their skills, and supporting them in their career journey. By investing in talent management, organisations can create a pipeline of leaders and managers, and can also improve employee engagement and retention.
The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and high trust organisation.
https://theleadershipsphere.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/pexels-le-cy-10846185.jpg7201081Philliphttps://theleadershipsphere.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TLS_Blue-Grey-Horizontal-300x124-fix.pngPhillip2022-05-18 10:00:002022-05-24 10:46:19What to do When Your Team Isn’t Performing
Think about the best team you’ve ever been a part of. What made it so great? Chances are, the team had at least one leader who was able to bring out the best in each individual and create an environment where everyone could succeed. In today’s business world, teams are more important than ever – and leaders are essential for success. They play an important role in setting the tone for teams and ensuring that team members are fulfilling their roles. Leaders offer guidance to all members of the team, keeping morale high and motivating workers to perform well.
Instil a Culture of Excellence
Leaders play a critical role in talent development and the success of senior leadership teams. They can help identify potential leaders within an organisation and provide guidance and support to help them reach their full potential. Leaders also play a key role in setting the tone for a team and fostering a positive culture of excellence. When leaders exhibit honesty and integrity, they serve as role models for team members and help create an environment of trust. This is essential for any team that wants to achieve success.
While organisational culture is driven by the people within it, leaders play a key role in shaping that culture. They can help create an environment that is conducive to innovation, creativity, and high performance. Leaders also have the ability to motivate and inspire team members to achieve their best. When leaders are effective, they can help teams reach their full potential and accomplish great things.
“While organisational culture is driven by the people within it, leaders play a key role in shaping that culture.”
Inspire High Performance
Leaders are integral to maintaining morale and inspiring high performance in teams. When leaders are effective, they can help teams to achieve their potential and reach their goals. However, when leaders are ineffective, they can create disharmony and conflict within teams, leading to lower levels of productivity and performance. It is therefore essential for leaders to receive the development and training they need to be effective in their roles. Without this, they will struggle to lead their teams effectively and may even do more harm than good.
If you want your team to perform at its best, it is essential that you invest in developing your leadership skills. Leading teams training can provide leaders with the tools needed to leverage the strengths of their teams and how to harness them to increase performance. This type of training can be extremely beneficial for leaders, and can make a big difference to the effectiveness of their team.
Leaders are essential to the success of any team. They establish the culture of the organisation and inspire their direct reports to achieve their goals and reach higher performance. Leadership development programs are useful for developing strategies to create a culture of excellence and inspire high performance in team members.
The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and high trust organisation.
https://theleadershipsphere.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/improve-team-efficiency-productivity-header-12.11.57-pm-Medium.jpeg360640Philliphttps://theleadershipsphere.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TLS_Blue-Grey-Horizontal-300x124-fix.pngPhillip2022-04-14 12:42:472022-04-14 14:04:55Why Leaders Matter in Teams
It is no secret that high potential talent can be a huge asset to any team or organisation. These individuals often have the skills and drive to achieve great things, and can help take a company to new heights. However, unlocking this potential is not always easy. That’s where high performance coaching comes in. By affording top talent the opportunity to further enhance their capabilities, you take organisational performance from great to exceptional.
Maximise their Potential
When it comes to high performers, they are usually successful because of their individual drive and motivation. However, there are still some things that a coach can do to help them improve. By understanding what motivates employees, coaches can provide the structure and support needed when developing high performers.
High potential talent is often driven by a desire to achieve goals and be recognized for their accomplishments. They want to feel like they are making a difference and contributing to the success of the organisation. A coach can help high performers set realistic goals and create a plan to achieve them. They can also provide feedback and encouragement along the way.
High performance coaching is not about fixing problems or providing answers. It’s about helping employees find their own solutions and supporting them as they strive to reach their full potential. With the right coach, high performers can take their career to the next level.
“High performance coaching is not about fixing problems or providing answers. It’s about helping employees find their own solutions and supporting them as they strive to reach their full potential.”
Prevent Burnout and Increase Retention
Not only can executive coaching programs help prevent burnout and increase employee retention, but they can also improve communication and collaboration within high performance teams. Coaches can provide a sounding board for team members, help them develop action plans to reach their goals, and hold them accountable to meeting deadlines. In addition, coaching can help teams identify and overcome obstacles that are preventing them from achieving their desired results.
It is important to establish an environment of psychological safety where employees feel comfortable taking risks and speaking up without fear of reprisal. Leadership development programs that include executive coaching for teams gives them the opportunity to receive feedback and learn new skills in a safe and supportive environment. By investing in their employees and providing them with the tools they need to grow and succeed, companies are able to increase employee retention and create a high performance culture.
Executive coaching can help high performing individuals achieve even more. If you’re looking to maximise your potential and take your business or career to the next level, consider working with a coach. A good coach will help you set goals, stay on track, and push through barriers.
The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and high trust organisation.
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It goes without saying that high performance teams make productive use of their time. However, it is possible for teams to be highly productive without that translating into high performance. That is because while they may be working efficiently, they are missing those critical elements that make high performance teams exceptional.
Executive coaching programs can be an integral part of enhancing the performance of your leadership team. Unlike formal leadership training, coaching for high performance places the onus on participants to direct their own development. Coaches offer support and guidance to ensure that teams are engaging deeply with their development, and that what they learn is sustainable and provides value over the long term.
A Safe Environment to Address Sensitive Issues
What often holds teams back from excelling in productivity and performance is the fear of bringing up potentially sensitive issues. Leadership development coaching is a team’s opportunity to have difficult conversations. The coach is able to provide a third-party perspective while helping mediate the discussion and retain focus on the topic at hand while the team works towards finding solutions.
Allocating time and space to address sensitive issues prevents them from causing greater conflict or affecting your team’s performance. High performance teams must be able to work through issues and overcome challenges as a unit. Having tough conversations in an environment where teams feel comfortable means that more effective decisions are being made. More time is then spent on implementing solutions rather than deciding on what needs to be done.
“Teams may have skills or talents that are currently being underutilised, or that they may not realise have been integral to past performance.”
Improves Performance Management
Executive coaching is not only concerned with addressing the difficulties a team faces. Coaching for high performance should also aim to highlight what teams are already excelling at and helping them to leverage those strengths to further their success. Participants experience increased confidence and high levels of motivation that drives performance.
The best high performance team programs instil greater self-awareness of the team’s capabilities. They may have skills or talents that are currently being underutilised, or that they may not realise have been integral to past performance. In harnessing those strengths and developing them to their fullest potential, your team becomes more effective and productivity increases. Making the most of the full range of your team’s abilities will result in stronger performance overall.
How a team utilises their time to be the most effective they can be has a direct impact on their performance. High performance teams understand the importance of time management in everything they do. Dedicating time for overcoming obstacles and further developing strengths increases both productivity and performance.
The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and high trust organisation.
ParagraExecutive teams are integral to providing strategic and operational leadership to an organisation. They guide their teams towards achieving goals, developing strategies and overseeing their implementation. An effective leadership team is able to do this by modelling behaviours and setting the cultural standard of the company. The collective functionality of executive teams is rarely prioritised over their strategic role. For organisations that get it right, performance increases at every level and provides a significant competitive advantage.
Authentic Interaction
High performance teams are incredibly intentional in how they interact with one another. Their differences are valued and respected, allowing for more effective communication. They often seek feedback from one another and trust in each other’s expertise and capabilities. Establishing clear expectations for how teams handle difficult conversations is critical to developing effective leadership.
In addition to having strong communication skills, executive team members must be comfortable being honest and vulnerable. When leaders show up with authenticity, they engage with others on a much more personal level. They demonstrate their dedication to the work and loyalty to one another by driving each other to reach their full potential.
“No individual is solely accountable for the success of the whole team. If objectives aren’t met, the team must address the cause and decide how to correct it or prevent it in the future.
Take Accountability
The most effective leadership teams do not shy away from accountability, from both within the team and others in the organisation. They establish clear expectations around what they need to do, communicate them frequently, and review their progress regularly. Each person on a high performance team understands the necessity of taking personal accountability for their role and why that is important for ensuring team accountability.
Participating in leadership training for performance accountability can help teams to build their collective mindset. While each individual has their own responsibilities within the team, understanding how those responsibilities align with the rest of the team drives greater engagement with common objectives. No individual is solely accountable for the success of the whole team. If objectives aren’t met, the team must address the cause and decide how to correct it or prevent it in the future.
Collective Mindset
High performing leaders function collaboratively, taking an enterprise-wide perspective on their operations both individually and as a team. They serve as role models for the entire organisation in terms of breaking down silos and developing solutions to problems the business faces. Individuals on high performing executive teams put the organisation’s interests ahead of their personal gains.
Executive positions represent a new challenge for leaders to continue to learn and grow. The best leadership development programs enable participants to engage in better performance conversations that result in more opportunities for individual and collective growth. When leadership teams maintain this mindset they are able to drive value beyond the expected level of performance.
Effective leadership teams lead by example. They set expectations by demonstrating desired behaviours themselves. Through high performance training programs, they improve their functionality and set the standard for others to follow. When executive teams are operating at their full potential, performance increases throughout the organisation.
For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you unlock performance through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.
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To deal with expanding challenges, greater complexity, and uncertain situations, every organisation is becoming more reliant on better teamwork. The need for collaborative processes across all levels of an organisation has never been greater. We are seeing more and more businesses recognise the value and benefits of implementing high performance development training at the top levels. When senior leaders are able to work in collaboration and alignment with one another, cohesion improves throughout the entire organisation.
Understanding High Performance Leadership
High performance teams consist of individuals with complimentary skills that excel at what they do collectively by making optimal use of each person’s capabilities. They are aligned in their goals and committed to achieving a shared vision. Leading high performance teams focuses on communicating that vision to direct reports and supporting them in meeting objectives. Similarly, high performance leadership aims to engage senior leaders with the greater objectives of the organisation and encourage collaboration between departments in order to achieve those goals.
Developing high performance teams at the senior level ensures that broader business objectives are communicated consistently throughout the organisation. In doing so, you instil a ‘team-first’ mentality and sense of community within your employees. Team members who have an ‘every person for themselves’ approach may function well as individuals, but struggle to succeed as a group. The combined impact of a team is far greater than the sum of its individual contributions. A team’s abilities and experience must complement one another, and ideas improve when discussed.
“Team members who have an ‘every person for themselves’ approach may function well as individuals, but struggle to succeed as a group.”
The most effective teams continue to succeed because of the deep trust and mutual respect their members share. This allows them to be creative in problem solving, make high quality decisions, and accomplish results efficiently with few distractions or frustrations. The best leadership development programs will spend considerable time strengthening the personal connections between team members. Leadership teams with strong, trusting relationships repeatedly perform well by relying on one another to achieve what needs to be done and offering support to ensure collective success.
Building high performance in leadership teams fosters a deeper sense of unity and commitment between different departments. This allows for greater outcomes to be achieved by the organisation as a whole. Leadership training for performance does not only benefit the teams that take part. Time and again, we see that investing in creating stronger, more cohesive leadership teams improves performance at every level. Having the support of other leaders and their team’s capabilities, and reciprocating in kind, encourages stronger performance of one’s own.
For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you unlock performance through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.
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The Long-Term Impact of Developing High Performance Teams
We often talk about the importance and benefits of high performance teams for growth and success. In a perpetually changing world, professional development needs to be constantly pursued and prioritised. The impact of developing high performance teams can be both far-reaching and long lasting.
Greater Employee Engagement
Inspired action and ensuring that direct reports can buy into the vision are some of the most important aspects of leading high performance teams. Leaders who are able to capture their team’s collective imagination and motivate them to be more creative problem solvers and innovators, see greater quality output more consistently. Effective leadership development training incorporates the strategy of the business and addresses the limitations that can keep teams from achieving their full potential. By creating leaders who are capable communicators of strategy and motivators, organisations cultivate an environment that drives performance at all levels.
When employees are engaged with their work and how it aligns with the goals of the organisation, they become more empowered to achieve greater results. Providing opportunities for teams to build upon their strengths and fill skills gaps, allows them to have a more meaningful influence in shaping the processes they use daily. In having a complete understanding of the objectives of the organisation, teams can take ownership of the role they play in reaching those goals. They establish a personal commitment to them and have an increased dedication to seeing them through.
Deeper Connection and Cooperation
One of the greatest advantages of sustaining high performance teams is that their members experience a larger diversity of knowledge and ideas. They learn to operate cohesively in a highly demanding environment. When there is a lack of cohesion, it causes undue stress and tension between team members and negatively affects performance. There is a necessity of support and cooperation in order to achieve a strong performance and meet targets.
The best leadership development programs include a focus on strengthening the personal relationships within teams. Teams that succeed consistently are respectful of each other’s differences and value the contributions they make. They also tend to be more committed to goals and have a deeper sense of unity that often translates into increased performance. It is this camaraderie that makes high performing teams so attractive to others and why those in them are so unwilling to leave. When a team works well together, particularly when under increased stress, their potential for success is greater.
“When there is a lack of cohesion, it causes undue stress and tension between team members and negatively affects performance.”
Setting teams up for success is a high priority in any development endeavour. The longevity of their success depends on their ability to connect with their objectives and one another. Effective leaders understand the importance of fostering these connections. Inspiring their teams to work collaboratively in service of common goals they’re passionate about, results in higher levels of dedication and performance.
The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and high trust organisation.
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Why do you need a high performing team more than ever in 2022? And is the recipe to success different in our current climate?
Is it because the “great resignation” is here and people have had time to think about what they really want and need from a job? Is it because the competition is bigger, bolder, and brighter? Is it because when we lose our top talent, it costs us a lot more than the loss of IP and hiring and training that new team member?
It is all of these things and more. The landscape has changed and the need for businesses to perform is more important now, than ever.
The disruption of basically everything to do with the way we work over the last few years is undeniable, but has it actually changed the fundamentals of building, driving and retaining a team of high performers? I’d like to say no! The modality has changed a little but the underlying principles of getting a group of people to overachieve together and drive high performance has not changed. The same as the principles of a great leader and how to create a great culture have not actually changed in this upside-down world.
Our teams need great leadership more than ever. People are tired and there is some fragility within the ranks. The cost of losing good people and not achieving our targets and strategic goals feels higher, but the rules and the methods we need to use, have not.
Yes, we have new technology, distributed workplaces, virtual meetings, and far less physical time in an office with our teams, but human behaviour and patterns have not changed! That is why some of our favourite leadership books from the early 1900’s are still full of gold, and current in 2022.
There are patterns that we see within high performing teams that we know drive their performance. We work with 1000’s of them across the globe. In fact, we are working with a couple of teams at the moment who have the direct opposite of what I am about to list and, as you would expect, they have the correlating organisational under performance.
Before we start on that take this assessment to see where your team is sitting:
Don’t worry, we won’t spam you, we will simply send you your results! It’s interesting to stop and look at where your team and business is currently compared to where you aspire to be. This assessment is the foundation of the work we do with teams, who are trying to go from good to great. The results show us the team alignment and the aspirations of the group. This identifies how much work we have to do to build their performance.
The Discovery Survey also shows us the level of trust within a team and how aligned they are. We get visibility of the disparity between rankings which identifies the key areas for the team to work on. Those are two of the key components of a successful high-performing team, Trust & Alignment.
Trust
Trust is a fundamental component of not only high-performing teams, but of any successful business. There is not one team that we have worked with that would not experience an increase in profitability if they increased their levels of trust. Surprisingly, it is one of the things that we find is consistently put at risk by questionable behaviours from leaders, often without knowledge of the impact of their actions. The number of books, articles and strategies around the speed of trust is in the millions and there is a very sound reason for it.
When there is a lack of trust, it is almost impossible to create sustainable change in a team until trust is built. Mistrust and the assumptions of ill intent more than triple the time it takes to embed new initiatives and “turn the ship” if you will.
High trust allows for real and robust discussion, smooth execution, far fewer disruptions to delivering results, happier staff, less HR issues and a lower attrition rate. The upside of these things is higher revenue, more time to achieve proactive and strategic objectives and less time in the reactive ‘fire fighting’ space.
How can you increase trust in your team today?
Have a leadership team that displays consistent behaviours
Have clear communication and transparency
See things and say things, accepting poor behaviour is a quick way to lose the trust of your other team members
Do what you say you will, when you say you will, sounds simple but it’s not always!
Set agreed team behaviours
Make sure your mission, vision and values have behaviours with them and they are talked about. They are not just a poster on the wall.
Alignment
This word is slightly overused just like “un-precedented” and “pivot” over the last few years but it is on point! The teams that achieve greatness and growth, all have high levels of alignment at every level.
Alignment creates clarity, increases productivity and contribution within teams. Alignment on where they want to get to, how you will get there, and what is involved.
We wanted to share the model that we often use to define and drive high performance.
The Integrated Leadership Development Model firstly invites consideration of the ‘field of play’ or Context in which effective leadership is required. This helps to gain clarity about the reality of the organisation, team(s) and their leaders, including strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and an articulation of its short and long-term aspirations.Once Clarity has been established, Capability must be built to fit. Finally, Contribution means the leader(s) and team(s) contribute in a meaningful and constructive way towards the strategy, the achievement of business results and a focus on people.
How can you increase alignment in your team today?
Engage in robust discussions to (truly) understand the current situation, including an internal and external perspective.
To borrow a terms from Susan Scott (author of Fierce Conversations), take the time to ‘interrorgate reality’. Don’t make assumptions about what people are thinking or feeling!
Discuss and agree on an aspirational and exciting future.
Create a strategic and operational plan on how to bridge today with the future aspiration.
Work to create clarity – every day.
Build the capability to get there.
Reward, acknowledge and hold people accountable for their contribution to realising the aspiration.
Build a requisite amount of safety and trust to achieve the above. Otherwise, your conversations and outcomes will be more fantasy than fact.
Wishing you and your team an awesome 2022, full of overachievement and enjoyable work days! If you would like to discuss how we can support you and your team to go from ‘good to great’ you can book a meeting with one of our Business Engagement team here:
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When building high performance teams, selecting the right people and creating the best fit can be a difficult task. Without having the right framework in place, you risk bringing together a group of people who are unable to work collaboratively, or require hands-on management. Knowing what traits and skills you require of your team is useful in this process. Leadership assessment and profiling allows you to gain a deeper understanding of an individual’s capabilities and performance. This is often a good indication that they will have the necessary qualities desired in high performance teams.
Assessment and Profiling
High performers set themselves apart from others by delivering consistently strong results and often exceeding expectations. This makes performance assessment relatively simple, as there are specific metrics or behaviours that can be measured. Where profiling tools provide an added benefit is in gaining insight into how personality contributes to performance and collaboration. The Hogan assessments reveal an individual’s preferences for how they approach work, how they best interact with others, and respond under pressure. In developing high performing teams, this information is incredibly valuable. It allows you to play to the strengths and dynamics of your team and the relationships they have with one another. Doing so leads to greater long term performance and establishes a culture of excellence.
Observe Behaviour
The most effective way of identifying high performers within your organisation is simply to observe their behaviour. Think of how they interact with others, and whether they regularly seek more challenging tasks. Peer and direct report feedback provides a comprehensive perspective of a candidate’s performance and behaviour in a range of situations. Completing a leadership assessment for performance can provide guidance on the type of leadership training that would maximise the benefit to both the organisation and the individual.
High performers typically:
value feedback from others,
think innovatively,
act as role models,
have high emotional intelligence,
seek opportunities to challenge themselves,
are early adopters of change.
The best tools for leadership assessment are those that go beyond telling you what a person can or cannot do. Strong leadership and high performing teams require more than the ability to hit certain targets. Who a person is, and how they support the success of the team can be a far more impactful measure of performance.
The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and high trust organisation
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Great leaders have a clear vision and inspire others around them to translate their vision into reality. This is high performance leadership. They understand the direction they want to take. They support, and are supported by, their teams to get them to that place.
Provide Teams the Tools to Succeed
Leaders of high performance teams do everything they can to ensure their team is capable of reaching their goals. They provide their team with the tools they will need to succeed and trust them to get the job done. This often includes customised leadership development training that meets the specific needs of the business. These teams see greater levels of productivity and success because they invest the necessary resources into developing their skills. Their learning is reinforced by leaders outside of the ‘classroom’ setting to make certain it becomes a part of day to day operations.
Onboarding courses can help to establish the expectations for new employees. Including high performance training as a part of this early process equips every person who joins your team with the ability to meet existing standards. This also allows you to identify high potential talent early and grow them within your organisation.
Receptive to New Ideas
It can be easy to discount the benefits of leadership development for performance, when teams are already meeting their goals with great success. However, effective leaders understand the importance of remaining open to new ideas. Just because the current method is working, doesn’t mean that another approach should be discounted. High performance leaders are always looking for ways to gain a competitive edge. To do this, they must allow themselves to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.
“High performance leaders must allow themselves to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.”
One way leaders can nurture this mindset is by continually seeking new experiences and developing new skills they may incorporate in the future. When leaders are receptive to new ideas, they allow teams to be more creative, inventive, and take calculated risks that often pay off.
The most successful leaders become so through nurturing their own curiosity, as well as that of their teams. They understand what it takes to elevate performance to achieve outstanding results. Great leaders see training for high performance as an investment not only in the individual, but in the team and the organisation.
The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and high trust organisation.
https://theleadershipsphere.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/pexels-fauxels-3184338-scaled.jpg7331100Philliphttps://theleadershipsphere.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TLS_Blue-Grey-Horizontal-300x124-fix.pngPhillip2022-01-25 10:00:442022-02-28 15:00:43What is High Performance Leadership?
High performance teams are critical to an organisation’s success. A leader’s role in developing these teams is to continue to involve them and support their performance. There is a perception that high performance teams are free from conflict, this is simply not the case. Rather, it is their ability to freely express ideas, disagreements, and challenge one another that allows strong teams to succeed again and again.
Create Space for Conflict
TexHealthy teams are rarely silent. In fact, silence may be a signal that your team is hesitant or afraid to speak up. Strong teams build ideas on each other. They hold space for debate and challenge ideas to come up with solutions that will provide the maximum benefit. As a leader, you create the culture by reinforcing the value of your team members and ensuring their voices are heard. Engaging in a high performance program can be an opportunity for leaders and teams to develop healthy debating habits. Healthy conflict can result in greater innovation and performance.
Conflict Builds Trust
For teams to sustain high performance, they must learn how to overcome conflict productively. Leadership development training allows teams to establish collaborative problem solving skills. This requires them to trust in one another’s capabilities and expertise in order to succeed. From here, stronger personal relationships develop that are based in trust. When future conflicts do occur, they are overcome much more efficiently and without personal attacks that can derail progress.
“For teams to sustain high performance, they must learn how to overcome conflict productively.”
Conflict that Matters
High performing teams have clearly defined roles and expectations that increase productivity. Not only are individuals aware of their own responsibilities, every team member understands the role each of them plays in achieving their goals. This is important for developing high performance and to eliminate occurrences of blame shifting. Conflicts that arise in these teams are about the work. They happen only because every team member is dedicated to producing high quality results.
Conflict is an unavoidable part of life, and it is certainly unavoidable in high pressure environments. Participating in a high performance leadership development program gives teams the opportunity to air disputes and gain the skills necessary to overcome challenges together. Healthy conflict leads to stronger teams, capable of achieving far beyond expectations.
For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you unlock performance through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.
Last year saw a significant increase in high performing talent leaving high level positions in what became known as ‘The Great Resignation.’ The corporate landscape has seen a fundamental shift in how many businesses operate, and employees have preferred the flexibility this has afforded them. Retaining top performers is integral to the success of teams and businesses alike. By looking at some of the reasons behind the exodus, we can ensure that we are providing value to our employees and our organisations.
Limited Career Advancement
When individuals are consistently performing at a high level, or making oversized contributions to the company without being considered for advancement, they may not envision a long career there. This can be incredibly frustrating, and they will seek greater opportunities elsewhere. If it is a simple matter of there not being enough high level positions available, then it is worth considering alternate ways to provide growth opportunities.
By discussing what their career goals are and how they can achieve them with your organisation, demonstrates your interest in their success. Providing high performance training to further enhance their skills prepares them for leadership development opportunities in the future while strengthening their current contributions.
“Prepare [high performers] for leadership development opportunities in the future while strengthening their current contributions.”
Disconnected From the Work
Even when productivity is high and results are being achieved, top performers can be disconnected with the work they’re doing. If efforts are not made to re-engage them, they may feel ‘stuck’ and start looking for a more challenging or exciting role. High performance team leaders are responsible for inspiring and motivating their team members to exceed expectations.
Having a clear vision of team goals is one of the most effective ways of provoking engagement in others. Leadership training programs can provide leaders and their teams with the opportunity to develop the strategy for achieving goals together. This allows individuals to take an active role in shaping the direction of the team. They form a personal connection to the work that drives them to be more innovative and higher performing.
Losing high performing talent is difficult, no matter the reasoning. Organisations are strengthened by individuals at all levels who participate in leadership development programs. Providing growth opportunities and supporting the career goals of top performers can have a considerable impact on the rate of retention within your business.
The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and high trust organisation.
Strong leadership is fundamental to establishing success in all areas of business. They determine the culture and direction that the organisation takes. In driving high performance, leaders are responsible for motivating, engaging, and developing their teams by inspiring them and helping them to reach their full potential.
Focus on Purpose
For consistently high performing businesses, their purpose is a central focus of their daily operations. They have dedicated time to establish what sets them apart from their competition, what they offer, and how they make a unique difference for their clients. Their purpose determines the direction that the business will take. Leadership development training helps to embed your purpose into your practices. Having a shared purpose enables teams to connect and collaborate while working towards a common goal, resulting in greater output, better innovation, and stronger performance.
Employee Engagement
High performing teams are comprised of passionate and dedicated individuals. Their commitment to achieving success is driven by their own motivations and the guidance of team leaders. Providing space for high performance development often leads to a significant increase in employee engagement. When engagement is high, businesses see higher rates of retention and productivity.
“Their commitment is driven by their own motivations and the guidance of team leaders.”
Honest Feedback
Teams are only able to become high performing when they are provided with constructive feedback regularly. Effective leadership training programs provide leaders with the skills to communicate feedback that adds value and encourages growth. Doing so enables team members the opportunity to better their own skills and improves their contribution to shared goals.
Executives often underestimate the impact that their workplace culture has on performance. Cultural and environmental factors are influenced by all team members, although leaders need to be aware of how they set the standard for how others interact with one another. It is important, when training for high performance, that time is spent understanding the underlying factors and attitudes that contribute to behaviors.
Growth Mindset
Organisations that engage teams in high performance programs see a considerable return on investment in both the short and long term. While such programs might be sought out as a solution to current issues, the impact they have is far reaching. Learning to perform at a higher level becomes a sustained practice that they will apply when developing their own teams.
“Purpose, engagement, communication, and culture all have a direct influence on growth and performance.”
There are countless factors that contribute to high performance. It is up to leaders to understand the motivations that drive their teams to succeed. They are the ones who set the expectations of what their teams can achieve. Purpose, engagement, communication, and culture all have a direct influence on growth and performance. These are key, interconnected drivers for success that should be areas of focus for all leaders.
For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you unlock performance through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.
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Businesses need effective performance management to align their employees, resources, and systems with their strategic goals. While the components of a good performance management system are straightforward, integrating them into a company’s fundamental operating system can be difficult. Performance management processes, both formal and informal, aid in this effort.
Individual Growth
The perception of performance management is often negative and can be seen as a tool to correct poor performance. While that can be the case, seizing regular performance management as an opportunity to recognise an individual’s achievements increases motivation while enhancing job satisfaction. This is frequently shown to result in further high performance results and employee retention
These discussions can also be an opportunity for individuals to illustrate their contributions, as well as convey their desire for advancement and growth prospects. Leadership development training for individuals is not only an investment in their career, for employers, it also allows them to identify strengths and provide opportunities for them to excel in those areas.
Organisational Growth
High performance team management allows leaders to reinforce alignment with company goals and ensure that key targets are achieved. Conflicts between teams and leaders can be significantly reduced through effective performance evaluation procedures. Beyond performance, roadblocks, strengths, and areas for improvement can be discussed to dissolve frictions. This builds trust and clarity that fosters a positive workplace environment while contributing to increased performance.
“High performance team management allows leaders to reinforce alignment with company goals.”
Ongoing, organisational success is a direct result of the collective efforts made by high performing teams. By engaging teams in leadership development programs, they are better able to overcome challenges that may be preventing them from achieving their objectives.
High performance development is important at all levels of a business for both individual and organisational growth. Growth strategy that includes the implementation of leadership courses for individuals and teams, increases engagement and performance. This results in sustainable success and consistently high performing results.
The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and high trust organisation.
