The myth of the high performing team
“We want you to build the highest performing team here…” were the words of leadership. That sounds like a challenge I am up for, I thought.
I was already privileged to be leading one of the most innovative, creative, passionate and forward-thinking teams in the organisation. The foundations were laid before I joined — teams had been formed. Clear missions were in place. But they faced huge organisational barriers and scepticism from every corner. My role, as I saw it, was to build the team legitimacy and create the internal and external environment for them to be successful.
And so we forged forwards as a team — never really formalising but instinctively knowing our roles. The teams needed to focus on delivery. I needed to focus on relationships. Together, we built confidence in our approach and our capability. We challenged organisational norms and expectations. We created new friends from old foes. We trusted each others expertise. We were bound by a single vision — we will show that a different way CAN work.
We learnt together. We failed together. We slayed the organisational dragons together. We respected and trusted each other. And we succeeded together. The teams successes were their own. I was merely there to let their star shine through.
And then I was asked ‘Build the highest performing team…’. YES! Then I wondered… how? And that’s were I started to realise that my definition of high-performance, and that of leadership, might be very different.
The team already had the ingredients of high-performance. They shared a purpose and vision. They had their roles in the team and they executed them brilliantly. They trusted each other and held each other accountable. They succeeded and failed… together.
If these ARE the definition of a high-performing team what was it that was really being sought?
The challenge was what I considered the inputs of high-performance — shared vision, clear roles and responsibilities, trust and accountability — were not what leadership considered high-performance.
Instead of building a high-performing team, they wanted to see the output — better results now.
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They were seeking immediacy. I was investing in longevity. They wanted to see outputs. I was focussed on outcomes. They wanted things now. I was delivering a sustainable long-term change.
They wanted visible performance. I was building the conditions that made high performance possible.
Focussing on incentivizing output and output related metrics mistakes the results of high performance with a high-performing culture.
Over time, the team delivered the results leadership desired. And they continued to deliver outcomes over the long term. Did leadership recognize them as high-performing? You’d have to ask them…
High performance is not built overnight.
It needs nurturing – and then can be sustained for longer, with better outcomes.
It is built through continuous and sustained micro-actions and behaviours that build the culture of mutual respect, accountability and empowerment. And as quickly as the culture for high-performance is built, it can be extinguished.
Short-term results may deliver what leaders need today, but are not designed to deliver consistently against the problems of tomorrow.
The myth of high performance — is not really a myth. It exists. High performance is possible, with the right conditions, the right leadership and the right environment.
The myth is the leadership desire for high performance. What their incentives often drive them to desire is short-term results.
