Every leader would agree that having a dynamic healthy team to help you achieve your business vision and plan is crucial to success. Whether you’re a sale professional, branch manager, owner/operator, or CEO, the people on your team will be calling on you to deliver leadership and direction in the year ahead. What can you do to better answer this call and develop your high performing team?

Consider the following characteristics of a high performing team, along with a few best practices to help you start developing these characteristics in your team.

1. Shared Vision – Everyone on the team knows the leader’s vision, is committed to this vision, and has an ownership stake in the vision. When each team member understands where the team is headed and how their specific role contributes to the goals and vision of the team, productivity skyrockets.

• Put your vision onto paper
• Develop a Vision Communication Strategy to connect your vision to your team
• Allow your team to build on your vision and take ownership of it

2. Healthy Team Culture - In a healthy team, people are recognized for their achievements, committed to decisions and plans, and there is genuine fellowship between team members. A healthy team culture allows your team to make better decisions, not waste time on office politics, and accomplish more in less time.

• Set expectations for a team culture based on trust and healthy conflict
• Recognize individuals and the team for achievements and living out core values
• Create opportunities to connect outside of work

3. Clearly Defined Roles and Expectations for Performance - Team members know what they are supposed to do, how their work supports the team, and how they contribute to the overall success of the team. This in turn leads to greater job satisfaction, commitment, and productivity.

• Identify the roles for your team based on market demands, leadership needs, and your vision
• Lay out job descriptions with performance expectations and success indicators
• Perform Team Assessments using DISC or StrengthsFinder to identify the right person for each role
• Set up a Communication Strategy to introduce the new roles to your team

4. Everyone is Held Accountable – In a culture of accountability the focus is on the personal development of your team and results.

• Establish one-on-one coaching sessions with each team member
• Hold regular formal performance reviews
• Require team members to verbally report on specific projects, goals, and action plans

5. The Leader is an Example – Remember:  people leave leaders, not companies. A leader that walks the talk, cares about his team, and develops his team builds loyalty with his team.

• Work from your strengths-zone and trust others to do the same
• Provide HIGH IMPACT team building opportunities
• Get into the trenches with your team and show them you care

Developing a high performing team is not an event. It is a process. Don’t feel overwhelmed by what I just outlined for you. This process takes time and effort but the payoff can be huge for you and your entire team.

If something I said today resonated with you and you would like help in developing your team in the year ahead, please contact us. We are here to help you and your team increase performance and be more intentional.

EXTRA – If you’d like to hear the January Champions Edge Call where I discuss the 5 Characteristics of High Performing Teams, CLICK HERE.

Make it a great day!

Coach Dan

5 Characteristics of High Performing Teams is a post from: Coach Dan Foster

Whenever a leader announces they will be sharing a new vision for the company or revealing their vision for the first time there is anxiety in the hearts and minds of those working for the leader. This type of experience is not uncommon in today’s challenging times. Leaders in many industries are looking to reinvent or take their company in a new direction. The question for many of us is, what do we do before and after we hear our leader’s new vision?

Consider this list of action steps to help you prepare and respond to your leaders new vision.

Three action steps to take before you hear your leader’s vision:

1. Review your personal vision statement – take the time to review your purpose, convictions, goals, and vision for the next 5-10-15 years. You will want to be crystal clear on where you see yourself headed so that you can evaluate how you fit into the overall vision your leader shares. Trust your personal vision and the effort you put into creating it. Moments like this are why you created your personal vision.
2. Reflect on what you bring to the table – identify your strengths, gifts, and talents. What daily activities drive you and make you feel most alive? You will need to know these because a new vision may mean a new direction for you and it may or may not match with what you bring to the table forcing you to evaluate your options.
3. Prepare your heart and mind to be open to new ideas – take some time in prayer or meditation to calm your spirit and remind your heart that challenging times call for tough decisions and perhaps new strategies. Be willing to listen and understand before you pass judgment or draw conclusions about your leader’s new vision.

Three action steps to take after you hear your leader’s vision:

1. Spend at least three days reflecting on the new vision – take great notes while listening to your leader’s vision and from the discussion that follows. Use the next three days to pray about, meditate on, and seek counsel about what was shared by your leader. If possible get clarification from others but don’t get sucked into gossip about the new vision and the unknowns surrounding it.
2. Identify areas where you can make a contribution – once you have a clear understanding of what your leader’s vision is then take some time to identify where you can help make the greatest contribution. If your list of areas is not very long, don’t be discouraged. The process of discovering where you fit in may seem difficult or scary starting out but the end result will help you know how to plan for the next season of your life.
3. Set a meeting with your boss to discuss the vision – before discussing in-depth your leader’s vision with other people, give your boss the courtesy of a one-on-one meeting where you can ask questions, get clarification, and share your thoughts on how you best fit into this new vision. This may be a meeting where you both agree that the new vision is not something your interested in pursuing or it may be a meeting where you share the excitement about how your unique gifts and talents are going to help achieve the longterm goals of the organization. Either way have the courage to schedule the meeting.

How To Prepare For And Respond To Your Leader’s New Vision is a post from: Coach Dan Foster

The best leaders at some point in the their career realize they cannot do it all alone. The late nights at work, the juggling of responsibilities, and the expectations for performance in all key areas of life and business become too much for one person to handle. A failure to realize this can lead to burnout, poor performance, and the ultimate demise of your company. In the past I’ve written and spoken about the attributes of a great leader, and one of these attributes is that a leader has the support of a great leadership team. Defining the attributes of this leadership team is the first step in developing a cohesive group which a leader can rely on to delegate responsibilities and achieve the overall vision of the company.

Consider these four attributes of a great leadership team:

They have a shared vision – Some leaders keep their vision a secret, some think they have communicated it but no one else knows it, and some share it openly and frequently. A great leadership team knows the vision of the company. They believe in it and they are actively pursuing it’s fullfillment every day. If a leadership team does not have buy-in on the company’s overall vision it will never be great and will always struggle with performance.

They have a decisive leader – Even a group of leaders needs to have someone that makes the ultimate decision on important issues. A decisive leader listens to input from everyone, considers all the options, and then makes a decision. The decisive leader of the team must not be paralized by fear of the unknown or failure. They must trust their leadership team and make decisions based on what is best for the company and the achievement of it’s vision.

They have clarity around roles and expectations – The unknown can be extremely damaging to a leadership team. Each member must know their role in helping the company achieve its vision. Clear expectations must be given for performance and participation in the overall objectives and goals of the team for there to be success. The sooner everyone on your team has a clearly defined role with goals and objectives outlined the sooner your leadership team can start making an impact.

They are connected to each other – Your leadership team does not need to sing songs and hold hands but they must trust each other and communicate openly and candidly with one another. This is the essence of connection. The team should know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and be able to openly talk about them and how they will help or hinder the team from achieving certain objectives. Honesty and trust are extremely important for their to be this type of open dialogue, where ideas can be shared without fear of retribution or hurt feelings.

Developing a great leadership team with these attributes will help guide the organization and bring the vision to reality.

Question: What are some of the attributes of your company’s leadership team? What attributes does your leadership team need to adopt?

Make it a great day!

Coach Dan

4 Attributes of a Great Leadership Team is a post from: Coach Dan Foster

In these challenging times, I believe that we need great leaders and we need them now! A little over a year ago I wrote a post entitled, The Ten Attributes of a Great Leader. It has since become the most popular post I have ever written. This past week I had the privilege of speaking to the Newberg Rotary club about leadership development and the need for everyone to discover their unique leadership style.

In my speech I discussed the importance of each leadership attribute, provided a leadership example, and discussed how these attributes impact the culture of an organization. I provided my audience with a Leadership Development Tool, designed to help them seize leadership opportunities in their home, community, and organization.

I hope you enjoy the presentation. Please let me know if I can help you in your leadership development!

If you are unable to view the video in your RSS feed or email, CLICK HERE

Make it a great day!

Coach Dan

If you are interested in having me speak to your group or team, Click Here.

KEYNOTE: 10 ATTRIBUTES OF A GREAT LEADER is a post from: Coach Dan Foster

Last week I interviewed executive coach and author Steve Scanlon, of Building Champions for my Leading With Purpose blog series. We discussed his new book, Reality and Hope. Steve is an exceptional coach and writer that has spent over 11,000 hours coaching sales professionals, small business owners, and business leaders to be more purposeful and intentional in how they live their life and run their business.

If you are not able to view the video in your RSS feed or Email, please click the link below:

Leading With Purpose Interview: Steve Scanlon of Building Champions

Steve has generously made available 10 copies of his new book Reality and Hope for me to give away to subscribers of my blog. In order to win a copy of the book, all you have to do is:

Make it a great day!

Coach Dan

LEADING WITH PURPOSE: STEVE SCANLON OF BUILDING CHAMPIONS is a post from: Coach Dan Foster