High Performing Teams are Maniacal About These 3 Things…..

Even the best leaders can’t do it all. Far from it. The fact is, the best leaders are meaningless if they don’t have the right, high-performing team working with them. After all, leaders carry a big load, but the ultimate success or failure of an enterprise resides on the numerous shoulders of the entire team. The goals and objectives of any business or operation are too massive, too difficult and too complex for one person to drive it all. Leaders MUST have a high performing team working with them if the group as a whole is going to be successful.

So, assuming we agree on that point, the big question is, how do you actually build and create a high performing team? Simple, just hire great people. Right? Not quite. Hiring great people is a great start, but it’s not the entire story.

Since leaving the hallowed halls of Santa Monica High School way back in 1988, I’ve had the privilege of being a member of a wide variety of teams and organizations. I spent 4 years at the U.S. Naval Academy, 11 years as a Naval Aviator and over 12 years working in the commercial sector at companies like Google and Twitter. Many of the teams I have been a part of have been high performing teams; but, of course, some have not. Similarly, I’ve personally led dozens of different teams and groups over the years. Some of those teams were high performing and some were not. I would imagine that many of you have had similar experiences.

The question I’ve wrestled with over the past few years is how do you actually create or build a high performing team? How do some teams develop into high performing teams and some do not? In essence, what’s the recipe or building blocks for high performing teams?

After a great deal of consideration, observation and experience, here’s what I’ve come up with and what I believe to be true. To build a high performing team, you must be maniacal about three core foundational elements: Hiring, Training and Learning. You have to hire the right people, train and equip them with the right tools and skills, and then create an environment of continual learning to ensure the team is constantly improving. In my experience, those are the basic building blocks of all high performing organizations.

By the way, I used that word, maniacal, on purpose. Merriam Webster defines maniacal as, “characterized by ungovernable excitement or frenzy.” And that’s exactly what I mean when I use it here. These are not passing areas of focus, things you should, “maybe put some time into.” On the contrary, if you want to build or transform a team into a high performing group, you MUST be absolutely maniacal about those three things. Meaning, you must set high standards in all three areas, put an inordinate amount of time and energy into all three, and never sacrifice your standards.

Building high performing teams is a deep and involved subject. To make it a bit more digestible, I’ve divided what would have a been a VERY long article into 4 separate sections. This is the first section: an intro to the building blocks of high performing teams. I’ve written short descriptions of each building block below. For your enjoyment, I’ve also also written separate deep dives on each core element. Here are the links to those articles: Hiring, Training and Learning.

High Performing Teams are maniacal about Hiring. You can’t build a great product if you’re not using the right raw materials. Sounds harsh, but garbage in, garbage out applies to hiring like it does anything else in life. If you want to build a high performing team, start by being maniacal about who you hire and how you hire them.

• That means you have to take the time to think carefully about not just the skills and experiences you want for any given role; but the overall fit, values and character qualities you want for every person you hire.
• Once those things are defined, you have to make sure everyone on your interview and hiring teams are trained. And, this is critical, everyone involved in the hiring process must be completely IN SYNC on what you’re all looking for. All hiring managers and interview teams must be aligned or you’ll end up with large inconsistencies and none of the prep work will pay off.
• Lastly, it’s very important that you keep your standards high. There’s always a tendency to make exceptions and lower the bar from time to time because you “really need someone in that role….” DON’T DO IT! One bad hire will drag down an entire team. You’re way better off leaving the role empty vs hiring someone that isn’t a good fit and doesn’t work out.

High performing teams are maniacal about Training. It’s not enough to just hire the right people. You also have to train them properly. Even if you are hiring experienced people, you can’t assume that they’re going to automatically know how to operate in your company, on your team, or in their roles.

• You’ll need to develop a robust and comprehensive new-hire training program that gets everyone on the same sheet of music. It should include skills and knowledge required to be successful in their jobs as well as cultural norms and values discussions that will enable them to be successful in the company. And make sure EVERYONE goes through that training no matter how experienced or senior they are. No exceptions!
• Unfortunately, being maniacal about training doesn’t stop with new-hire orientation. Your organization needs to develop ongoing training that helps everyone keep their skills sharp and their knowledge current.
• You’ll also need to develop training programs that get people ready for new roles and responsibilities (like becoming a manager for the first time or moving from manager to senior executive).
• Lastly, and most importantly, you have to be absolutely militant about protecting the time to train. The daily operations of your business will constantly try to rob you of that time, and you must be maniacal about protecting it for your entire organization. Remember, many groups develop training, but then drop the ball on both quality or attendance or both. Make the training engaging and relevant and then make sure EVERYONE attends.

High performing teams are maniacal about Learning. What does that mean? It means that they have baked the desire to continuously learn and improve directly into their organizational DNA. Hiring great people is the first step. Implementing extensive new-hire and ongoing training programs is the second step. Creating an environment and operational rhythm where the whole team is constantly learning from it’s wins and it’s losses is the final and arguably most important step.

• Learning organizations prioritize all types of training.
• They also focus and value the exchange of regular, impactful feedback.
• They require honest and comprehensive after-action reports and debriefs after completing a wide variety of activities and projects.

Learning organizations do all of these things because they are focused on continuously improving by creating a culture where everyone is learning all of the time.

SUMMARY

Three core elements. That’s it. Seems simple, right? But it’s not. Just like great leadership, building a high performing team appears somewhat simple at first glance. But when you dig in and think about it, there’s a lot more to building strong teams than just hiring great people. It really does require a MANIACAL approach to hiring, training and creating a learning environment. But, it doesn’t stop there. Those are just the table-stakes. High performing teams must place a premium and a healthy focus on Leadership, Transparency, Planning, and Professionalism. But let’s save that for another time. For now, I’d focus on the basics. Here are the links to the next three sections: Hiring, Training and Learning.