Delivering Success

The value of a high-performing team has long been recognised. It is not just about the success of the individual people, the team or just their performance, it is also about the actual value that is added to the business itself as a business. 

High-performing teams impact the value of the business itself, it impacts stock prices, IPO outcomes, and how investors look at it as a business.  Success can be seen through its productivity and of course through its culture.

How is it that some businesses can get it right and others fall short?

There is no denying that building a team is tough at the best of times, let alone a successful, high-performing team. Even more so in our current environment. 

Having been involved in many joint ventures over the years and in assessing businesses and teams through due diligence processes, I have seen my share of the inside of a business and in operations. Despite how successful the business may appear on paper, the reality has not always been pretty. But I don’t look at the short-term vision, I look at the long-term gain.

This is also why astute investors value the quality of the team and why the engagement that occurs between executives and the leadership team with their people becomes a focal point. 

Whilst you may not be looking to sell your business, you will inevitably be thinking about the constant enhancements that can be made to ensure success as you steer forward. It does not matter if you are in a secure executive role, in the public service, or in business, success is important because it not only affects outcomes, but also affects people. Success is about what you choose today as that is what will deliver your outcome in the future.

As I share some lived experiences in my book “Same People, Different Vision” (released in September 2021), the continual support of your people is needed for success in them and you as a leader. 

I shared a recent discussion with a senior manager where I highlighted that, despite his years of service and experience, it took him to reach his breaking point and walk away feeling dishevelled, to actually have someone stop and listen. 

There will be ongoing roadblocks that surface all the time and that is ok but if we are prevented from sharing our ideas with people that can make changes, we will not see success in ourselves, in our team, or in any business.

Working in a hybrid environment will not only reshape the way we work, but it will also reshape the way we think. As we have seen over the past 18 months, engagement is different and confidence is not at its peak. 

Training the old traditional way because that is what we have done as a business, or as a company does not work. Yet, we keep doing it because that is what we know.  As HR Executives, as Senior Executives, and as Managing Partners, I call on you to think of what else?

Support is about helping your people “lead people”, not manage a workload. 

Don’t be afraid to invest in what really needs to happen now and to think outside the box. Listen to what your people really need, even when they are not saying it. You might know what they don't know, but can you provide what they have not yet considered?

Success is now relying on you to change and to look forward beyond what was and to embrace what can be, by doing things differently.

Developing high-performing teams and delivering success is recognising that there is more to consider than the immediate impact. It is about confidence, it is about empowerment for the long term, and it is about accepting someone else’s contribution to doing things differently.

No, we don’t always know everything. We need to be prepared to ask for help and invest in something or someone that can actually show us how to do things differently.

Your success is seen by the way those around you walk away – will it be with pride, confidence and feeling valued, or deflated and feeling like they are not being heard?

I encourage you to go against the grain and invest in long-term support that will enhance and deliver success through proven strategies and techniques rather than what was.