Team Performance as a Mirror

We have had several clients come to us recently  with concerns
about the quality of their team’s performance….. Shoddy
workmanship, lack of team cohesiveness, seeming lack of
dedication.

In all cases, the team leader thought these problems were because
the team members were screwing up or didn’t care. As they
traveled down this line of reasoning, the logical next step was
to break out the can of “Whuup Ass” and start playing the drill
sergeant.

This mindset is very common and a HUGE barrier to improvements in
team performance, because over 90% of employees want to be on a
winning team and are doing the best they can - under the
circumstances.

The truth is this,
 YOUR TEAM’S PERFORMANCE IS A MIRROR

In this mirror, you can see the effectiveness of your leadership
and your systems.

Your Leadership
- Conveys the Vision of where you are all headed and why
- Models the communication, high standards and accountability
that the rest of the team will emulate.

Your Systems
- Support your people with the resources, information and
guidelines to do the job right the first time.

As the team lead, if you blame your people for poor performance,
you are missing the boat. The quality of your team mirrors your
effectiveness as a leader and the quality of your systems.

In the vast majority of cases, the key to improving team
performance is personal growth on the part of the leader.

So when your teams don’t perform as you would like, put away the
“Whuup Ass” and look in the mirror. Then work on your leadership
and help the team work to improve the systems and watch
performance jump.

Tagged as: leadership, mirror, systems, teamwork