High performing teams display an expectation to win.

Holding on by a thread? You’re not alone. If your company is not nimble or high performing, it’s likely dead or soon to be. Most everyone I know has an ache in his or her gut if there’s the slightest hint of non-performance. Think for a moment about the business culture of high performance. It’s visceral. Most often, it’s created intuitively. But whether intuitive or academically designed, the choice of high performance doesn’t happen by accident.   

The captain of a massive cruise ship or aircraft carrier has legal responsibility for any damage created by the wake left behind. Not only must the skipper and crew guide the ship clearly toward the goal, he or she must be diligent in his or her awareness of the wake left behind. I invite you to ponder the wake you and your leaders leave behind – not just at the career level, but on a daily level. You leave a wake of energy behind you as you walk through a room, lead a meeting and end a meeting. If you use your imagination for a moment, imagine the kind of boat you want to be and what kind of wake you choose to leave behind based on your actions. This is a choice.
 
Defining Excellence
The world of work is not much different than the world of teams. Consistency, ongoing improvement and change are both critical and needed simultaneously.        

There are many more average teams than those that perform with élan – the elite. The same is true for companies. If a team can build a culture of winning, can a company? In my experience, the answer is, resolutely, “yes.” Like a team, creating and maintaining a business culture “choicefully” is a process. There are independent steps that are resolutely interdependent.   

The key is to define excellence and be specific. Define the performance expectations for each person – each role in the team. Then, select team members based on their track records and intrinsic motivation measured against your definitions of excellence. If all you’ve done is allude to excellence, you may hit the target, but you’ll miss the bull’s eye.

Coaching Excellence
If your managers/coaches understand your definitions of excellence, they’re more likely to get your team there. Using a sports analogy, coaches and trainers work with each individual and certainly the team as a whole. Your head coach works with each trainer and special team coach. On a high-performance team, players and coaches are typically intrinsically motivated – good enough isn’t. Goals are definitive and include how to communicate and support each other.        

When a cut is made, it is based on the performance expectations of the culture.

‘Yes We Can’ Attitude
Arrogance doesn’t survive long on a high-performance team. Certainly there is confidence, even courage, but more so, an expectation to win. If we don’t, there is review and applied learning immediately to improve the following game. If we win, there is review and applied learning immediately to improve the following game.

The point is, high performance does not happen by accident. Like the ancient simplicity of Zen wisdom, “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.” At the conclusion of a game, how does a truly respected high-performing team react?        

We’re taught to be respectful, even gracious, at closure.

Double Check It
Another core element of high performers and winners is an ability to deal with paradox. Confidence without arrogance is all about balance. So is the achievement of consistent performance coupled with explicit effort to evolve and to improve.

The paradox creates an amazing dynamic in the quest “to do what I do the way I always do it, as a winner” – and exploring change: “How do I get better?”

Why make the big deal out of the choice of high performance? Most people, when given an option, say they’d prefer to play on a winning team. I don’t believe the statement anymore. Here’s why: playing on a winning team is hard. High performance on winning teams is all about paradox. It’s complex and demanding to do better than the last game.

At the same time, it’s simple: do our best, win. I am asked to play at my highest level at all times, to play consistently. At the same time, I am asked to change the way I play daily, that is, to constantly look for ways I can improve. In case I can’t figure out what I may be missing, I have a coach to support me.        

High performance is about resolute consistency and constant change, growth and evolution. And, if this is in your wiring – your DNA – it’s the only place to play.  
 
Share Your ‘Why’
What is true is that people resist imposed change. Share the “why” – the reason for change – and assess an individual’s readiness for change. Before introducing change, consider both personal circumstances and the organizational context.

If an individual is facing difficulties in his or her personal situation and works for a team or department that is held in low esteem, change will be seen as threatening and new ideas can easily be less welcome.                    

Paradoxically, others may feel really confident because things are going well and their team or department is highly regarded, so why change? Readiness for change is highest when people are at neither extreme. Neither of these cases really supports high performance. You’re likely to get average as an outcome.

So, build readiness for change, hire both change agents and sustainers. What is the best way to achieve change in behavior? We can change our own behavior, but usually have little success in changing the behavior of others unless they want to change. At the same time, it’s possible to support people to review their current behavior and to consider other options.

Physics offers us some of the reason for functional tension in building a high-performance business culture – this is a constant push/pull in the process.

From quantum physics: whatever we hold in intention and pay active attention to with sub-atomic particles becomes real. This is the case at a molecular level with water experiments. Also, Newtonian physics holds true. That is, water settles to the lowest point, gravitation force is potent – also data.  
Both quantum and Newtonian are true! Thus, a compelling vision will pull your company forward dynamically, especially when excellence is not only defined, but also supported.

At the same time, gravity – the constant pull to the lowest common denominator – is equally true. In an inter-dependent worldview of business – economy – what do you want to have happen? Pay attention to that outcome in all your interactions … and pay attention to gravity, as well.

Rudy M. Miick, FCSI, president of Miick & Associates, guides leaders and teams to top performance, successful change and company growth. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 303-413-0400.