Everyone struggles at times to uphold our personal values, let alone the values of our organization. In Professional Military Education we are taught that demonstrating Idealized Influence, means walking the walk and becoming the leader people want to emulate in become. To be truly effective, we can’t simply be a leader people want to follow, we need to know how to create leaders worth following.

Sometimes we find ourselves dealing with situations we never intended to create, or even imagined were possible. Sometimes we create or even inherit toxic teams, cultures, and environments. It is crucial to recognize that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and out of control environments are often the result of lots and lots of bad decisions. Fortunately, there is an easy tool to get this train back on track, if you’re ready to put it to use.

Where the eyes go, so goes the mind. It’s no wonder that when we focus on our situation, our problems, our goals or ambitions we often find ourselves less happy & less healthy.  Numerous studies have linked not only long term happiness, but long term health, at least in part, to having an external, rather than an internal focus. 

Even with everyone on the team pulling their weight, at times we can feel like we’re one new task away from shutting down. The ability to take on new tasks, lose team members, and grow ourselves into the teams our organizations need us to be is measured in our capacity.  Without healthy capacity we can feel pressured, stretched thin & ready to snap. 

- Time is Strategically allocated to the most important tasks and objectives

- The team has the time, skill sets, resources, and leadership support to fulfill their responsibilities

- There is a plan to accommodate future growth opportunities

More often than not, we aren’t judged on the culture we create, but on the way our teams execute. It’s no surprise then, that we will do almost anything to finish the job on standard, on time and on budget.  Unfortunately, without a healthy culture, high performing teams are often built on the sacrifices of the individual team members.  These sacrifices add up, and more and more often they lead to burnout, conflict, and the destruction of individuals, families, and teams.

• The team consistently delivers against its deadlines
• The team delivers against budget and to quality standards
• Each person delivers on their individual objectives and actions

Like it or not life is a team sport.  Even though every one of us has different ambitions, wants, needs and goals, the fact is that none of us can do it alone.  The same way that none of us can provide for our own needs, make our own shoes, clothes or tools, none of us can be everywhere, and do everything it takes to be successful in the workplace.  Now, more than ever we are highly specialized, and in order for any individual to truly succeed, teams have to have a solid foundation and understand not only where we are headed, but what it’s going to look like when we get there!

This weeks discussion questions:

 The performance of our team is greater than the sum of its individual parts
 Winning as a team is prized more highly than individual achievement

 We leverage each person’s strengths and skills to optimize team performance

Relationships are the key to high performing teams!

This week we build on what we learned about communication and engage our teams with the following three questions!

 We trust each other
 We fight for each other’s highest possible good
 We truly know and value each other

This week we tackle our #1 problem for the first time, Communication.  This week we tackle our #1 problem for the first time, Communication.  
Your challenge is to sit down with your team and rate yourselves on the following questions:
• In our team everyone speaks – we ensure every voice is heard values and appreciated• When change and conflict arise, they are addressed in a timely healthy manner

How do you identify the logjams in your culture? When it comes to taking care of your team and accomplishing the mission, how do we know where to apply the majority of our effort?

Today we introduce the idea of communication, relationships, alignment, execution, and capacity as measuring sticks for Team Performance.

You have to know yourself to lead yourself, and you can't give away what you don't possess!

On this episode, we talk about tendencies and consequences with a special focus on getting down to what's holding you back both at home and on the job.