Anchor Coaching Group, May 2024

Mick Jagger wrote “There’ve been good times, there’ve been bad times.  I have my share of hard times too.”  A team’s journey to Enduring Peak Performance is never a straight line to success.  Inherent to the complexity of teams, there are great times and challenging times.  The key question is whether your team has the foundation to weather difficult moments.

Early in my career, I was part of an executive team with a truly forward-looking CEO.  The team was performing well, leaders were getting along, and financial performance was consistently improving.  On the surface all stars were aligned.  Still, the CEO asked me “to prepare the team for when times might get rough”.  He had the foresight to recognize that the team was performing well in good times but had reservations about the strength of the foundational relationships.  Would the team be aligned and strong enough to sustain challenging business conditions?   The team worked on trust, conflict resolution and alignment.  Unfortunately, bad times did arrive.  Each of the team members acknowledged that if they hadn’t worked on the team development areas, it would have been hard to continue to deliver. 

No team is free from the peaks and valleys.  The good news is that your team can prepare for when times might get challenging.  There are so many examples of what can cause stress to a management team: acquisition or divestiture, headwinds in market conditions, changes in leadership, competitor dynamics etc. 

Five behaviors demonstrated by your team can be an indication of the strength of your team’s foundation:

1. Team members give and ask for open, direct, and constructive feedback. Amid challenging times, it might be too late to build trust and openness. Silos are created and walls are built to protect egos and confidence.
2. Team members call each other out when they are not delivering on commitments or when they miss targets and deadlines. During challenging times, when a team may be under pressure, it might be too late to embed accountability and ownership. Blame and finger pointing take place and prevent the team from performing.
3. Team members are unanimously working towards the same goals and unconditionally believe in the team’s and organization’s mission and vision.  During challenging times, it might be too late to create alignment.  Panic ensues driving team members away from each other and in different or opposite directions.
4. Team members apply effective mechanisms to deal with conflicts.  Conflicts are seen as opportunities for growth and there is sufficient trust in the team to address conflicts head on.  During challenging times, it might be too late to embed successful conflict strategies.  Usually, basic human behaviors like protectionism take over and prevent team members from looking for mutually successful conflict resolutions.
5. Team members adhere to agreed decision making processes.  During challenging times, it might be too late to develop, agree and implement effective decision-making processes.  The team’s decisions might be determined by coalitions, behind the scenes power plays or dictated by a minority.

Do you want to learn more about how to help your team strengthen their foundation?  Subscribe to our bi-weekly “Team Insights”.  We will describe how you can help your team in each of these areas to ensure your team is ready for challenging times. 

Looking for expert guidance on your journey to achieving Enduring Peak Performance for your team? Let Anchor Coaching Group elevate your team’s performance. Visit our website at www.anchorcoachingroup.com. We are excited to discover your team’s unique challenges and opportunities and partner with you for lasting success.