My schedule over the past couple of weeks has been dominated by the publication of the Thrive on Pressure book by McGraw-Hill. I’ve delivered several presentations as part of the book launch and my assertion that Tiger Woods is not as mentally tough as many think has sparked some ‘interesting’ conversations. I must send him a copy of the book! See my blog posted on August 2nd if you don’t know what I’m talking about!
I also delivered a three day workshop on ‘High Performance Teams’ as part of the CRH Business Leadership Program in Dallas. I told you about this program in my blog posted on March 15th. This was the third of four workshops Lane4 is delivering to 12 senior leaders in CRH, one of the world’s leading buildings materials companies.
The early focus of the workshop was on examining the differences between ‘effective’ and ‘high performing’ teams, before moving on to how teams transition into high performing teams. The leaders profiled their own teams using a framework we have developed in Lane4. They then worked on strategies and tools for building on their teams’ strengths and addressing development needs.
The final session focused on creating visions for their teams, something that too many leaders overlook because they assume the organization’s vision is sufficient to inspire their people. The leaders quickly realized how teams need their own ‘local’ visions to inspire them on a daily basis. This is especially important in large organizations where so many people are unable to describe the company’s vision accurately, and some others don’t even know where to start!
The feedback from the leaders on the workshop showed their most important learning to be that they too often are content with teams that are ‘effective’. Their realization that ‘effective’ and ‘high performance’ teams are not the same thing inspired them to leave with an intense desire and practical tools to create their own high performance teams.
Is your own team high performing…..?
