3 traits of high-performing teams
I absolutely love the Olympics. There are so many inspiring lessons to learn from the athletes–in particular, that sheer talent can only take you so far. To be the best, you still have to pour your heart, soul, and every last bit of effort into achieving your goal.
But what I find even more inspiring is when an Olympic team works together to accomplish a goal. It’s rare, especially on the Olympic stage, that everyone is able to execute at the top of their game. Everyone reacts differently and even the best can crack under the pressure.
This is why I was so impressed by the U.S. Figure Skating Team and how they collectively won the bronze medal. On the surface, they had only one breakout star (Nathan Chen) who was a gold medal contender, sprinkled with a handful of possible medal contenders and some really good skaters who were there to live a moment they’d been working for their whole lives. At the outset, though, Chen stumbled and started the team in fourth place. Yet from there, everyone else did their part to come back and help the team win the bronze medal. What can we learn from this great display of teamwork?
shared aspirational purpose
The first and possibly one of the most obvious traits about the U.S. Figure Skating team is that they all had a shared aspirational purpose. Each team member was selected to represent our country, and they each felt the weight and honor of this as they did their work. This showed in everything they did–from their excitement, to how they executed, to how they treated each other. It also gave the team a sense of pride and motivated them to come together, cheer each other on, and do their best work.
This is such an important element of a high-performing team. As I’ve discussed in other blog posts, we in the business world need to be more mindful of how to connect our work to advancing the organization’s purpose. Every organization has a purpose, and every team should figure out how to connect their work to that purpose. This connection keeps them centered and focused on the overall goal.
We tend to get caught up in our day-to-day work and forget to think about the big picture. In reality, this is such an inspiring and motivating way to think about work. How will the work that the team is doing impact the people the organization serves?
For example, a recruiting team in an organization is not just filling open jobs. It’s identifying the talent that’s going to propel the organization’s purpose in so many ways: by discovering the next product that will shape its customers’ lives (R&D); by helping customers understand how a product can positively impact their lives (Sales); or by figuring out new features to make existing products even more beneficial to customers (Product Management).
If the recruiting team were to re-frame their mindset to think about their work in this broader context, would they feel the importance of their part in advancing the organization’s purpose? Would this new mindset positively impact their morale? And how would a boost in morale impact the quality of their work, the quality of their recruits, and the quality of the organization?
empathy
Another trait I noticed about every single team member was that they had empathy for each other. Every single one of them experienced failure at different points in their careers. Adam Rippon and Mirai Nagasu even shared a story about not making the team in 2014 and drowning their sorrows in burgers.
When Nathan Chen turned in a performance that was below what was expected, his team still cheered him on. They didn't turn against him or feel bitter. They knew this could have happened to any of them. Instead, they valued his contribution and made sure he knew he was part of the team.
Empathy is a key trait of a high-performing team. Everyone has moments when they’re off their game, and guess what? They typically know it. High-performing teams understand this and work to rally the team member rather than make him feel like he didn’t do his part—just as they did with Nathan Chen. They reach out, seek to understand, and figure out what (if anything) they can do to help.
Early in my career, I was working with a team that had taken on a large project to convert software systems at a mass scale. We were working long hours and were dog-tired. In my rush to get something done so we could all go home, I made a huge mistake that caused the team to work extra hours over a weekend. I felt terrible and offered to take on the brunt of the work to make up for it.
I was so surprised when every single team member told me to stop beating myself up. They knew I was trying my best and expressed that it was a mistake that “any one of us could have made.” No one complained or was even upset that we had to work the additional hours. They didn’t let me take on the work, they rallied and made sure we worked together to get through that weekend. I’ve rarely seen empathy from a team like that in any other instance and still feel, nearly 20 years later, that this was one of the best teams to which I had the privilege to contribute.
accountability
I was also amazed at how each team member on the U.S. Figure Skating team felt accountable for the overall team’s success. Even though there were different skill levels and skating abilities, every person on the team knew they had a role in getting a spot on the podium. No one believed or expected that one person (or pairs grouping) could pull the team to victory. And no one was there to advance his or her own agenda. Every team member knew they had to make their own unique contribution to the team to ensure they won that bronze medal.
In my mind, this is the very definition of accountability and an essential element of a high-performing team. How do we make this work in the business world?
I regularly hear from organizations that they want to drive greater accountability in their employees. Unfortunately, in the business world, we still place a premium on individual success, as many of us believe that our individual performance drives the greatest rewards.
For example, I know of an organization that continually missed their goals, yet over 80% of the employees were given annual performance ratings that indicated they had met or exceeded expectations. The organization rewarded individual employee efforts instead of team results, which stymied performance and created a lack of accountability.
We need to shift the mindset in the business world to place a premium on team results. Every team member must be equally invested in the team’s success in addition to individual success. Similar to the U.S. Figure Skating team, this starts with understanding that each team member makes a unique and necessary contribution to the team. Not all contributions will be the same, yet each contribution is absolutely critical to the team’s success.
Organizations need to ensure every employee understands that team success is not about one person’s efforts but rather the collective efforts of everyone coming together to accomplish a goal. Then organizations need to reinforce this by ensuring that their performance and reward programs are not emphasizing individual employee efforts over team results. This is a huge change in the way many organizations think today, but it’s necessary in order to drive greater accountability.
get on the podium
I’m sad that we’ll likely never get to see this U.S. Figure Skating team perform again. I’m still in awe of their performance. And I’m sure there are several more traits we can identify and lessons we can learn from them and other teams that are performing their best at the Olympics.
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