High performing teams

Otmar Szafnauer

Recently, I caught a great quote from watching Formula 1 Drive to Survive.

The 2023 Team Principal of the Alpine team, Otmar Szafnauer said:

Species that collaborate survive, species that are selfish go extinct. High performing teams are the same. If you get it wrong it bites you.

Over the mountain watching the watcher, breaking the darkness (Pink Floyd)

Photo by Oscar Keys on Unsplash

As regular readers of my bogs know, I'm a fanboy for the stoics, so this post from Seth Godin resonated with me.

It’s honest when we acknowledge that just about everything is out of our control. We can work to influence it, we can practice accepting it, but any time we’re engaging with others or with the future, we’re not completely in charge.

Control is elusive. If we accept the parts that are out of our hands, we can focus on the elements where we have leverage and influence instead.

Even that, to my mind, is illusionary. The only control I have, and I firmly believe this, is how I internally deal with the thirst to control from others.

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing (Walt Disney)

I love this from Seth Godin:

Learning is about becoming incompetent on our way to getting better.

If you’re not open to the tension that is caused by knowing you could do better, it’s unlikely you’re willing to do the work to get better. As you’re doing that work, there’s the satisfaction it brings, but also the knowledge that just a moment ago, you weren’t any good.

Just like a rainbow you know you set me free, and I just can't get enough (Depeche Mode)

Photo by Sierra Koder on Unsplash

James Whatley recently posited some interesting thoughts about leadership on his newsletter about trust and empowerment. He also discusses accountability and being vulnerable. 

These are important concepts and worthy of investigation, as he does in his newsletter.

I'm going to be quoting from his thoughts a lot in this post. 

The salient points:

TRUST & EMPOWERMENT

This is something that is important to helping people feel - to put it frankly - like adults. The opposite of command & control. The opposite of micromanagement.

Trust & empowerment is the demonstration of the vision and key values that you as a leader have laid out for everyone to work within. Trusting others to not simply get a job done but also do so with care and consideration of themselves and those around them. To me this is part of the overall job around motivation. You're saying: 'I trust you. I think you can do this. And I trust you to figure this out'.

PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY

HBR defines Psychological Safety as 'a shared belief held by members of a team that it’s OK to take risks, to express their ideas and concerns, to speak up with questions, and to admit mistakes — all without fear of negative consequences'.

There's no point entrusting and empowering people if they then don't feel safe to put forward opinion, test new concepts and maybe even get things wrong.

VULNERABILITY

In Brené Brown's now legendary TED talk 'the power of vulnerability', Brown states 'Our job is to look and say, “You know what? You’re imperfect, and you’re wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.”'

ACCOUNTABILITY  

Again, these things are linked. Taking ownership is a big deal. Being a leader that is able to say: 'Yes, that was my fault. I could've done that better. I wasn't clear in how I communicated that. How can I improve? How I can support you better?' - that's accountability.

A just culture means that when things go wrong you say 'What went wrong and how can we improve?' over and above 'Who did this?' which, in turn creates a culture of blame.

Blame cultures are well known for creating toxic working environments; they erode employee mental health, instill an underlying inertia in employees' ability to make decisions (due to a fear of getting the slightest thing wrong) and end up stifling, or all out killing, productivity.

My weariness amazes me, I am branded on my feet (Bob Dylan)

Photo by Danny Lines on Unsplash

Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Big Magic) on the secret to time management:

“You should know by this point in your life what time of day you’re ‘good' — like what time of day is your brain at its best. Because the reality is we all get, maybe, two good hours a day where we actually feel awake and alert.

“And the big, important question is: Who currently gets that time from you. The best time from your brain every day—who or what currently gets that? And would you be willing to take it back so that it’s yours and then give the world the ‘second-rate' version of you (which is the other 22 hours of the day)…”

My two good hours usually come early. I'm an early riser, and by the time I get to school it's about 6.45am.

From then to 8.45am I'm at my two hour peak.

By 3.oopm I'm done. I certainly can't think too well after 4.00pm.

Unfortunately, this is the time when after school meetings are  scheduled. Mondays and Fridays are the worst.

Luckily, we finish earlier on a Wednesday afternoon to allow for some professional learning. This is doable, usually.

Connection, I just can't make no connection (The Rolling Stones)

Photo by Bruno Figueiredo on Unsplash

On average, I would have a couple of on-line meetings each day Monday to Friday. 

Seth Godin makes an interesting point about the cons of on-line meetings.

• Limits options for engagement
• Engagement can be less meaningful 
• More difficult to read body language and ensure participants are engaged
• Technical difficulties can impact the quality  

His point is that it doesn't have to be this way.  As he says - If, even once, you’ve had a virtual meeting that engaged you and made you feel connected to someone else, then it’s clearly possible.

The challenge for whoever is running the meeting is to have it happen more often. Seth again - Lazy simulations of in-person meetings are not a worthy substitute.