The Psychology of Elite Teams
Business success is guaranteed.
Elite teams are the outcome of repetitive and focused strategizing, problem-solving, reflecting and strict execution. Team members know each other inside and out. They know each other's strengths, weaknesses, and passion, and they are OK to be vulnerable and admit mistakes. Like a sports team, Elite teams need a training field, where teams can practice and where it is OK to experiment, reflect, fail and repeat, repeat, repeat.
Elite teams have a great independent mindset and are trustworthy. They employ critical thinking, and high ethical standards and defend what they believe in. Elite teams produce exceptional results as an outcome due to 100% alignment of:
· The joint vision and understanding of the value the team creates.
· A joint and resilient strategy and plan of how to execute.
· A commitment to joint learning and improvement.
· A place where diversity thrives.
How to assess your team’s Diversity
Elite Teams Evolution
1. Underperforming Teams
Most teams exist with little understanding of why they exist, and what their actual purpose is in terms of how they contribute to the larger organization. They do not have a common vision, they typically do not share, and they can have a lot of conflict which goes unmanaged leading to toxic relationships within the team.
2. Ordinary Team
In a ship analogy, leaders are the people with their eyes on the horizon, team members are the ones reading the map. As a leader of an ordinary team, you are the one plotting the course and showing your team members how you’re going to get there. Ordinary teams are typically managed and structured in accordance with the Traditional management model, also known as command and control. The leader delegates all the work and the teams carry out the leader’s instructions.
3. High-Performance Team
Their capability and productivity are substantially higher than ordinary teams. They can execute more quickly, make better decisions, and solve more complex problems. They thrive on change; excel at nearly everything they do and are true innovators. They are objectively more focused than ordinary teams in the way they work together. They are consistently aware of the broader organisational aspirations and needs with everything they do. They measure their performance, self-correct as needed and welcome any team member’s opinion of how an individual or the whole team can do better.
4. Hybrid Team
A Hybrid team is made up of both Traditional team structures with the leader at the top. Some teams are managed in a hierarchical manner, carrying out the leaders’ instructions. Under this model, there also exist high-performance teams that are self-managing and controlling, guided by a team vision.
5. Elite Team
In my experience having worked with 100+ teams, developing most into High-Performance Teams, I have on occasion taken some of these teams to the next level.
Elite teams have high-quality interaction, characterised by trust, open communication, and a willingness to embrace conflict. The team shares fears and routinely ask for help. They possess a strong sense of renewal, meaning an environment in which team members are energised because they feel they can take risks, innovate, and learn from outside ideas. They understand that it is a partnership where team members actively work to ensure everyone's success. The team feels a strong sense of accountability for achieving their goals
An Elite team puts the highest priority on the work of the team. This means that team members do not prioritize their own items as more important than the team's items. Team members can articulate the unifying goal (vision) to which they are all committed.
Characteristics of Elite Teams
1. Elite team members need to possess:
Attracting and retaining elite talent for your organization involves being able to spot characteristics that define elite talent:
· Enthusiasm (Gusto and Alacrity).
· Confidence.
· Adaptability.
· Authenticity.
· Resilience.
· They sacrifice their goals and work priorities to help other team members.
· They have no fear of failure.
· They fundamentally understand that the team never fails, never.
2. Elite teams allow themselves to develop a collective consciousness
Collective consciousness is a fundamental sociological concept that refers to the set of shared beliefs, ideas, attitudes, and knowledge that are common to a social group, or a team. The collective consciousness influences their sense of belonging and identity, and their behaviours. Elite team members understand and accept that they must give up some part of themselves, giving it over to the team. The more each team member gives up, the greater the collective consciousness is achieved. The best indicators to assess the achievement of collective consciousness is:
· We know how everyone feels just by looking at each other.
· We can tell how everyone feels by listening to the tone of each other’s voices.
· Most of the time, we have a good sense of how each team member feels, even if they do not express it in words.
(Whatever your profession, think about the members of your team and rate the above statements on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree):
Simply emphasising that each team member will be judged on the success of the team, rather than their individual skills, leads to better emotional regulation and improved overall performance due to the team’s consciousness. Those with low energy and enthusiasm can bring the team down, but the rest of the members can fight that behaviour by recognising and regulating a team member’s emotional undercurrent.
3. They develop a compelling team vision
A compelling vision of the desired outcome — both long-term (many years) and medium-term (two to three years) is the norm. This must encompass a “why,” while inspiring action. Apple, Google, Amazon and the Navy SEALs attract the best and brightest with their compelling visions. This allows their teams to focus on the right missions. Others fail when they don’t have a clear and compelling vision because they pursue the wrong targets or forget the “why” motivating their actions.
There is no good team without a team vision that spells out a clear direction and statement of outcomes. Be sure to explain to each team member how important the tasks are they are performing in achieving the business goals. In the end, Elite team members ask themselves (consciously or unconsciously):
· Where are we going?
· Why are we going there?
· What’s my contribution to achieving this vision?
When you hear an Elite team speak about the team’s purpose in their own words, you see how their perspectives are aligned. In addition to alignment around a common purpose, the team is aligned around how to accomplish the purpose. Finally, Elite team members understand that the team is made up of individuals with individual motivations and that their team vision unifies these varying agendas giving the team a single, shared purpose.
4. They visualize the win
Elite team members visualize the desired win repeatedly before entering the battlefield. They do this in two ways. First, they mentally rehearse a challenging event before attempting it. It could be a significant initiative, presentation or even a crucial conversation. Using this method, they will “dirt dive” the event, calmly dominating every task within it.
Second, they see themselves as achieving a significant future goal such as acquiring a new company. In this future-oriented mental projection, team members see themselves as being ready — having trained, prepared, learned and experienced the unknowns ahead. They are mentally alert, operating at full capacity whilst they visualise the outcome.
Elite team members at the beginning of a task already know what the outcome will look like.
5. They overcome cognitive biases
Team members share and uproot their cognitive biases that inhibit sound decision-making. For example, a judgment can be distorted by what is vividly recalled — like negative social media chatter — rather than drawing on real-life experiences that deserve more weight. Elite teams run their decision-making through these three planning models: FITS, PROP and SMACC:
· “FITS” asks you to examine each target with four criteria: Does this target fit your skills, strengths, and team? Will it provide a good return on investment? How important is this target? Is the timing optimal? Is the target simple?
· They then, use “PROP” to determine the right path: What are the teams’ current priorities? What are the realities of the situation? What options do targets suggest? Which path forward is best
· Next, they communicate the mission to others with the “SMACC” model: Situation. What circumstances led to this need? Mission. What exactly is the mission? Action. What actions will the team perform? (Includes contingencies.) Command. Who’s in charge at each stage of the mission execution? Communication. Who will communicate which messages in what timeframe using what method
6. They fast-twitch iterate
When a plan hits that inevitable snag, Elite teams employ “fast-twitch” iteration to prevent the team from stalling. This way, they focus on solving problems and testing new ideas on the fly, rather than the rear echelon, stopping to study what went wrong and plan an entirely new assault. (Self-correction). Anything that hinders innovation and change is ruthlessly eliminated, including slow decision cycles. Instead, Elite teams use the "OODA Loop" (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act) to fail forward fast. The OODA loop is a way of thinking about the decision-making process. Broken down, the OODA loop stands for four distinct yet interrelated, smaller loops: Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act. The OODA loop encourages decision-makers to think critically, anticipate threats, and neutralize them before they become critical
7. They positively manage conflict
Conflict is perceived as a scourge by many. Most of the time, a positive environment is critical to team performance. Conflict is not a scourge but a force that is integral to improvement. Conflict is not a problem (although excessive conflict and irresponsibility are problems) and leaders can teach all team members how to use it as a tool. Once a conflict is kept in perspective, the team can focus on achieving its common goals.
Conflict exists in a spectrum, ranging from silent resentment to passive-aggressive behaviour to an all-out Itchy and Scratchy rivalry. In the short term, it can inspire people and create energy that promotes achievement. In the long term, it becomes an obstacle to progress. Conflict resolution is an essential skill so leaders must often intervene to mitigate team member interactions on the team. It is impossible to be able to agree on everything, and those different opinions can actually help to generate new ideas, Elite teams effectively resolve them, so they do not lead to personal resentments or anger
This is especially difficult when team members don’t even agree on whether or not there is a conflict if some members are oblivious to the others’ discontent. Team emotional awareness helps team members to identify those situations and regulate their colleagues’ feelings before they damage the team performance.
8. They handle adversity
Playing hard, playing smart and playing together is an effective method to overcome adversity but it is not easy. When times are tough, there is a tendency to rush decision-making or point the fingers at others. (Elite teams use an Autopsy approach). A powerful method to deal with adversity is to move on to the next task. Leaders should not be consumed with what happened because team members will follow suit; (a sports coach who cannot move on from a referee’s call will encourage players to do likewise.) Elite teams think in terms of “Okay, now what?” The team’s philosophy does not change but the specific strategies might, instead they emphasize “this is what we want, this is why we want it and here is how we will act now.”
Case Study: Steve Nash
Steve Nash is a Canadian professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 18 seasons in the NBA, where he was an eight-time All-Star and a seven-time All-NBA selection.
Steve Nash was an ideal teammate in many ways because he epitomized playing hard, playing smart and playing together. Nash worked intently to better his skills (dribbling a tennis ball around the Santa Clara campus, countless workouts) and recover from injuries. He thought about the game intelligently. Nash would reassure teammates and led the league in high fives and fist bumps. Nash’s attitude and pace of play also modelled the concept of “Next Play” throughout his career. Teams are owned by the players. Successful teams self-evaluate and push each other to get better. Occasionally, teams fall into crisis and when this occurs, the members are ultimately responsible for the resolution. Leaders can recommend actions, but players must execute these actions. Steve Nash’s success was earned because he took ownership of himself and the team and took actions that allowed everyone to succeed.
9. They are self-aware
As individuals, we’ve got to know ourselves to get the most out of ourselves. A good leader makes sure each team member understands their own key drivers, strengths, blockages, and challenges, so they can improve and excel. It’s only through self-awareness that team members can tell you their style of working.
10. They practice psychological safety
In any team, you need to be able to give feedback and address any situation with manners, professionalism, and clarity. Most people are not very good at giving feedback to people’s faces – it’s too awkward and confrontational – we’d rather tell the feedback to everyone else. But in Elite teams, team members don’t talk behind each other’s backs, they use a concept called ‘leading teams’ in which an individual sits in a circle and the rest of the team sits around the person and provides the individual with feedback so the team can improve. Team members support each other, and look out for each other. They give each other frank and honest feedback with the intention to help each other become even more effective. They talk frequently and look forward to spending time together because they value each other’s perspectives and contributions.
How to Introduce Psychological Safety
11. They manage themselves
Time and resource constraints can often mean people managing goes to the bottom of the to-do list. Elite team members make themselves accountable and take responsibility for their own actions. Even if clear KPIs are not set out for them, they are self-motivated, determined to learn and improve, and know how to manage themselves effectively. An Elite team leader runs regular feedback and reviews with team members (Check-Ins) – if you’re not, start now! In these sessions team members reflect on their own performance, while the leader provides advice and guidance. This strategy instils a sense of responsibility in team members and helps them align their own views with the organisation’s vision. The leader can delegate responsibilities to team members with confidence. Paradoxically, team members are more likely to openly disagree with certain decisions and are less likely to be intimidated by hierarchy and organizational structure. They are followers, but not sheep…
How to do Mentoring for Professional Development
12. They are fully committed and strive for excellence
Elite team members see their leader as a guide on the way to a specific outcome. They are ready to support them wholeheartedly if they feel that the leader wants to create a better world, to participate in the creation of something greater than themselves. On the other hand, if they feel that their leader is not fully engaged in this quest, they will turn away from them and possibly change jobs. Elite team members set higher performance standards than what is basically required. They master the skills that are useful to their organization and continually strive to perfect them. For them, continuing education is second nature.
13. They employ shared leadership
This doesn't just happen. It starts at the top with senior leadership sponsoring the concept of shared leadership. The team creates a framework for autonomous decision making while ensuring their goals are in line with the vision of the organization. The leader invests in a team member’s professional development by actually providing management and leadership training. These are key factors for creating a culture of shared leadership.
How to introduce Shared Leadership
How is Elite performance achieved?
As we know, busy people do more and do it in less time. The secret to a High-Performance team transitioning to Elite team status is:
· Adoption of the Elite team characteristics.
· The application of a high workload.
· Application of previously learned High-Performance Behaviours.
Without a consistently high workload, the team will simply not perform as expected. Like Formula 1 cars, the fuel for an elite-performance is workload and new challenges where there is a steep learning curve.
When Elite teams have a lot to do and are pushed for time they focus on the essential elements of the task at hand. They accept that having completed 80% of the task (80/20 principle) that is usually enough, and then quickly move on to the next task. Take a well-planned and managed project as an example; 20% of the project effort can produce 80% of the project deliverables. Elite Teams work this way. A high workload motivates team members to identify and focus their efforts on the 20% of their workload that produces 80% of their results, meaning greater efficiency and higher productivity. The previously learned High-Performance Behaviours cause all of those involved to become more reliant on each other, more trusting, more committed, and mutually accountable for the whole of the team's workload. The higher the workload, the more these elements come into play, resulting in actual elite operation.
This approach enforces adherence to due process, facilitates true collaboration, gets more people involved with a task, when necessary, each of whom is committed to its success, and it forges closer work bonds and a prevailing attitude of 'all for one and one for all' (Mutual Accountability). As more work is undertaken, and as a result of High-Performance Behaviours having become normalised or habitual, new levels of performance emerge.
As more work is processed and as more successes and fewer failures are realised, the team's confidence increases, and the ability to manage an ever-increasing workload results. Things start to change - morale and job satisfaction go up, quality improves, fewer errors and failures occur, innovation emerges, and a feeling of actually being a contributor to business growth becomes tangible. The team has progressed to a higher level of performance, and its members know it.
How to Introduce Mutual Accountability
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