How To Build The Virtuous Cycle Fueling High-Performing Teams

Read Time: 2 minutes.

Growing up, there was no gift greater than a mixtape.

You knew that person had worked tirelessly to create it. Listening to countdowns on the radio and pressing the play and record buttons at precisely the right moment.

And it wasn’t simply a list of tracks. It was a message that wove through them. The whole was much greater than the sum of its parts.

My hope with today’s playbook is that you’ll look back and see the connections between the three previous editions and realize that while each one is helpful, together, they create a virtuous cycle of high performance.

What are the pillars of a high-performing team?

• Talented, high-output professionals

• Motivated to achieve a commonly held mission

• Supported by an environment of mutual accountability

I’m still looking for a team that’s achieved outsized success and is missing one of the ingredients above.

And while these are easy bullets to write.
They are awfully hard principles to implement.

But it’s their rarity that makes them so valuable.

Leaders who learn to combine all three benefit from leading high-energy teams that deliver outsized impact.

How Do I Handle An Underperforming Employee?

Managers are rarely too quick to move low performers. We always think the turnaround, the breakthrough, is just around the corner. 

And for a good reason. When you add up all the costs—from terminating the current employee to the distraction for the team to the recruiting costs for finding a replacement—the highest ROI way to solve the problem is to help the current employee meet the expectations in the role. 

Unfortunately, most managers make this process harder on themselves. My playbook sets you up to set your employees up for success from Day 1 or gives you the confidence to act swiftly when you make a hiring mistake.

How Do I Motivate My Team?

The biggest lever for keeping your team motivated? Hiring people who are a) naturally self-motivated and b) deeply aligned with your mission.

The next move is not to attack motivation head-on but to understand each person on your team and what creates (or destroys) their energy.

That’s the level you need to solve the problem.

Once you’ve made the right diagnosis, you can select one of the nine practical tactics I detailed in this playbook.

How Do I Hold My Team Accountable?

Most managers believe that if they give directions once, they’ll never have to revisit it. And worst case, if they do, they provide some off-the-cuff feedback, and it’ll be back on track.

If that’s your playbook for holding your team accountable, you’re going to end up very frustrated. Unfortunately, your team will too.

Accountability is an outcome, not an action. Follow the six steps in my SAFETY framework, and you’ll get much better results.

Hint: most people skip steps 5 and 6. Don’t be most people.

What You Missed

Here are a few posts that got outsized attention this week.

• Transform Your Top Execs

• Negotiate The Raise Your Deserve

• Why Action Always Beats More Analysis

• How To Set Expectations With Your Manager

• 7 Tips For Making Faster (and Better) Decisions

I apologize for leaving out the CTO on the first one.

But what if the expectation is that every other executive needs to become more tech-savvy while the need for in-house technology dramatically falls due to trends in AI, Automation, cloud computing, no-code tools, and outsourcing?

Do I need a CTO or just one tech-forward operational partner?

As an advisor to Invisible, I’m seeing more companies exploring the latter. Email me if you need an intro.

Podcast Alert

My latest stop on the podcast tour: The Mental Advantage.

Here’s a small taste of what we covered:

• The damage done by withholding feedback in the name of being kind

• Why culture is defined at the edge of extreme behavior

• How to handle hard conversations

Find it on Spotify, Apple, or your favorite platform.

Thank you for reading. Appreciate you!

Dave