High Performing Teams Archives

September 25, 2020

The Business of Cycling Discipline

In July, high temperatures bring an intensity to the air as wheat fields turn golden, announcing it is high time for harvest. I clip into my carbon road bike and head towards the Maroon Bells. My preferred approach to the base of the climb is a circuitous route that rises gently up the valley floor. The smell of freshly bailed hay and straw marks the height of summer, and it reminds me that my favorite of the three Grand Tours is about to commence. The smell – and the anticipation of Stage One of the Tour – triggers in me a rush of excitement, even a burst of adrenaline. My hands slip to my drop bars and I envision I’m in the men-filled peloton.

August 21, 2020August 29, 2020

Leadership Teams Must Do This Now

This is part three of a four-part series on Predictive Index (PI) drives.

Leaders possess competencies that include both skills and behaviors that result in superior performance. For many organizations there is a suite of leadership competencies that, when deployed effectively, delivers the desired results. In recent months, organizations have been required to pivot quickly and to navigate numerous shifting regimes. Leadership teams must do this now:

Acknowledge leadership strengths and blind spots
Analyze and position to optimize success SWOT
Gain leadership alignment to strategy
Identify operational, procedural, or people refinements
Map success in people-centric terms

in High Performing Teams / Leadership Development / Organizational Design / People Strategy 0 comments

August 6, 2020August 13, 2020

Introverts, Ambiverts, Extraverts and Everyone in Between

This is part two of a four-part series on Predictive Index (PI) drives.

Extraversion is defined by Predictive Index as the drive for social interaction with other people and it is one of four drives mapped by way of a scientifically-valid, six decade old algorithm known as the PI Behavioral Assessment. Understanding drives is the direct path to understanding the needs of people. When employers understand what drives, or motivates, the people who comprise their organizations, the possibilities are endless.

Why does PI measure only four drives? While humans have many drives, these four—Dominance, Extraversion, Patience and Formality—are the most influential drivers of workplace performance.

July 15, 2020March 1, 2021

Predictive Index: Hiring Known

I recently finished the great memoir, Kitchen Confidential, by Anthony Bourdain, in which he described – in hilarious detail – the personality traits he expects in a sous chef.

“Like the Capo of a crime family or the director of the CIA, I could look across the room at [my sous chef], raise an eyebrow, maybe make an imperceptible move with my chin and the thing – whatever the thing was at the time – would be done.”

Bourdain said a sous chef in his kitchen needed to have mastery of cooking skills,

in Employee Engagement / High Performing Teams / People Management / People Strategy / Talent Optimization 0 comments

July 1, 2020July 1, 2020

Why You Need the Right Tool for the Job

Do you have the right tool for the job? Well, we must first ask, what’s the job?

If you are tasked with tilling densely compacted soil, a handheld trowel is arguably not the best choice. The lightweight, curved scoop might accomplish the task, but the result would not be optimal. Nor would the soil preparation be done efficiently or add value. A broadfork, hoe, or pickaxe are all better choices and would accelerate the gardener’s ability to grow a successful garden.

Tools are designed for a specific purpose, so choosing the correct tool decreases the amount of effort required to get a job done without causing negative side effects.

As a business leader, what tools

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a team at work figuring out how to keep employees engaged

May 28, 2020May 29, 2020

How to Keep your Employees Engaged

According to talentoptimization.org, there are four primary forces that impact employee engagement: job, manager, team, and culture. Fifty-one percent of employees today are not engaged, while 16 percent are actively disengaged. But why does employee engagement matter anyway?

Disengagement is a widespread issue that causes organizations to lose billions of dollars to poor productivity, absenteeism, poor client service, safety issues, and toxic workplace cultures. Disengaged employees do just enough work to keep their job, while engaged employees are more likely to stay at your organization longer, become a top performer, and potentially recruit your next great hire.

May 5, 2020June 8, 2020

Five Mandates of Highly-Effective Teams

My family owns a lake house in a gated golf community. For the first 20 years the resort existed, it thrived. Most of the owners had primary residences elsewhere and used their lake homes or condominiums at the resort for weekend golf outings or boating on the lake. The resort had golf and tennis professionals, who organized tournaments and gave lessons. The restaurant had fine dining and a pub, and they catered weddings and events.

The resort’s next 20 years were tumultuous. It underwent several management changes and the community’s population shifted to working class homeowners and renters.

remote employee focusing on productivity

April 29, 2020May 4, 2020

Successful Remote Employees Do These Three Things

Working remotely is a new concept for most of the workforce. I’m not talking about those who are self-employed or those who launch a startup out their garage. I am talking about individuals who are employees of an organization, those who are part of a team and report to a manager, but they do so from a home office. Since the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many of you out of office buildings and into your home offices for the foreseeable future, I want to share some things I’ve learned about remote working that — if both employees and organizations act intentionally – could make full-time remote employees successful.

in Employee Engagement / High Performing Teams / Self-Awareness / Uncategorized 0 comments

pasta corbonara like a good team is hard to get right but worth the effort

April 23, 2020June 8, 2020

Cooking Up a People Management Strategy

I’ll bet no one has ever told you that effective leading is like making a good carbonara? You don’t believe me? Let’s step into the kitchen to learn more about leadership and managing people.

To create a silky carbonara sauce, you combine egg whites and pasta water in the correct proportion to egg yolks, pork fat and cheese. The egg yolks act as an emulsifier to bond the pork fat and cheese into the pasta water and egg white sauce. When done with the right timing, the proper heat, and quick whisking, you produce a creamy, flavorful sauce that perfectly coats the pasta and pancetta. If, however, you misstep on any one of these factors, you get pasta with scrambled eggs. Yuck.