10 Things Elite Teams Are Doing Now

This is a super short précis of 10 characteristics that set high performing teams apart. You can use these as health markers for you to assess the health and performance of your own teams and organization.

1. Organized & aligned around the mission — a clear collective goal that requires multiple talents and collaboration for success. Not organized by function or geography.

2. Agile. Able to quickly make sense of the environment (which will tend to be complex and ambiguous) and seize opportunities. Ballistic transition from thought to action generating momentum and tempo.

3. Adaptive to the environment. This comes not only from analysis of the information available but through synthesis. Joining the dots and making new connections. Synthesis drives innovation.

4. Authority to decide moves to information — not the other way around. Leaders are empowered at the lowest level and are willing and unafraid to take the initiative. Preference forgiveness over permission.

5. Tolerant of mistakes — so long as you learn from them. Experience is the greatest teacher. Requires psychological safety (high trust) and a feedback culture of continuous improvement.

6. Leaders grow and develop other leaders. They have an objective to ensure everyone who is a leader in the organization is deliberately developed so that when they leave they are all better leaders than when you began.

7. Physically fit. Should be self-evident but positive energy, endurance, willpower and tenacity don’t flourish amongst the sedentary.

8. Learn quickly and learn on the job. Foster a culture of learning, development and the pursuit of excellence and develop processes to support this. Individuals learn to love the point of resistance, the zone at the edge of the envelope.

9. Individual team members have a mindset focused on performance development that is amplified by the team’s mindset of collective achievement and development.

10. Team players. Individuals develop the skill of being a great team player. They watch each others backs and look to lift each other up. Individuals are self-disciplined, self-starting and self-learning.

Metris Leadership helps businesses build high performance teams, optimized for the challenges of the 21st Century because great teams provide standout competitive advantage.

To find out how we could help you contact us at info@metrisleadership.com