Leadership Development News Roundup: Team Performance Edition

The most successful leaders understand their people’s value and know they have plenty of work to do if they want to have a strong, successful team with members who are always pulling in the same direction. These successful leaders know they need to take time to develop their own leadership skills and work to build trust, promote high performance and help their team members meet their own professional development goals.For this week’s Leadership Development News Roundup, I’ve assembled a collection of articles and blog posts with information and advice on improving your leadership skills to boost team performance.

• 4 Ways to Get Your Team on the Same Page. Jeremie Kubicek: “I have found that if people believe you have an ulterior motive they will not jump in. If, however, people know that you want the best for them and they believe your motives then they will be at least open to your ideas. If you want people to know you are for them then you need to spend time with them, listen to them and make sure they know you have heard them and then speak to them with respect, inasmuch as you would want if it was you. Practice being for people. Ask them if they believe you are for them. If they don’t then you have an opportunity to grow with them.”

• The Leadership Secret Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg Have In Common. TIME: “One of the lessons that comes through from Richard’s research is that when you get a team size over five or six, the performance of your team will start declining quickly. Once you get to seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven people, the percentage of time that people spend on coordination issues and maintaining good interpersonal relationships expands dramatically. That becomes the dominant problem in the group, instead of doing the work itself.”

• Lead by Doing, Not by Delegating. Strategy + Business: “Delegating difficult issues is tempting, but it can only lead to disappointment. Leaders shouldn’t assume that all projects can be assigned to others in the same manner. Day-to-day operational work is safely delegated using the traditional methods of assigning accountability, establishing target outcomes, and monitoring progress. But strategic, change-oriented initiatives require hands-on leadership by senior executives who have the passion, perspective, and power to pull it off.”

• Show Leadership Grit to Build Team’s Performance Character. The National: “Grit is a positive trait based on an employee’s passion and tenacity for a particular long-term goal coupled with a powerful motivation to achieve the respective objective. Higher levels of performance are latent with obstacles and challenges. If it were easy to be a high performer, then nearly everyone would perform at that level. Since it is difficult, employees need perseverance of effort.”

• What Is the Cost of Your Leadership? The Huffington Post: “According to a Gallup report, poor leadership is a key factor to a poorly engaged working force. Leaders who understand that the challenges in today's working life require different thinking and different leadership skills will be the winners in tomorrow's corporate race. It's all about maximizing the potential of your employees, and this happens through engagement.”

Let us know if you’d like our help building strong leaders who know how to drive strong team performance at your organization.Success Labs is a full-service, strategic organizational and leadership development company located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to explore their business potential and improve their company and cultural performance. Contact us to get proactive about your people strategy.