There’s a small and quiet cul-de-sac near where I live. There’s something about it. At first, I couldn’t work it out.
I’d seen the neighbours being neighbourly, having friendly chats from their respective front porches.
Nice, but that wasn’t it.
Then one day it hit me.
Each front door is painted a different colour!
Did these neighbours have a ‘front door meeting’ and choose?
This is the sea green one.
There’s also sky blue, pillar-box red, black, canary yellow and steel grey.
To me, it looks great. But what makes this cul-de-sac feel so special, is the sense that I’m in a street where, if the front doors and friendly chats are any clue, the neighbours work together, cooperate and contribute.
And that got me thinking. This is more than neighbourly.
This is like a high performing team – where the total is greater than the sum of the parts. Positive synergy.
The Counter-Intuitive Approach to Creating Your Own High Performing Team
At first it’s counter-intuitive, but a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
To build your high performing team, focus on helping each of your team members bring their A-game to the job.
For example, while achieving team goals, how could you also:
- keep giving each of them stretch assignments so that they continue to learn while getting the job done?
- ensure those stretch assignments also build the skills that will help them get to wherever they want to go?
- make it meaningful, so that they each know the team’s game plan, how their contribution fits in and how this also helps them achieve their individual goals?
Leadership is an individual game. Still, it’s ironic that focussing on the individual is key to creating positive synergy in your team.
