From Performing to Thriving and Innovating in Teams
The question on many leaders minds, is how can I support my team to move from Performing to Thriving and Innovating?
The Rewards of High Performing Teams which Ignite Innovation
The rewards which await teams at the innovation end of the High Performing Teams spectrum are significant:
10x Innovation;
6x Customer Connection;
4x Wellbeing;
10x Employee Engagement. (DCA)
Diagnosing your Team’s current Maturity
To help you understand where your team is at right now, let’s take a look at what differentiates each of the 3 stages of team maturity.
Performing Teams:
Performing teams have the following characteristics:
common goals and clear roles and accountabilities
consistently achieve key customer and operational metrics
experience high levels of trust as a result of robust communication and constructive feedback.
Thriving Teams:
Thriving Teams differ in some important ways.
They are more centred, compassionate and curious and as a result, experience deeper levels of connection where everyone equally is celebrated because of their “you-nique” differences rather than despite them.
In Thriving Teams it’s the norm to share mistakes and be able to learn from both positive and painful, experiences.
More than that, however, they constructively and productively collaborate across interests and silos, and even challenge the status quo on occasion.
As a result, they achieve better results and higher degrees of personal wellbeing and belonging.
What differentiates Thriving Teams from those which Ignite Innovation and achieve the highest professional and personal dividends?
Teams which Ignite Innovation:
Leaders and teams which ignite innovation (organic or disruptive) co-create cultures where all team members equally perform and thrive.
They are higher in Psychological Safety and know how to consciously unlock Collective Intelligence through, deliberate discussion, dialogue and debate.
Teams which Ignite Innovation move towards, rather than shy away from the intellectual tension or social friction that comes with robust deliberations.
And, their members consist of conscious “challenger changers”, who get out of bed with positive intentions and a desire to make things better and take advantage of opportunities.
Whilst not everyone in the team is a natural disruptor, everyone has the desire to collaborative and create a culture which unleashes “Disruptive Intelligence” - to fuel top or bottom line performance through innovation.
What do we Know about the Leaders of these Teams?
Teams which Ignite Innovation are lead by consciously inclusive leaders, who create collective cultures that leverage their inherent diversity for competitive advantage.
Inclusive Leaders are 21st Century Leaders who clearly and compassionately engage the Heads, Hands and Hearts of their people.
Modern leaders know, that today’s workforce is craving compassion and autonomy, meaning and impact. They don’t want the burden of having 2 separate identities, ie. one professional and the other personal. Instead, they have a strong drive to show up at work, as the same person they are at home.
Today’s team members thrive when they’re able to bring their best skills and best self to work and use them to make a meaningful impact and distinct difference.
As a leadership expert and coach in global multinationals, I have supported leaders to make the transition in becoming modern leaders, who practice inclusion, leverage diversity and embrace equity.