How Shared Goals Drive Team Success

I’ve trained 10,000+ top-performing leaders in the past decade. Every effective leader I work with focuses on these 2 key areas: 1. Clearly Define The Destination An effective leader must create a compelling vision for the future and clearly articulate goals for the team. Do not operate aimlessly. Provide specifics: • A long-range target that’s three years out that rallies the team • No more than three Key Results for the next calendar year • The why for both - make it compelling! Without this clear destination, teams lack purpose and urgency. Defining the destination gives them a shared mission to work towards. 2. Remain Focused On The Controllables Once the destination is set, successful leaders maintain focus on aspects within their control, such as: • Model a no-excuses culture - resist the temptation to blame • Create an environment of trust between teams that foster collaboration • Define the mindset needed to deliver what we outlined in #1 above Avoid wasting energy on uncontrollable external variables. Expect endless obstacles and distractions. Remain steadfastly focused on the controllable factors within your reach. Shape these, and you shape the team's future. In short, leaders of high-performing teams create clarity, alignment, and movement. This focus rallies teams toward achieving a shared vision. With commitment in these two areas, you are on the path to effective leadership. --- If you enjoyed this, download the Syllabus for Lead In 30 - the leadership development training program that transforms leaders in just 30 days: https://www.leadin30.com

When a team at Deloitte studied what makes for hyper-successful projects and teams, they found overwhelming evidence that teams driven by a unifying cause, purpose or vision outperform their peers in almost every way. When a group of people build a collective identity around a common cause, their efforts become more than just “work” and become a source of passion and pride. Any time we can help people connect the dots from the work they’re doing today to a shared sense of meaning and purpose, the benefits are wide-ranging and deeply felt. Though this might seem hard to quantify, here’s the truth of it: • People who find their organization’s vision meaningful are 4 times more engaged than those who do not. • When work is meaningful, people are 69% less likely to quit. There’s another harsh reality, though: • Employees say their work is roughly half as meaningful as it could be. (Does this surprise you? Or not?) The most important source of this meaning? Having a collective sense of a common purpose. You don’t need to be a team's leader or hold any positional authority whatsoever to move the needle on this. One of the most effective ways to lead with influence, not positional power, is by rallying people around a cause they can feel passionate about. It’s paradoxical, but when you shift focus from the execution of a project/goal/objective to rallying people around a meaningful cause or inspiring vision, projects and teams become more successful. Is this something you do? If so, I’d love to hear from you. What’s your approach? Any time we can encourage people to find greater meaning in their work, and help instill a collective sense of working towards a common direction and purpose, everyone wins!!  . . . . . Sources: Deloitte, The Cause Effect 8 Ways to Ensure Your Vision is Valued, by Joseph Folkman Meaning and Purpose at Work, by Kellerman, Reece, and Robichaux

Organizations traditionally struggle with goal setting and achievement, on both an individual and team level. They struggle for a variety of reasons ranging from miscommunication, no alignment, or control issues among team members.   Goal setting is one of the more important execution-based activities that an organization can undertake. It is THE one activity that can most directly impact a company’s strategic success. The impact of “team goals” can be significant and are considered a multiplier, given their involvement with major projects. Understanding the challenges that accompany team goals is crucial for building effective teamwork and achieving objectives.   One significant hurdle that teams face is the ambiguity that can come with a team goal. Goals lacking sponsorship and serious ownership can become overstated, remain vaguely defined, or not communicated clearly to all team members. This can lead to confusion and uncertainty about what the team is working to achieve. Without clear direction and a firm understanding of what the team needs to accomplish, some team members may only give minimal effort, resulting in a serious undermining of team cohesiveness. Only a certain few end up carrying the weight of the work. Teams can also grapple with conflicting priorities. If a common purpose can’t be established early on, each team member may revert to their personal goals or agenda, further diluting team effort. When individual goals clash with team goals, it creates a tension that hinders team chemistry and success. Ineffective communication, a lack of trust, and poor team dynamics result and can suck the life out of idea sharing and resource development, both essential for achieving the established goal. Without a psychologically safe and collaborative operating environment, where every team member feels valued and empowered to contribute, achieving team goals will always be a challenge. On top of these issues, teams remain subject to external factors such as changing market conditions, resource constraints, and unforeseen obstacles that can impact their ability reach the desired outcome. Adapting to these challenges requires a gritty team made up of resilience, flexibility, and a proactive approach to problem-solving. And it doesn't hurt to have qualified sponsors and competent leadership. Team goals must always be structured from a position of strength and contain hand-selected people with the right mix of skills. Ground rules must be laid out early on and agreed to, with check-ins and progress meetings taking place at regular intervals. As the graphic shares, there is a right and wrong way to develop goals for teams. Make sure that you have the right (few) people committed to swift and meaningful adoption of what needs to happen from the group’s outset. Then keep working it.   #ceos #leadership #teamgoals #execution For more on team goals and other leadership tips, check out https://lnkd.in/gXpc_pyu

It's one thing to focus on yourself, but how do you create focus among an entire team? The idea of collective focus was a huge thing at the Us Navy Blue Angels We called it our team’s center point. We would execute a maneuver where we split up and then converge above a specific center point. (This would either be a landmark such as a high-rise building or a boat.) That center point served as a defined reference, guiding our actions. That’s exactly what a cohesive team needs - a unified goal or purpose that everyone shares and works toward together. Ask yourself and your team: What is our center point? What is our shared goal or purpose that holds everyone's focus? Listen to your team’s responses. Understanding their perceived goal enables you to align your efforts and support your team. This concept can also be applied in your personal life — by identifying your own center point. What is that core purpose or passion that drives you? Align aspects of your life around it and dedicate energy and resources toward building that up, just like a team would. Have you found your team’s common goal? What strategies are you using to work towards it with your team? #Team #Collaboration #Focus #PurposeDriven #Leadership