Nearly every pro sports team and business aspires to be a ‘high performance’ team, but most fall short. Here’s one perspective on what sets those rare elite groups apart.
It’s well known that the world of sports and business is complex, ever-changing, exciting, and sometimes intimidating. Like sailing across the ocean, it’s far from the safety of a harbour. In many ways, we’re all navigating uncharted waters in business, relationships, and life.
Teams aiming for an exciting destination—or just a smoother journey—often find themselves navigating between two extremes: ‘plain sailing’ and ‘plugging holes.’ This balance draws on both common sense and insights gained from helping teams or organizations chart their course.
1: Plugging holes and redirecting the ship back on course.
Most energy in this scenario is directed internally toward resolving dysfunction, often due to a) unclear direction at the organizational level, b) silos, confusion, or misalignment at the departmental level, and/or c) disengaged individuals operating in survival mode and acting from self-interest.
The focus here is on fixing issues and silencing internal noise—plugging holes to keep the ship afloat and redirecting it back on course. This effort demands a lot of energy but doesn’t propel the team or organization forward. Success means not sinking.
What to do?
While these waters are challenging, they’re often a natural part of the journey to success. The key is to navigate swiftly and smartly—avoid stalling or getting overwhelmed. Ships sink here; strong, decisive leadership keeps them on course.
- Leaders step up, own your part in the ship experiencing troubled waters, and avoid laying blame
- Set clearly defined roles each team/unit
- Set clear boundaries around acceptable and unacceptable behaviour (and model them)
- Provide assurance and safety (people are worried about their future)
- Celebrate every success (it builds confidence)
2. Plain sailing
This is the high-performance path: clear direction, defined roles, seamless collaboration. The right people, with the right skills, foster a culture of learning, communication and teamwork. Free from distractions and internal rivalry, interdependent team members focus on advancing smarter and faster, and on impressing their clients along the way.
What to do?
- Ensure that everyone, not just the ‘captain’ knows the direction the ship is headed.
- Get the right people on board, and remove the wrong people
- Align the different functions – with good reason (not instruction) to be aligned
- Value, appreciate and care for each team member (the caring is likely to be reciprocated)
- Treat people like adults, and they will soon behave accordingly
