Leadership and Team work
How to be an effective leader and build high performing teams
In today’s highly competitive business world, being an effective team leader can be a requirement that is constantly being expected of you as a middle manager. While increasing the efficiency in work processes, working smarter instead of harder makes sense and is the need of the hour, there are a few key elements that are paramount to effective team building. One of them is to build resilience amongst the team members. In this connection, as part of a highly insightful journal article published in CPA Australia’s in the black magazine of September 2019 titled “Lessons from Red Bull – How to build a high performing team”, the authors highlight some valuable lessons from Tomasz Nowakowski who was the Vice president of Finance at Red Bull. “At Red Bull, we are using proven methods of driving performance of our teams and to help our colleagues be their best each and every day” quotes Nowakowski, adding further that “when we mean high performance, we don’t mean any special kind of structure, but our approach is based on making existing teams across the organization as effective, efficient and highly focused on results”.
He recommends the following methods to achieving this outcome :
Looking for positive mindset at the very beginning of creating your teams – Nowakowski says that the mere existence of state of the art technology or a war chest of cash does not ensure success to an organization, but it is very important to recruit the right people with the right attitude, who also have relevant functional experience.
Encouraging team leaders to be positive at all times – At Red Bull, team leaders are encouraged to assume positive intent and not take their roles too seriously, thereby creating a relaxed atmosphere conducive to risk taking and sharing of constructive ideas.
Dealing with adversity – At Red Bull, teams and team leaders are always encouraged to expect the unexpected. Because setbacks are always to be expected and is a way of life. Nowakowski calls them as “adversity tolerance tactics”. This includes team members to pre and post-performance routines such as meditation, visualization, compartmentalization and high degree of self-awareness. After all, Self-awareness and social-awareness are two highly important elements of “Emotional intelligence” taken as a whole.
To have a growth mindset at all times – Nowakowski mentions that many of Red Bull’s rapid expansions strategies would not have materialized if the team did not have a growth mindset. He also continues to say that this positivity is now in each team members DNA. “The Red Bull brand is our biggest asset. And it is our great teams and the great culture we have built that has driven the brand forward year after year”
In another similar article recently on LinkedIn titled “The Power Of Hope A Pathway To Resilience And Positive Growth”, contributor Scott Hutcheson highlights the usefulness and power of “hope” as a leadership tool. He further mentions that “In challenging times, living in the present can feel overwhelming. While mindfulness promotes awareness and acceptance of the now, embracing hope—a future-oriented mindset—offers a transformative alternative rooted in science and personal growth.
Hope is not passive wishing but an active, dynamic process. He emphasizes that in times of high pressure, hope matters more even than mindfulness, as it is about believing in a future positive outcome. The Author further adds that extensive research indicates that individuals who cultivate hope are better equipped to manage adversity as they direct attention toward achievable goals rather than present stressors.
Hope creates a proactive mindset, turning current challenges into stepping stones for progress. A few recommendations follow, to use hope in a team environment such as :
Hope Journaling: Take time to write about your hopes and dreams.
Hope Boards: Create a visual representation of your aspirations, using images and words that inspire you and keeping them as reminders in your close working environment.
Micro-Goals for Daily Wins: Break larger goals into smaller milestones.
Social Support for Shared Hope: Surround yourself with individuals who support your aspirations. Sharing goals and sharing your goals with others for inspiration.
Reflective Storytelling: Sharing stories of past successes where hope played a pivotal role. Reflecting on previous triumphs can reignite belief in your ability to overcome current challenges.
Hope is a tool that remains very powerful in team settings. It has been demonstrated time and again among athletes engaged at the highest levels of their sports careers that it is the “development of hope” that gives them the competitive advantage over other strong teams. The world famous and dynamic rugby team “New Zealand All Blacks” use this method of using hopeful mindsets to have become arguably the best rugby team in the world. That is why they can come back from any position to win a high pressure rugby match.
From a political view point, hope can help transform ideals and re-build nations. When US senator Barack Obama wrote his book “The audacity of Hope” in 2004, even he would not have imagined it would propel him and his team to the White house a few years later. Hope is equally powerful in organizational settings. Leaders who cultivate a culture of hope often see increased employee engagement, innovation, and collaboration. So, the idea is to just not live in the moment – but to hope for a much brighter future ahead of us, our team and our society at large.