Last week, we explored the concept of inclusive leadership. This week, we want to build on that by exploring additional approaches and insights that foster a high-performance culture. 

As an individual, maintaining a high level of performance takes a lot of focus and quite a bit of hard work. However, ensuring high performance as an individual is pretty simple when compared with what it takes to elevate an entire organization's performance.

We have covered a number of important concepts in this blog, many of which are essential to building organizations that perform at a high level on a consistent basis. Today, we'd like to reiterate some of these simple concepts and show you how you can integrate them into your organization to achieve your desired performance.

Of course, no concept or idea will improve your organization unless you believe in it and are passionate about it. Most importantly, you must be willing to implement it with clear, two-way communication, and a positive attitude.

Let's get started!

‍High Performance Organizations Don't Exist Without Engaged Employees

Does your workforce display any of the following traits?

• Lack of consistency in achieving results
• Uneasiness at sharing relevant thoughts, ideas, and opinions
• General apathy and half-heartedness attitudes
• Limited grasp of what's expected of them and how to achieve goals & targets
• Lack of engagement, commitment, and loyalty

If these traits describe your workforce, it’s no surprise that you have employee engagement issues and are struggling to meet your objectives.

The good news is you have the ability to turn this situation into a recipe for a winning and successful workforce and organization. This is where leadership becomes crucial and your ability to inspire and lift your people up will set the tone. The choice is yours.

Do you want to engage your people and encourage them to deliver their personal best each and every day? Here are three simple tips to help bring out the best in everyone around you:

‍#1. Get to know your people as people – not as employees.

Leaders who know how to build authentic and meaningful connections with others will feel less pressure and will require less heavy lifting to drive performance to optimal levels. If you know what drives, motivates, and inspires your people in all aspects of their lives, you will ultimately be able to do a better job supporting their success. Does your recipe for high performance success sound like this? Your people trust you. They have a clear understanding of what is expected from them. And they have the necessary support they need from you.

‍#2. Show that you understand that communication flows in two directions – not just from the top down.

Do you feel the need to control and dominate discussions? Do you feel you always have to have the last word? Guess what? These interactions aren’t about you. Leaders who foster a high-performance culture, listen more and talk less. They know how to create a safe space where others feel free and comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings and can come up with their own ideas and solutions.  

‍#3. Demonstrate and articulate how the efforts of your people translate into real, tangible results.

We have written about this concept endless times and won’t stop because we know it's effective. Your role as a leader is to create what we call “emotional connectedness” by explaining very clearly how each and every member of your team contributes to the organization’s success. What is it about their role and responsibilities that adds value to the bottom line? If we do not understand how we contribute to a company’s success, then it might feel more like a job than a career and people may feel less inclined to care and put their best foot forward. 

We recognize that engaging your people will require more effort and focus than simply following three simple tips, but it’s a start of something small that can lead to some amazing results if you’re willing to try. Be the type of leader you want the rest of the organization to emulate by exhibiting a winning, caring attitude. It will come back to you tenfold if you're authentic and genuinely care about creating a high-performance culture where everyone matters.

‍Show Your People What High Performance Looks Like

As a leader, creating a high-performance culture starts with you. Leadership is very much an inside-out-job. You must be the change you want to see in others.
Are you willing to:

• show your people you can relate to them on a personal and vulnerable human level?
• demonstrate what performing at a high level looks like and what it means for you and them?
• set the tone that you want your people to follow?

Organizations that perform at the highest level aren't successful through luck or happenstance; they are successful because leaders like you took the time to invest in their people and demonstrated the appropriate thinking and behaviors that deliver high performance.

What are your thoughts on the concept of fostering a high-performance culture? How effective are you at exhibiting the right behaviors for your people to follow?

We want to hear your feedback and insights on this topic, so please email me at joanne.trotta@leadersedgeinc.ca or call me at 1.855.871.3374.

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