Building High-Performing Teams: Effective Coaching Strategies for Leaders
Success. With 17 years of experience in coaching and a deep commitment to empowering individuals and teams, I’ve developed a focus on building high-performing teams. In this article, I’ll share my insights into the key attributes of high-performing teams and the coaching strategies I use to help leaders achieve this level of performance.
My coaching journey began in 2006, after I had spent 19 years as a single mother. I realized the incredible power of coaching to help people unlock their potential and create meaningful change in their lives. I pursued high-level postgraduate qualifications in coaching from Curtin University, equipping me with the knowledge and skills to guide individuals and teams towards success.
I developed a strong focus on building high-performing teams by recognizing that a team’s success is closely tied to the individual members’ communication skills, emotional intelligence, self-awareness, balance, confidence, self-esteem, and self-worth. These foundational strengths are essential for effective collaboration and team performance.
The Key Attributes of High-Performing Teams
In my opinion, high-performing teams possess several key attributes:
- Leadership of Self: Team members and leaders should excel in self-leadership, which encompasses 29 areas of competency. This involves skills related to relating with others, self-awareness, authenticity, creating and having a systems approach, achieving outcomes based on strategy and vision, decisiveness, and the ability to empower others.
- Effective Communication: Open and transparent communication is vital for team success. Team members should be able to express themselves, listen actively, and understand each other’s viewpoints.
- Alignment with Values: High-performing teams are aligned with their personal and organizational values, ensuring that their actions and decisions are consistent with their core principles.
Balanced Way of Being: A balanced approach to life and work is crucial. Team members need to maintain physical and mental well-being to perform at their best.
To help leaders and teams achieve these attributes, I start by using The Leadership Circle 360 assessment to identify strengths and areas that require improvement. This assessment helps leaders gain insights into their current leadership style and guides our coaching efforts to close any gaps.
Enhancing Communication within Teams
Effective communication is the lifeblood of a high-performing team. To enhance communication within a team, I recommend the following coaching strategies and techniques:
- Staying Adult-Adult: Encourage team members to communicate as equals and avoid falling into parent-child dynamics.
- Change Process Awareness: Help teams understand the stages of change and how to navigate them effectively.
- Challenge Assumptions: Address the destructive nature of assumptions by promoting open and honest communication, where doubts and concerns can be shared and resolved.
- Active Listening: Teach team members to listen actively and empathetically, fostering deeper understanding and connection.
- Internal Locus of Control: Encourage individuals to take ownership of their actions and decisions, rather than relying on external factors.
- Stress Management: Equip teams with tools to manage anxiety and stress, allowing them to perform optimally under pressure.
Solution-Focused Approach: Shift the team’s mindset towards finding solutions and opportunities rather than dwelling on problems.
Overcoming Common Leadership Challenges
Leaders often face several common challenges when trying to build high-performing teams. Some of these challenges include:
- Communication and Listening: Many leaders struggle with talking too much and not listening. I coach them to balance their communication style and actively engage in listening.
- Time Management: Leaders may lack effective time management skills. I provide awareness and knowledge to enhance their time management, increasing productivity.
- Lack of Planning: Some leaders may not have a solid plan in place. Coaching helps them become more self-aware of self-sabotaging behaviors and develop robust plans.
- Lack of Trust: Building trust is essential for teamwork. I guide leaders in understanding how to change and develop trust within their teams.
- Delegation Skills: Some leaders may hesitate to delegate effectively. I work with them to develop this crucial leadership skill.
Leadership Gaps: Leaders may have gaps in their leadership skills, negatively impacting their teams. I use self-assessment tools to identify and close these gaps.
A Success Story
One notable success story involved running a custom 3-hour coaching workshop for a state sales team and their leader. Following this workshop, the team emerged as the highest-performing State Sales Team in Australia. The strategies employed included an initial 1.5-hour session with the leader to understand the specific challenges and needs of the team. I then customized a workshop for the team, allowing every member to ask questions and receive answers, thus ensuring that they knew how to implement positive changes after the workshop.
In conclusion, building high-performing teams is a journey that starts with leadership of self and the development of key attributes such as effective communication, values alignment, and a balanced way of being. By addressing common challenges and employing coaching strategies, leaders can guide their teams toward exceptional performance and success.
If you’re interested in assessing your leadership effectiveness and exploring how coaching can help you build a high-performing team, feel free to take the free self-analysis using The Leadership Circle 360 assessment here. Together, we can work on unlocking your team’s full potential and achieving outstanding results.