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5 values you must NOT live without
December 06, 2016

Sustainable High Performance

If you have direct reports and you are NOT 100 per cent fully satisfied with the performance of the team you lead – this December newsletter issue will be a nice Christmas gift for you.

For several years now – as a result of my experience working with thousands of managers – I have been building a model that will allow any manager to build a team culture that is enjoyable, engaging, and results-oriented – and generate sustainable high performance.

I have not finished this model yet – but I already have most of the main structure / pieces in place.

The foundation of this model – meaning, what sustains this model – is an ensemble of five values.

The base of this model – the bedrock of this structure – is formed by these five values.

If any of these five values is missing – this model / structure falls down.

In other words – if you want to build a workplace culture within the team you lead that is enjoyable, engaging, results-oriented – and with sustainable high performance – your behavior (as the leader of your direct reports) MUST be aligned to these five values.

Without these five values – it is impossible to build an effective team of highly engaged performers, and generate sustainable high performance.

I have met countless managers who achieve high performance, but not in a sustainable way. Either – this high performance is cyclical (on and off) – or their employees quit as soon as they can – resulting in high turn over (as you already know, turn over is extremely expensive in several forms).

Anyway – I am going to share these five values with you as a Christmas gift :)

Please note: The definition of these values is NOT from the dictionary. I constructed these definitions to help you achieve organizational effectiveness. These definitions are results-oriented – and not word-by-word from the dictionary.

First: Humility

When you are humble …

  • you ask questions and you do listen to the answers
  • you recognize your weaknesses and mistakes
  • you openly welcome feedback from everybody around you (employees / peers / superiors / customers / suppliers) and you make a conscious effort to learn from it

    Humility allows you to …

  • always be learning
  • appear as a real human being
  • encourage your employees to do the same with their employees

    You want an organization that never stops learning.

    Second: Integrity

    In an organizational context – integrity means two things:

    Integrity means that you are one in thought, word and behavior.

    It also means that you are honest, open and authentic.

    It is extremely difficult if not impossible to achieve desired results when you work with people with no integrity.

    Third: Respect

    Respect also means two things in an organizational setting:

    Respect means that you treat everybody, I repeat: everybody – regardless of the circumstances – with dignity and fairness.

    Respect also means that you look forward to work with other people, to cooperate, and to be a team player.

    Nobody works alone – especially in an organization.

    Fourth: Continuous Improvement

    It means that you have curiosity and initiative.

    It also means that you face failures with resiliency.

    It means that you genuinely perceive obstacles as opportunities – and your mistakes as occasions to learn.

    Continuous improvement means that you try to better yourself deliberately – personally and professionally – in the way you do your work, and your work itself.

    Continuous improvement means that today you are better than yesterday – and tomorrow you will be better than today.

    Fifth: Results-Orientation

    Because your behaviors are results-focused – you are efficient, effective and reliable.

    ---

    Voilà.

    Values are crystal-clear guidelines of behavior – and these five values are the foundation of The Sustainable High Performance Model I am in the process of building.

    Remember …

    The behavior patterns of your direct reports make up the culture of the team you lead.

    Did you get this?

    I repeat: The behavior patterns of your direct reports make up the culture of the team you lead.

    As I asked you at the beginning of this article: IF you are not 100 per cent fully satisfied with the performance of the team you lead – these five values will help you see many of the “why’s” of the performance gaps.

    Conclusion:

    If you hire, lead and fire your direct reports in accordance with these five values – you will be well on your way to building sustainable high performance among the team you lead.




    Questions? Feedback?
    Reply to this Newsletter and tell me what you would like future issues to be about.

    Feel free to re-send this "Leader Newsletter" to your colleagues.

    And click here to see the entire "Leader Newsletter" Archive.

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    See you next month!
    Joseluis Romero - Publisher
    www.Skills2Lead.com
    December 6, 2016. Copyright: All rights reserved
    I publish "Leader Newsletter" on the first Tuesday of every month
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