Without the right conditions, teams, despite their best intentions, will eventually run out of speed and energy, and meander slowly into a swamp-like state of atrophy. To move into a state of high performance, teams need an environment in which they are permitted to develop, which means letting go of the old “do as I say” mentality. With the right environment and skilled leader/coach, a high performance team can restore vitality and life throughout an entire company.

A lot of what goes on in group discussions is about what’s not being said. Prolonged discussions about seemingly minor things are just one signal that suppressed emotions are taking control and steering the team way off course. How well a leader can raise team awareness of what’s happening emotionally will greatly impact the group’s ability to perform.

In many small to medium sized businesses with long-time employees, ground rules were learned through years of experience as opposed to academic pedigrees from business schools. But no matter what company you work for or their trade, there are some ground rules that are bedrock. Knowing these fundamentals will help you prepare for this important step in your career, or give you an idea on what you still need to work on.

Our strongest recollection of being on teams likely includes a lot of misalignment and competition. Hardly a memory of a “flow state” or collective mindset. If something could be done to bring more alignment and trust into a team, wouldn’t the time and effort be worth it if it meant better performance, and happier team members?

A Team Coach can step in to raise awareness about blind-spots and develop a team’s abilities to create engagement, curiosity and mutual trust. With a specialized coaching program focused on team objectives, a team can learn to trust each other and believe in their own resilience to perform at an optimal level.

There’s a lot of energy taken up by turning your back on something, and despite painful experiences you’d rather forget, the past has a way of returning, biting you in the butt when you least expect it. What if you could view your past experiences as resources rather than something you’d rather sweep under the rug?

With a shift in attitude you are more open to recognizing the facts as they are. You change your relationship to existing things. The actual change that takes place is your attitude towards the world, not the world itself. It’s a recognition of “what is”. It seems so simple a statement, but this recognition of existing facts allows you to lessen your grip on judgement and move towards something new.