“Getting to the top” is the easy part, compared to “staying at the top“.
Inspire others and yourself to change, since change is more certain than anything else. Accept the challenge and introduce change when you and your organization are successful. In doing so, you can introduce it from a position of strength and initialize it without being “forced” to do it.
Allow people around you not only the chance to “shine” by using their functional competencies but challenge them to be flexible and adaptable. Irrespective of how long a functional competency has been successful, it can become obsolete over night, particularly when a paradigm shift occurs. Therefore, please encourage your team members to draw self-confidence not only from their functional competency, but also from their ability to be flexible and adaptable.
High performance is only possible with a high degree of self-confidence. Self-confidence is built through feedback. Thus, in addition to paying attention to formal feedback during regular feedback rounds, I recommend to create an environment in which feedback is “daily business” and in which feedback is given and received by all team members.
Take the opportunity to become a Change Champion. If there is no imminent business change, take the initiative and introduce change in your private environment. Examples? Change to the opposite side of the bed you sleep in. Move your toothbrush glass from the left to the right side. Unroll your toilet paper backwards instead of forward, and check how well you handle those changes.
Improve your skills in moving good performing teams to becoming teams performing at the highest level. What would the conductor be without the musicians or the kitchen chef without the kitchen brigade? Together they achieve the top performance. Remember you need your team members and your team members need you.
E-mail: hessenauer@munichleadership.com
