In my coaching conversations, at both an organizational and an individual level, I talk about the importance of capturing your ‘trophy cabinet’ and adding to it on a regular basis. The principle is to get good at recognizing the things that you have achieved, contributed and learned over the prior week. So, rather than come to the end of a period in your career, or the end of the year, having to think really hard about what you have done, you build in the time to reflect as you go along. I usually recommend a short time doing this at the end of each week.
This is my personal aim for 2024 – to do more of this and better practice what I recommend to others. To take stock on a regular basis, so what I learn and achieve is front of mind as I make my way through the year. Today, however, I’m reflecting back on a 12 months of coaching and developing leaders and their teams. What have been the stand-out lessons learned and achievements made? Here are five of my leadership and management take-aways from 2023.
1 The traits of high-performing teams in 2023
I use a diagnostic tool that helps teams to identify where they are strong and where they may want to pay more attention, and then helping those teams get the right rhythms and routines in place based on that insight. And this year, I have seen plenty of evidence to underpin a fundamental truth about high-performing teams: the importance of human connection. Within this is a core need for a trusting relationship where we value what the other person/people bring to the team. These are the foundations of high-performing teams on which other traits can then be built including:
- Alignment in purpose and values between the individual and the organisation
- Speaking up, challenging and giving each other feedback
- Resilience – both individually and as a team
- Decision making and focus
- The right pace and drive at the right time
Such traits are not new to us but in a hybrid working world in particular, the ability to connect meaningfully with each other was never more important than it was this year.
2 Embed is the critical ingredient for effective team/manager development
One of the big themes for this year has been helping leaders understand that it’s what happens between leadership and management development sessions that really matters. Embed, embed, embed. It’s not enough to have a series of off-sites if behavior change doesn’t happen in-between. This year we’ve challenged leaders and teams to hold one another more accountable outside of the room with us, and to truly put the right routines in place to live desired change. It’s worked! So let’s remember that it’s as much about what happens ‘out of the room’ as ‘in the room’ for development at a team and individual level if we’re truly going to shift the dial.
3 Of course, change remained a constant
This year, I have been helping leaders with the human side of change and how managers, the miracle in the middle, need to be equipped with the language, confidence and belief to help navigate their teams through transformation. In leaders and managers, change management is often an under-developed muscle yet it’s crucial at a micro and macro level. Ensuring managers see their role in change, what tools they have at their disposal and how to manage themselves through the journey is critical. Showing up consistently through change and making others feel their value in the world are basics that have really resonated this year.
4 Create a set of values that move the dial
Everything we do impacts culture, but how we shape values and behaviors was a strong theme throughout the year. Organizations can be guilty of creating static values and behaviors that look adequate on a website but really have no effect at on performance. They are fine words and intentions but they can be so much more. Values are powerful when they challenge people rather than honor the status quo. Let’s remember a ‘values refresh’ is about establishing where you are trying to get to as an organization and then what values and behaviors you need to get there. A mix of aspiration and ‘today’ is needed.
5 Keep adding to that trophy cabinet
Finally, I want to return to where we started this article. This year, I worked with a leadership team that developed a rhythm in their executive meeting each week in which they carved out five minutes to share trophy moments. It went on for many, many weeks, so a great result. Then I met them off-site and asked how it was going, and they realized the habit had ceased. We re-set this routine to make the time for conversation more targeted so that trophy moments were about what really mattered short-term in the business. This has hugely helped in driving the right behavior and helping people with the confidence that they are moving forward.
The turn of the year is a time of reflection for many of us, but perhaps this time it’s an opportunity to make a New Year’s resolution: reflecting on achievements and lessons learned will become a habit in 2024, something we do every week. This is certainly something I intend to do more of this year.