Values and Vision: The Foundation of High Performing Teams

A few days ago, I wrote about Tribal Leadership and what the authors’ research revealed about high performing teams.  Today I want to address two fundamental characteristics of any high performing team:  core values and a compelling vision.

The defining characteristic of the highest performing teams is that their foremost concern is to achieve a noble cause.  This laser focus enables them to make extraordinary breakthroughs and achieve unmatched results.  One of the most compelling points made by the authors is that these teams have a crystal clear grasp of what they stand for and what they live for.   

Core Values:  What does your team stand for?

When high performing teams articulate their core values, they are not describing a set of tenets or a creed to which they ascribe.  Rather, they are describing what they are, what they embody, what they deliver.  High performing teams live their values—through their relationships, through their programs, and through their communications.  Though there are many examples, for the sake of space, let me point out two:  KID (Ft. Lauderdale) and Miami Rescue Mission.  Through a series of thoughtful discussions these teams arrived at very meaningful core values.

For KID, they are Trust, Family, Compassion, Safety, Wisdom, and Tenacity. To get a sense of what this means to them, just look at their annual report.  It’s the best I’ve seen.  For Miami Rescue Mission, they are Compassion, Hope, Restoration, and Transformation.  In July, the Mission will celebrate the culmination of a year long process of exploring the meaning of these values with everyone throughout the organization.  The values of these two organizations permeate in all that they do-- their programs and activities, their policies, how they relate to  those in need and to one another, how they talk about what they do, and how they plan for the future.  This conscious attention to values is having a powerful effect throughout each organization.

Vision:  What does your team live for?

How teams view their cause is seen through their vision.  The vision of high performing teams is literally what they live for, what they aspire to bring about in the world.  For these teams, vision is not an exercise of self affirmation, or how they can be the best.  It is a statement of how the world will be different—transformed—for those they serve because of the work they do.  This type of vision imagines a perfected future.  It is believing in something that does not yet exist—but should.  These teams have visions that stir passions and inspire people to act.  

Some examples of compelling vision statements include:  "Every child is born perfectly healthy." (March of Dimes);  "No one is homeless." (Miami Rescue Mission); “A Community of Safe and Healthy Children in Loving Families” (KID) and "A Montana where communities thrive in co-existence with abundant wild places." (Montana Wilderness Association).

These vision statements are not Pollyanna notions.  They have been created by a team of individuals who live for their realization.  Though their visions may not be achieved in their lifetimes, these teams are inspired to give their highest and best—and to celebrate each and every accomplishment along the way.

Being part of a team devoted to a cause allows one to leap beyond personal limitations; to be part of something very significant.  But, it takes shedding the need for individualistic self-preservation—which allows a realization that through such a process your gifts are magnified.  And, you discover, you don’t lose anything—you become more, not less.

Jim