In the busyness of business and the speed of change, knowing your role and goal becomes the difference between surviving and thriving. Keeping your focus on the right priorities to achieve results is a game-changer for you and your team. Here are a few of the key priorities that are making a difference for high-growth leaders today.

Key Priorities to Achieve Strong Teams and Results:

As leaders, you are required to help yourself and others to do the following:

1. Have a compelling purpose that sparks others to new levels of engagement and achievement.
2. Know the vision.
3. Understand the 3-5 strategic goals to achieve the vision.
4. Co-develop a plan with your team to achieve the goals.
5. Keep yourself and your team forward-focused on the goal.
6. Attract and develop staff to achieve the goal.
7. Create an environment that attracts others to be part of your quest.
8. Celebrate small wins/milestones.

These are the fundamentals of leadership that we hear and see in today’s world that build daily and long-term success. And yet, it is not enough. Because in between all these numbers is the ability to work with and through others to achieve these goals. In the visual below, you see the words people are saying or experiencing as part of their daily life. As a leader, they are looking to connect to the HUMANITY of you to help them maintain the forward momentum you need.

I’ve broken down four specific attributes for you to focus on now with specific practices that address what your team needs from you at this moment to be successful.

Humanity – never forget that your biggest role is to create and keep a highly motivated workforce and that you are part of that workforce, too.

Practices:

• Be present – Take time to connect with people, understand what is important to them and ask them what they need.
• Be imperfect – You don’t have to be perfect as a leader. You too are a person and if you make mistakes, let others know and ask how you can make amends.
• People first – Take care of the people, share the vision and goal with passion, and the people will work with you to co-develop plans and processes, and collaborate for improvements or roadblocks to getting to the end outcome with greater ease.
• Compassion and patience – Tend to people as they navigate changes in the business and their personal lives. Give them compassion, care and patience, and trust in your contribution to the wellness and goodness of humanity.
• Reduce confusion – When there are conflicts, assume positive intent, seek first to understand, identify facts, and know together you will find a way forward if everyone is clear on the importance of the purpose, vision, and goal.

Focus – Authenticity, Communication, and Change – these words are the trifecta of creating an agile and achievement-oriented team.

Practices:

• Heart-Centered – People respect leaders who speak their truth from the heart. Your ability to tap into your truth, your passion for the goal, what lights you up, and/or what keeps you going for the light at the end of the tunnel is what motivates and inspires others. When you are sincere, you will build trust, respect, support, and open communication amongst your team.
• Communication – This is the daily commitment to reinforce, coach, collaborate and celebrate towards the goal. Never assume that everyone remembers the goal or is on the same page. Helping people clearly see the goal and collaborate on the plan makes all the difference between pulling a workforce along and them pushing you and the goal forward.
• Change Communication – Requires all the above, plus no office time. The only time is being connected to others, reinforcing the goal, removing roadblocks, encouraging team members, connecting the dots between teams, sharing best practices, adapting plans, coaching, and sharing and re-sharing the vision. A sign you are doing this right is that your jaw is tired, your ears are numb, people feel confident, and your email box is overflowing since you are putting your attention on the team and not the emails. Your slack or Microsoft Teams groups will be filled with ideas and contributions on the goal.

The world will continue to evolve, your organization will continue to move forward, and you will continue to be a leader of great talent by focusing on the attributes of Humanity, Authenticity, Communication, and Change. This requires you trusting that this process will lead to good results and outcomes. Heart-centered leadership, clear focus, and good practice make all the difference in achieving and moving things forward.

Bobbie