Creating a high performance culture John Bull – Founder of Tall Tree

Focus and aims for this workshop Insights on the key ingredients for creating a culture of high performance within the organisation Self awareness around the impact of our style and approach as leaders, and what we can do to improve the performance environment in the teams we lead

Why investing in leadership matters Hold yourself to a higher standard The top 5% of managers have almost twice the impact on performance as there merely ‘good’ colleagues. Key insight: Hold yourself to a higher standard; the most important thing you can do to raise performance is to develop your management skills 3 3 3

Building & sustaining high performance Four key principles that underpin this work… P = T x E The climate (Environment) we create as leaders profoundly effects how people behave & perform There are a number of specific environmental conditions that will consistently stimulate improved performance in human populations A key role of leadership is to create the right conditions for high performance No matter how good we are, or think we are, we can always improve 4 4 4

Three leadership cultures… Authoritarian A stern I-know-best style where people are told what to do, little involvement… Goals, standards and direction on ‘how to’ handed down from leadership Little input into the strategy Focus is on supervising/managing implementation Laissez Faire A pleasant leadership style but one which gives little direction No clear leadership on vision, strategy or standards Leaves people/structures largely to themselves Avoids conflict or confrontation Achievement Led Ensures clear direction, high standards, involves people and builds responsibility Leadership engages everyone in a common aspiration Creates a performance environment with ambitious goals, standards & feedback to drive learning Performance achieved through responsibility and accountability at all levels 5 5 5

A fundamentally different approach to leadership Thinking about our own style and how we need to develop it Achievement led Laissez Faire Authoritarian

Challenge and support C H A L E N G SUPPORT Achievement led (The aim is to make this positive, PULL not PUSH; i.e. their buy in to the goal & standards creates the challenge & pressure) SUPPORT Coaching and mentoring support

Another take on challenge & support

5 key ingredients of a high performance culture Engage people behind a clear meaningful challenge &/or purpose Clarity of purpose - People understand exactly what we’re trying to achieve, what we’re trying to make a difference to Challenge – goals create a positive creative tension between current performance and what we are aspiring for, driving a culture of innovation and continuous improvement Engagement – people buy into what we’re trying to achieve, and are energised by it Clarity of focus & high standards Performance insight - absolute clarity as to what we need to focus on in order to drive success. High standards. Okay is not okay! The goals & standards we set provide a constant challenge to continually improve in these key areas of performance Individual clarity of roles – each individual has a clear focus for how they can best contribute Responsibility – distributed leadership Involvement –Everyone is encouraged to think about our key challenges & contribute their ideas; these ideas are listened to and acted on. i.e. People feel their experience is valued and used to shape our approach Distributed leadership - People are given a lot of responsibility & autonomy; and are encouraged to act on their initiative in pursuit of our goals They are supported with coaching and mentoring to develop their ability to act on this responsibility Feedback and recognition Frequent, high quality feedback drives learning & improvement – enabling people to accurately judge (and learn from) the effectiveness of their actions There are clear consequences attached to individual and team performance Recognition - good performance is recognised and rewarded Accountability - underperformance is held to account Teamwork – shared goals drive effective collaboration (including with partners) People see their role within a bigger picture; they understand their accountability to both their individual goals and overall team performance 9 9 9

Key leadership qualities and skills High standards, ambition and drive Ability to engage people behind the goals Gives clear direction Ignite ambition in others and build confidence Performance insight Ability to distil into a clear and simple strategy what success depends on Coaching mindset Believes in people’s potential and sees role as leader to unlock that potential Delegates responsibility Exceptional coaching skills For drawing out and developing people's ideas and talents Facilitating reviews skilled and disciplined approach to facilitating reviews to drive momentum and learning Feedback skills Gives frequent recognition/positive feedback An ability to challenge people and give difficult feedback in a way that inspires rather than invokes defensiveness. Willing and effective in challenging poor performance. Getting people to work together able to pull people together around common goals, and create an environment where collaboration is a defining strength And finally, a never ending commitment to keep developing their own leadership skills self aware of their effectiveness and impact, open to feedback, aspire to be exceptional 10 10 10

Igniting people’s motivation, and focusing that energy Engagement Igniting people’s motivation, and focusing that energy

What’s the purpose of a goal or plan To create ‘positive performance pressure’ Which engages people, and inspires action To focus and direct that energy Focusing where we invest out time and energy to maximise our impact with the limited resources we have Giving clear roles and responsibilities etc. To give an effective benchmark to review and hold ourselves accountable against

Setting out a clear focus for the team Set out a clear, compelling purpose, challenge or ambition: Make sure it is… Clear and measurable Challenging Creates positive performance pressure Motivating/emotive Something people can get excited or passionate about Define measures What ‘curve’ are we trying to have an impact on? Define your strategy in terms of what success depends on Set out what we need to focus on and excel at as a team to maximise our success?

To learn more about our research and work visit our website www.talltree.org.uk