Creating High-Performing Teams

In Section Two of the Multi-Generational Teams (MGT) course, we discussed Simon Sinek’s breakdown of the Navy’s SEAL Team 6. I won’t reteach the material, and if you haven’t taken the course, just check out this video we reference in the course. What you learn from the video is that the Navy SEALs prefer a person that measures high in trust over a person that is a mid to low performer to become a Navy SEAL. No matter how high you perform, if you are mid to low trust, they see you as a potentially toxic member of the team. What can you and I learn from one of the most elite teams in the world and how can that translate to an MGT? An MGT must be a high trust environment. It doesn’t matter how well you perform, if your team doesn’t have high trust, your team has potential for toxicity. 

The challenge here is that bottom line reports don’t measure much for trust. It’s all about productivity. But consider the thought Steven M. R. Covey, author of The Speed of Trust, has concerning trust and productivity in this Forbes magazine interview. Before 9/11, most people trusted flying. But now, it takes longer to get through security, more time is required before the scheduled flight, and the new safety protocols cost more for the airline and the customer. Why? Because the airlines need to address the lack of trust in airport security.

A lack of trust in a team and in an organization can literally halt you from getting to your destination in life and in business. So it seems that creating high trust overall in critical. But on an MGT, it is all the more important due to the glaring difference seen directly in the noticeable age differences. Our brains calculate the similarities and differences, known and perceived, and we make unconscious bias decisions for and against a person when they are either similar or different from us, respectively. So having trust in an MGT is what helps combat the unconscious biases that would drive a wedge through the momentum of an MGT.

 After all, High Trust organizations report:

• 74% less stress

• 106% more energy at work

• 50% higher productivity,

• 13% fewer sick days

• 76% more engagement

• 29% more satisfaction with their lives

• 40% less burnout

To counteract the effects of unconscious bias and create the trust on an MGT that will yield high performing results, engage in these things:

Open the Environment - Lose the “open door” policy. There shouldn’t be a need to come in the door because there shouldn’t be anyone there. Get out of the office and be with people. Nothing builds trust on an MGT more than building something together.

Do Hard Stuff - In a study, to build trust in high-performing teams, these words were found. Risk, disagreement, consequence, rival, and challenge. Prepare to do hard work and handle one more word found in the study; difficult things.

Have Faith - Trust has a two-sided element, the known and unknown. At times, we trust because we know. However, the highest performing teams apply trust when they don’t know. This kind of trust is called faith. Believe in your teammates.

Exercise Together - Purposefully practice challenges together. The U.S. military is the most powerful in the world in large part to their willingness to practice war in peacetime. Team building exercises are key in building trust and high performance. 

Rebuild - Inevitably, there will be a mistake made or a moment of mistrust. Make pre-decisions and determinations that the road to reestablish trust already exists. This isn’t a license to break trust, but insurance that when it happens, there’s a way back.