7 Habits of High-Performing Teams

(and tips 🧵to build them) 1. Team Not Improving?

HABIT: Daily Feedback
- Let them self-critique first
- Start with "Did this meet expectations?"
- Reinforce winning behaviors

Tip: Make it a conversation, not a conviction.

Let me fix your 1:1 meetings in 90 seconds.

It only requires two changes:

- It's their meeting, not yours
- Good questions >> Great directions

Here's how to do it: Make It Their Meeting

Delegate the meeting like any other work:
- Define what excellent looks like
- Hold them accountable
- Coach to success
- Don't step in

But how do I get what I need to lead? That's part 2...

11 counterintuitive lessons for building a winning business:

1. Every additional hire increases complexity faster than productivity. 2. Want to deliver more value?
Raise your prices.

They have more skin in the game.
You focus more on most aligned customers.

7 Signs You're In A Toxic Team Culture

(And how to spot them) 1. Good People Leave

There's a saying in poker, "If you can't spot the sucker sitting at the table, it's you."

If the people you respect are leaving, that's a sign.

One is a data point. Two is a trend.

Follow the trends.

Here are 5 simple tips to earn what you deserve: 1. Make Yourself More Valuable🚀
• Take on problems no one else wants to solve
• Build skills your company needs but lacks
• Create revenue or reduce costs - and track it

Your excuses are hurting your career.

Here's how you should be managing up: Excuse: I shouldn't have to suck up to my manager.

Reality: But you do have to report up. If they need to ask you about your work, you're already behind.

6 Predictable Mistakes Every Manager Makes

(plus practical tips to avoid them): Mistake: Hiring for skills, compromising on character.

Fix: Hire for values and compromise on skills, especially those you're good at developing.

Tip: Find the one behavior your company can't tolerate—screen for that first in the interview process.

Your boss is a coward and it's killing your career.

Here's the honest feedback you need to hear: 1. Negotiating is Non-Negotiable

You are not paid the maximum you're worth.

You are paid the minimum you'll accept.

When interviewing for a new role, grill the hiring manager on what excellence looks like.

If they can’t paint a vivid picture of what it takes to win, run as fast as you can.

Here are some examples: "What is this team's North Star metric?"

For Airbnb, this is "Nights Booked."

It's an easy to understand number that lets everyone ask, "Will this work I'm doing help or hurt?"

It's remarkably powerful for building autonomy. And incredibly hard to navigate without one.

Without trust, your team is doomed to fail.

Here's my 2 minute trick to build it fast: Teams reach peak performance when:

- They set high standards
- Commit to their work
- Deliver consistently
- Trust each other

And building trust on a team is simple:
Do what you say you're going to do.

Don't want to leave this chance?
Have your team "Call Their Shots."

10 Lessons From The Winningest NFL Coaches

(I was shocked by who missed the cut) Dan Reeves, Broncos, Giants and Falcons (190 wins)

In my decade working at Bridgewater, I constantly found myself giving the same advice.

"If you want to succeed, stop trying so hard."

Most were blind to a counterintuitive truth,

They had the right effort but the wrong elevation.

Here's how to adjust: Like top athletes who enter slumps, the challenge occurs when they tense up and lose the fluidity that makes them succeed. They "squeeze the bat" too tightly, altering their swing. With every miss, the tension grows.

As a new manager, my biggest regret is how I handled underperforming employees.

I gave them the benefit of the doubt for too long and my team suffered as a result.

Here are 3 tests I now use to act more decisively: 1. The Keeper Test.

If this employee told me they were leaving to take a role at another company, would I do everything I could to stop them?

If my answer is No, that's strike one.

Stop saying, "Bring me solutions, not problems."

There's a better way to get results: "Bring me along."

The problem with the all-or-nothing approach:

- It creates fear
- It delays intervention
- It encourages hiding problems

If all your problems had easy answers, they'd already be solved.

It's not me. It's you.

Here's my step-by-step playbook for handling underperforming employees: Did You Set Them Up For Success?

They deserve everything an employee needs to succeed:
- Tech/Tools
- Access/Training
- Support/Guidance
- Clear/Reasonable Expectations

Offer them the same excellence you're expecting.

If you get hired or promoted to lead a new team,

Here’s the playbook to run on Week 1: Get an Intro

Let the person who called your number:
- set the context
- front-run the objections
- start planting seeds of your success

Third-party praise is more potent than tooting your own horn. This allows you to...

If you want to win, play by your own rules.

10 metrics to guarantee a fulfilling life: 1. Your Zone of Genius Predictor

The proven leadership secret:

Don't lie. - Don't lie to employees.
- Don't lie to customers.
- Don't lie to investors.
- Don't lie to yourself.

The #1 new manager mistake:

Tolerating underperformers.

Here's my playbook to fix it: People can get better and still not meet "the bar."

- They confuse their improvement (B) with impact (A).
- They put in the effort but are still not effective.
- They take more time while delivering less.

The New Manager's Roadmap to Mastery.

10 Stops To Management Success: 1. Set The Right Objectives

“If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first six of them sharpening my axe.”

― Abraham Lincoln

mgmt.beehiiv.com/p/7-questions-…

If you want to become a better manager overnight,

I would teach you this one skill: Setting expectations.

Why?

It is the single highest leverage activity you can do.

And nearly everyone leading a team does it poorly.

Or not at all.