By Allen Haynes • October 14, 2024 Listen to the podcast. Suzy Gray (00:02): Welcome to the Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast reverb, a conversation that digs deeper into this month’s podcast topic, all designed to help leaders go even further faster. I’m your host, Suzy Gray, and today we’re continuing our conversation from last week on how to build high performance teams. One of my favorite topics. I would love to encourage all of our listeners to go back and listen to that episode before diving into today’s episode because they’re going to build on each other in a way. But Andy, to get us started, let’s give a quick recap of the four essentials to building a high performance team that we talked about last week. Andy Stanley (00:36): Yep. Real quick, number one, select performance oriented people and position them for maximum impact. Select performance oriented people. If it’s a team that’s doing something, you need to hire doers, not just thinkers. It’s easier to educate a doer than to activate a thinker. Suzy Gray (00:53): Very Andy Stanley (00:53): Offensive. We talked about that last time, number two, so, so again, number one, select performance oriented people. Position them for maximum impact. Number two is to clarify the what and the why. What are we doing? Why are we doing it? What are we doing? Why are we doing it? Whether it’s the division you lead, or department or the entire organization or an industry, there’s an answer to the question, what are we doing? Why are we doing it? And taking the time to boil it down to something simple. High performance teams need that. What and why? Because that defines the win. And teams like to win. If we don’t define the win, teams define their own win. And sometimes it’s not. They might set the Suzy Gray (01:31): Bar a little low Andy Stanley (01:32): So they can win, right? Because I want to feel like I won, right? Okay. Number three, organize to the what. I mean, if we know what we’re doing, then our organization should support the what. And again, we talked about the complexity and the discouragement of working in an organization that we feel like is working against us after they’ve hired us to do something. So organizations do what they’re organized to do. So we need to make sure as leaders, that our organization is organized to support the what that we’re asking our teams to engage with. And then number four is to orchestrate and evaluate everything. Everything gets orchestrated that this is how we do it here. Everything gets evaluated. How can we make it better? Orchestration is predictability, evaluation is progress. And again, high performance teams, they don’t necessarily always want to be told how to do something, but what needs to be clear? And if there’s a sense of orchestration and a evaluation, then things will get better because high performance teams want to make things more efficient, less complex, and they want to make things better. So those are the four essential ingredients. Suzy Gray (02:40): That’s so great. So for today’s episode, I would like to kind of flip the perspective. Last week we talked about what it’s like for an organization to get the right people on the bus position for maximum effectiveness so that they can win. And this week it’d be interesting to flip it and talk about the perspective of an employee who may be listening saying, Hey, I think I could be a lot more valuable to the organization if either I was in a different seat or if I had different responsibilities in my current seat. What would you suggest to that person? Andy Stanley (03:09): Yeah, this is a big deal because even if you’re an upper management, so this isn’t just baseline new employee situation. This is, especially in a large organization, you can find yourself with 30% of your job responsibility, something that you really thrive at, and 70%, it’s just a burden. The intuitive person, and that’s who listens to our podcast or intuitive people, Suzy Gray (03:33): The smartest people, Andy Stanley (03:34): Yes, they know I’m not really the problem. It’s where I am in the organization, that’s the problem. And if I had this opportunity or if I could devote more of my time to the following things, I could add more value to the organization. Or if I were on a different team with my skillset, I would be perceived differently because it’s so frustrating to be in an organization where you don’t feel like you’re thriving simply because the organization isn’t taking advantage of your strengths and you’re trying to maximize a weakness. And as we’ve talked about before, our fully exploited strengths, our fully exploited strengths are always the greatest value add to our organization, not our marginally improved weaknesses, because a weakness is just always going to be a weakness, Suzy Gray (04:20): A weakness. Andy Stanley (04:21): So when that’s the situation, I think this is when we literally or symbolically raise our hand and say, Hey, I would like to have an opportunity to either shift more of my time to X, or I’d like an opportunity when the opportunity arises to join a different team. And here’s why. Again, I’m not trying to get out of work. I think I can add greater impact on the team if I had a different responsibility or a different assignment, and a secure leader or manager, when somebody comes to them and says, essentially, I want to make you more successful by being more successful, (04:57): Well then even if there’s not anything I can do immediately, and generally you can’t do anything immediately. All the slots are filled. There’s not that much flexibility, especially in medium to small organizations, but at least the manager or the person in charge that you’ve gone to, they know you’ve raised your hand, you want the organization to thrive. You think you see an opportunity to help, and you got to in some ways throw your hat in the ring so they know otherwise you’re just frustrated. And to flip it back around, as a manager, now I’m back in my seat as the manager or the person responsible for the organization, I need to be on the lookout for those people who don’t seem to be thriving in their job. But when we hired them, there was obviously something they had on the ball. And if they’re not thriving or in their evaluations or in their one-on-ones, if we’re doing a good job with one-on-ones, we’re asking good questions. One of my questions I always ask in one-on-ones is, what do you wish you could do more of? If you could rewrite your job description or the way it says on my little card is, what do you wish you could spend more time doing? (06:02): Well, that opens up the door to a high performance person saying, you know what? I could make a bigger impact if I had an opportunity to do more of this and less of this, and here’s why I’m better at this, and I’m not that good at this. So that’s a two-way conversation, and that’s a culture hopefully that, well, that’s a culture that as leaders, we’re responsible for creating because I want to know what the people we’ve hired want to do, and I want to know where they think they’ll thrive. Because if we’ve done a good job interviewing and hiring, which I feel like we have, well then we have great people. And if we don’t have great people doing what they’re great at, we lose and they lose. And eventually we’re going to lose them because they’re going to go somewhere else. Suzy Gray (06:43): They’re going to go elsewhere because they’re not happy at work. Andy Stanley (06:45): No, because we’re happiest at work when we’re doing what we feel we’re good at and we’re succeeding. And even a person who’s getting by, but they don’t feel like they’re thriving, even if they have great friends at work, even if they love the company, there’s just something that’s not satisfying. So this is a two-way conversation, and the employee and the employer are both responsible for raising their hand or opening that conversation. Years ago, I’ll never forget, I’m sitting at a table with our youngest pastors. There’s about eight in the room, and I was just getting to know some of them. So I went around the table real quick and I said, okay, here’s the question. Tell me what you ultimately would like to do in our organization. And these folks were in their late twenties, maybe might’ve been a couple that were 30, and they’re doing all kinds of stuff. But I want to know, as you think of our organization, if I could just make your dreams come true, because part of it, I want to know what they want to do. I want to help them succeed in the organization. Great. Or we wouldn’t have hired ’em. And the guy to my left who he said, I want your job. Suzy Gray (07:52): Oh, I know who that probably was Andy Stanley (07:55): And everybody else, and not all but several. There was kind of this uncomfortable chuckle, and I’m like, I’m glad. So good to know. It’s good to know you’re fired. That’s right. Hey, that’s appropriate ambition. I asked the question, I opened the door, and he’s like, well, honestly, one day I want to do what you do is what he’s saying. And so again, that’s a two-way conversation. So I would just encourage, again, anybody’s got people that report to them, or again, you’re responsible for creating high performance teams, or you’re on a high performance team. You should know who’s discontent and why, and you should know who has strengths that you’re not leveraging because that’s lose lose. And when you get people doing what they love to do, so Suzy Gray (08:38): That’s really helpful. Well, Andy, this actually reminds me of something I’ve heard you say recently about what is going to make you happiest and most content in your job. If we flip switch or if we flip the script back to the employee, then as an employee, you want to be a high performer, but there’s some ingredients that you need to pay attention to that’ll help make sure you’re positioning yourself to perform well in an organization. What are those things, Andy Stanley (09:02): Right? Yeah. Well, there’s probably a dozen things, but the three things, again, just from experience, Suzy Gray (09:07): There’s Andy Stanley (09:07): A skill set. There are things we’re good at because we’ve been trained or educated to do this things, our experience has allowed us to develop some skills. Secondly, there’s what we’re passionate about or what we’re interested in. So when you can marry your skillset to your passion. And then the third thing, and this is a little bit what we’ve been talking about, the third component is just your internal wiring. Again, extrovert, introvert, people, person, numbers, person, detailed person, a words person, a writer, an editor, a presenter, a person who never wants to present but wants to coach other. I mean, there’s just all those things that where we’re just how we’re naturally wired to operate. So when your skillset and your natural internal wiring is lined up with your passion and your interest, you’re going to love your job because you’re going to do something you’re naturally good at. You’re going to do something you’re skilled at, and you’re going to do something you’re passionate about. So the responsibility of finding the intersection of those three things, the responsibility really belongs to both the employee, to use that term for a minute. And the employer Suzy Gray (10:13): Probably preferably in the interview process. Andy Stanley (10:15): Well, yes, at the beginning. But as you know, because you’ve done several jobs within our organization, so you weren’t hired to do what you’re currently doing, but you were hired, hopefully as you came to the organization, there was an intersection of those three things to some degree. But as you’ve been here over time, I think you have moved and you’ve helped us position you to where there’s a greater intersection or greater overlap. If you think in terms of those three circles, Suzy Gray (10:43): Of those three things, definitely. So Andy Stanley (10:44): People come into the organization are rarely going to be optimally positioned for a variety of reasons. (10:51): But over time, if our systems are good and our culture is good, and if we’re paying attention and if they have permission to raise their hand, if we’re asking good questions in our one-on-one, if we’re doing employee satisfaction surveys, if they have an opportunity to raise their hand even through something as general as an employee satisfaction survey, then we’re able to then help slowly as time allows and as opportunity allows to move people into the place where there’s a greater intersection of skills, passion, and just internal wiring. And again, for those of you who are listening and you’re in your late twenties or maybe early thirties, you’re still figuring some of this Suzy Gray (11:28): Out. Andy Stanley (11:28): This takes a while, especially the internal wiring. I tried direct sales for a while. Why are you Suzy Gray (11:35): Laughing? You’re laughing. I’m not. Andy Stanley (11:37): No, you’re Suzy Gray (11:37): Laughing. Loving with you Andy Stanley (11:38): Laughing. You’re imagining me in direct sales, right? Was terrible. I mean, I was the fish trying to ride the bicycle. Probably not Suzy Gray (11:44): Your best and highest use. Andy Stanley (11:45): No, no, it was awful. I mentioned last time my opportunity to be in the grocery industry, apartment experience, 16, 17 years old, you learn what you’re not good at. You learn what you’re not interested in. You learn what you don’t want to do the rest of your life. But there are salespeople who, they just wake up every day, they can’t wait. They’re so wired for that. So again, I think it’s at least those three things. It’s what am I naturally wired to do in good at? Suzy Gray (12:10): What Andy Stanley (12:11): Is my skillset? And again, what am I passionate about? What’s interesting to me? What am I excited about? What’s my version of Make the world a better place? That’s kind of the passion thing. We all have all three. And over time, a high performance team, going back to our topic, a high performance team is made up of people who have discovered how to create greater overlap of those three Suzy Gray (12:34): Things. Andy Stanley (12:34): And it’s both their responsibility and our responsibility as managers to help them do that. There’s a gentleman on our staff, I tempted to say his name, but I won’t. He’s been with us for 20 years, and in the last seven, probably the last six years, he, along with us and his direct manager, have helped him find what I would consider his sweet spot and his highest value add to our organization. And he’s killing it. And he always did a great job. Always. You’re trying to think about who Suzy Gray (13:06): It’s, I think I know exactly who you’re talking about. And I would a hundred percent agree. Andy Stanley (13:09): I mean, he’s a rockstar now, and he was always great, but we just didn’t have him in the right place. And he was so patient and he was always diligent and did a great job, Suzy Gray (13:19): Such a great Andy Stanley (13:20): Job. But now it’s like kind of where have you been all these years? Well, there it is. He is been here and he was patient and he raised his hands and was appropriately ambitious within our organization. And now he’s a can’t live without. And again, Suzy Gray (13:37): I’m a fan. Andy Stanley (13:38): And if you stay in an organization long enough and it’s healthy, hopefully everybody is moving in some way organically in those directions. But again, it’s up to us to create that opportunity. And again, the topic is high performance teams. High performance teams are made up of people who are high performance oriented, but again, they’re bringing a skillset and they’re bringing their passion. And again, you get those things lined up, position them, Suzy Gray (14:03): It’s gold, Andy Stanley (14:03): And then get out of the way, right? Because amazing things are going to happen. And all of you listening to this conversation, I’m sure you can think of examples in your own career trajectory where you were getting this right and where somebody helped you get this right, either a professional coach or somebody you reported to, and you know how powerful it is. And so this is our responsibility, both in terms of who we report to and who reports to us. Suzy Gray (14:31): That is so true. As we close, I would want to reiterate something that you just said that I think is really important as it relates to when you find yourself in a situation where those three things aren’t aligned, you don’t want to waste the opportunity to learn from what you don’t want to do. Andy Stanley (14:51): Goodness, that is exactly right. Yeah. Don’t waste your sorrow, right? That’s the name of a book I read years ago. Don’t Waste Your Sorrows. It wasn’t about this. As long as we’re learning and feeling like, okay, I’m learning about what I don’t want to do, what I’m not good at, what I’ll never feel I’m succeeding at. And to get out of that as quick as possible before depression sets in or before your self-esteem just collapses because I can’t ever seem to succeed. And again, helping the people around us get out of those modes. Every parent listening who’s got middle school or older kids, you understand this dynamic because you’ve watched your kids struggle, Suzy Gray (15:27): And Andy Stanley (15:27): As the parent, you’re like, no, no, no. You’re amazing. You’re amazing. But if one of our kids stays in an environment, whether it’s a friend environment, a sports environment, an academic environment where they can’t seem to succeed, they begin to define themselves. And what’s true of our students is true of us as adults. So we’re responsible for that, and we’re responsible for people as it relates to that as well. Suzy Gray (15:51): Yeah, I love that. Don’t waste a good failure. Don’t waste a bad environment. Learn from it, get out of it, and move forward. Andy Stanley (15:57): Move on. Yep. Suzy Gray (15:58): That’s so great. Well, Andy, that’s all the time we have for this reverb episode. Thanks so much for digging deeper in the topic of high performance teams and being a high performance player in this case, and providing a few more insights. And to all of our listeners, we want to thank you for joining us. And before we leave, we have one ask, and that is to subscribe. By subscribing you help us grow the audience, which allows us to keep improving, bringing you great guests and great content to help you as a leader go further faster. Also, be sure to visit Andy stanley.com/podcast where you’ll find more resources to help you go further, faster. Comments are closed.