5 Steps to Building High Performance

As a leader, you are responsible for putting the pieces in place to build a High Performance Organization that will fire on all cylinders in both the short- and long-term.

To ensure that your leadership development programs are setting leaders up to succeed, make sure that your action learning components include projects and skills that include these five key leadership capabilities:

1. Ability to Manage for Two Outcomes — Achievement and Failure. This includes unifying and aligning the organization on key objectives and strategy (definition of organizational success), articulating clearly what represents failure (low performance), and improving the quality of individual performance measures (achievement).
   
   
2. Creation of Meaning. Ensure that your people have strong and compelling reasons to remain with the organization during times of uncertainty and change.
   
   
3. Clear Performance Standards. Maintain a narrow, fair, and trusted range of acceptable performance standards.
   
   
4. Differentiated Performance. Make certain that high performers are receiving the greater share of available rewards in concert with their contributions.
   
   
5. Improve or Out. Deal with low performers by providing support and high expectations for improvement if they are to remain with the team.