Developing into a high-performance leader enables your team to produce better than expected outcomes, which advances the company. However, how can this be accomplished without endangering health and in a way that inspires employees?
Employee performance is frequently given top attention when discussing productivity, but if this is not well handled, it can result in pressure and even too many chores, which can have the opposite impact and cause disease.
For leaders, this means knowing how to balance the obligations and goals established for the team, with the ability to observe and monitor employee performance, avoiding overloading them.
What is high-performance leadership?
Of course, regardless of the type of company or industry, every manager wants to deliver good performance. So, what differentiates the concept of high performance ? The goal, in these cases, is to maintain above-average results, not just meeting targets but exceeding them.
For this to be possible, however, it is necessary to develop an aligned team with the same objectives, capable of identifying the importance of achieving these results, but also seeking innovation.
And this only happens in an environment that encourages these professionals to be productive and innovative, considering their limitations and balance with other aspects of their lives.
Otherwise, they begin to accumulate responsibilities, live their routine under constant pressure, and have no time for other aspects of their lives, or even to seek new knowledge that will help their careers.
As a result, performance will actually decline, and the impact of these impositions will leave employees feeling dissatisfied and unmotivated. In addition to leading to layoffs or productivity losses, this can lead to more serious issues such as burnout and other mental disorders.
How to promote high performance and avoid illness?
Avoiding this requires leadership that understands the severity of these consequences and works in partnership with the team to prevent it from happening. These professionals need to maintain open communication and understand that what they say and how they behave impact the team.
We know that there is a boss profile , considered old-fashioned by today’s market standards, that focuses on giving orders, without thinking about how to transform these people into a high-performance team.
These behaviors may be easier, as they require less planning and less empathy, but they’re unlikely to result in a performance-focused team. Here’s how to promote high performance without making people sick:
1 – Understand the limitations of the work
Regardless of how productive one may want to be, there is a limit to the number of hours an individual can work to accomplish some tasks. Unless a leader knows the amount of time it takes to accomplish some tasks, they might end up requiring more output, which translates to overtime.
Working extra hours a day, however, does not equate to productivity. In fact, it results in procrastination and mental exhaustion.
2 – Invest in feedback
Leadership involves giving feedback to employees such that they can modulate their performance based on what the company wants. But for this to happen, the conversation has to be organized and planned, with real-life examples and enumerating ways in which improvement is possible.
In addition, one should listen attentively and inspire feedback from the team. In this way, managers will know if the workload is too heavy, if the employees are mentally fit, and also give space for more profound conversations and the possibility to learn more about them.
3 – Solutions orientation
Most bosses, when things don’t go right, blame somebody. However, while some errors can be corrected and prevented from happening again, the key is to concentrate on solutions.
Unexpected things happen, and complaining about who did this and who did not do that will not fix it. Identifying effective ways to solve problems prevents additional stress and motivates the team to act in the same manner.
4 – Encourage teamwork
A little bit of competition is healthy for the team, but when it comes to team performance, ideally, individuals should work together to obtain outcomes. If one has more advanced information on a specific subject, they can assist one another in completing a task. In this manner, both parties resolve the issue, and no one is overworked.
5 – Promote work-life balance
Working oneself into the ground is usually a habit when one has personal issues or does not find anything else worth anything except work. That’s not healthy over time, because creating lasting bonds beyond the office and doing what one loves with family and friends and outside activities bring happiness and satisfaction.
A good leader ought to be able to motivate individuals to spend time on life outside the company, such as preventing them from working for long hours.
