This week’s Guest Blog is from our Associate Trainer Tania Ashton Jones

Have you ever experienced that feeling of exhilaration that’s generated when you have clear direction on what you want to do, know exactly how to execute it, all underpinned by a focus on why you are doing it and combined with a positive outcome?

As Mark Cavendish made history last month, becoming cycling’s road race World Champion, a title not achieved by a Brit since 1965, it is worth taking a moment out to think about the magnitude of this success alongside his many other achievements to date in the cycling world.

You may well be asking yourself how this equates to you. As a senior manager or leader in an organisation, how you conduct yourself and the support of your team can be paramount to your success and that of your organisation. There are a number of key areas cropping up time and time again when Mark Cavendish talks about his team members and when his team members talk about him. All help to provide an insight into elite performance and success. Support, commitment, professionalism, mental strength, role responsibility and shared planning and goals are reiterated constantly as well as talk of the confidence and self-belief held, despite the various relentless pressures they face in pursuit of their goals and dreams.

There are numerous adjectives to describe the sheer will and determination of elite performing teams and individuals. The coaching process provides an opportunity to generate responsibility amongst every member and instil a sense of empowerment individually and collectively to drive success. As managers and leaders you need to feel you are empowered to make important decisions as well as recognising it is within your hands to encourage empowerment amongst your staff. This can generate creativity, innovation and a belief to succeed. Shared vision, values and goals can generate momentum to take a business forward effectively and productively whilst building confidence, self-belief and enhancing performance.

Take time out to re-evaluate how aligned you and your team are in pursuit of success:

Shared Vision

• Explore the vision held by each individual team member to understand their view on the team or organisation and where it aspires to be.

Values

• Review individual, team, leader and company values to ensure they are aligned.
• If required, seek to establish new values to support and enhance the culture of your organisation.
• Generate accountability across everybody for demonstrating behaviours in line with the values.

Goals

• Collectively create clear goals.
• Ensure each member understands not only the team goals but also their individual contribution and role in achieving them.
• Identify the resources to achieve these goals and have a key awareness of the skills of your team and how they can be effectively utilised.

These three areas alone will start to move everybody forward to feeling they have control, and are empowered in their day-to-day tasks as well as you the manager having confidence in their role supporting you. Ultimately aim to establish some ground rules to ensure you experience on a regular basis that exhilarating feeling when everything comes together to produce a positive outcome.

Tania Ashton-Jones