by Gary R. Gasaway (USA)
For years, I have witnessed many of my manager peers treat their employees unfairly, disrespectfully, and with truly little value. Thus, I also observed these same poorly managed and unsatisfied employees under perform in their jobs. Meanwhile, I was enjoying employee high moral and performance, mutual trust and respect, and completely satisfied team members. Yes – team members. What I was experiencing resulted from a group of employees that appreciated their position, worked hard, and completed performance goals. These employees were not just barely surviving like my peers’ employees, they were thriving! Why? Because they were a part of a high-performance team.
As a leader, it was my role to encourage collaboration and teamwork. I understood that the members of my team needed to work together collaboratively with one another to achieve more than just working independently. Working in a positive, team environment allows for effective communication, resolving inner-team conflict, purposeful direction, focus, accomplishing unified goals, and providing a results-driven structure. I discovered that the establishment of a high-performing team led to desirable performance improvements such as: improved productivity, efficiency, quality, employee satisfaction, and not to mention the emotional components of happiness, joy, and harmony with all team members.
I believe the key to my success was mostly due to developing standards of excellence, and then setting an example for others to follow. Truly, communication was a priority in establishing principles concerning the plans and direction that ultimately provided an avenue in which employees’ performance goals ought to be pursued. The key was to actively involve my employees, ask for feedback, and resolve any issues by keeping the doors of communication always candid and open. In fact, I believe communication is the number one factor for successful team performance. My employees understood that mutual respect and honesty allowed for them to perform at their highest peak; and they strived to create an atmosphere of trust and dignity within the team. They knew the importance of strengthening others because it made each person feel capable and effective to be the best they could be.
Source: iCN Issue 30 (Group & Team Coaching); pages 10-12
About Gary R. Gasaway
Gary is the founder of Conflict Coaching Solutions, LLC, a professional life coaching business that focuses on inspiring individuals, couples, and/or groups to transform their conflictive situations into positive solutions.
Before creating his company, Gary was a “corporate coach” for a large utility company in Southern California. During his 32 years with this company, Gary designed and developed several coaching courses and workshops that he facilitated to supervisors and managers throughout the company.
Gary also has now written and published four books: The Coach’s Chronicles Trilogy and The Reflection Connection. A new book: A Simple Life, is coming out this autumn. For additional information regarding Gary and his business or books, go to: conflictcoachingsolutions.com
