Leading Your High-impact Training Team

As learning and development leaders, we are charged with cultivating talent and empowering hospitality teams. But in order to achieve this, we first need to focus on being a high-impact training team ourselves (even if we are a team of one).

My definition of a high-impact team: A group of individuals who consistently achieve outstanding results, and significantly contribute to the organization's goals and success.

There are 10 characteristics of a high-impact team. I’ll be (mostly) focusing on the first two (the main drivers), as the other eight can’t happen effectively without them.

Must-haves for High-Impact Teams

1. Clear Vision, Mission, and Goals
2. Strong Leadership
3. High Level of Collaboration
4. Commitment to Excellence
5. Adaptability and Resilience
6. Accountability
7. Creativity and Innovation
8. Diversity and Inclusion
9. Effective Use of Technology and Tools
10. Regular Feedback and Development

Defining Your Vision, Mission, and Goals

It all begins with the necessary step of having a collective vision and a clear mission and goals. As team members work and collaborate toward organizational objectives, these elements align the team and serve as a guide to their actions. 

While your vision is your future focus, your mission is what you want to be known for. On my team, our mission is to “do learning good” – to be internal performance consultants for how to change behavior. We are always assessing how we impact the business.

My training team’s aspirational vision: To be the global leader in cultivating talent and empowering every team member, to deliver an unparalleled guest experience, and drive the future of the restaurant industry through continuous learning, innovation, and excellence.

This vision is our North Star. From there, our mission helps further define our clear goals and roles. Each member of your team should have their own individual goals, and they should be very clear about their role on the team. Your team is your own “bubble” within the company, with its own group culture and norms. We agree on how we behave and show up each and every day.

Leading with Authenticity and Transparency

Next up is you as a leader. How are YOU showing up every day?

By understanding yourself better, you can more effectively manage your team. If you are not self-aware, you are not emotionally intelligent. Emotional intelligence is crucial for making creating an environment where high-impact teams can thrive.

Self-awareness drives consistency, authenticity, and transparency. When you are self-aware, you can be fully engaged in your role, lead by example, and build trust with your team.

One of the best ways to build trust is to stand up for your team when they are disrespected, even by higher ups. You must be courageous as a leader to have those conversations and you must be self-aware to realize it even happened.

As leaders, we are responsible for removing barriers, providing resources, and fostering an environment where the team can achieve. My favorite role is to “block and tackle” – to get distractions and barriers out of my team's way so they can be successful.

Leaders should constantly assess their leadership style, seek feedback, and create personal action plans for improvement. Take deliberate actions to become a better leader.

One of the ways I seek feedback on my leadership from my team is to do a yearly review that asks three questions of them: Do you have what you need to be successful? Do you feel like you can be yourself with me as a leader? Is there anything you need me to do differently to help you be your best self?

I also actively read leadership books. Some of my favorites are Good to Great, Remarkable Leadership, The Leadership Pipeline, and HR Analytics. These resources provide actionable insights and great advice on how to improve yourself as a leader.

Solidifying Your High-impact Team (the other 8 characteristics)

After nailing the foundational characteristics of a clear vision, mission, and goals and strong, authentic, and transparent leadership, you can put the other pieces of the puzzle into place:

High Level of Collaboration – Team culture is very significant within a team, and hiring the right people is important. The people hired need to fit and be able to collaborate with the existing team. Use tools like StrengthsFinder to know and play off of each other’s strengths and help assign roles.

Commitment to Excellence – To create buy-in and commitment, your team should help create the shared vision, mission, and goals.

Adaptability and Resilience – It’s hospitality. Flexibility is a necessity. I regularly hold town hall-style meetings to update the team on the organizational changes and how their works aligns with the business priorities. And, I always, always ask my team’s perspective before sharing mine.

Accountability – Accountability must be shared among all team members, even the leader. But you can’t have accountability without defining what crystal-clear results you want. I have my team submit weekly wrap-ups to track progress and identify barriers. Set SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound). We train people on how to do SMART goals, but guess what? Sometimes we forget to do this ourselves.

Creativity and Innovation – This is where continuous improvement comes into play. It is important to encourage fresh ideas and innovation, and provide technology, tools, and resources for experimentation. All the while, don’t lose sight of focusing on the clear goals and holding team members accountable.

Diversity and Inclusion – To encourage fresh ideas and prevent stagnation, foster a diverse team, with varying personalities and backgrounds.

Effective Use of Technology and Tools – Use available tools for project management to help keep your team aligned. A way to do this (especially with a remote team) is by using project management tools like Smartsheet. It can help guide the decision-making process, delegate, and identify allocation of resources (if someone is overloaded).

Tech tools are also your friend when it comes to using data to tell the story of your team’s impact. Collecting data is essential for reporting achievements to senior leaders and ensuring the team's work is aligned with organizational goals. Share the impact you are making. If you don’t, I can assure you that the higher-ups won’t know.

Regular Feedback and Development – Continuous development and transparent communication within the team is fundamental. Hold regular touchpoints with your team members to keep them on track.

Wrapping Up

Some of these steps may seem like small things, but I promise you…if you intentionally focus on these drivers of a high-impact team, your team will back your vision every step of the way.

I’ll wrap this up with some actions you can take to set your high-impact team up for success:

1. Create a vision and mission for your team, involving team members in the process
2. Reflect on how you show up as a leader and identify areas for improvement in self-awareness and emotional intelligence
3. Develop a personal action plan to improve your leadership and lead a high-impact team effectively
4. Implement proven leadership practices, such as empowering team members, providing clear messaging, delegating tasks, and rewarding and recognizing team members
5. Assess the needs of your team, including having the right people, resources, clear goals and roles, open communication, and opportunities for innovation and collaboration
6. Utilize project management tools to keep your team aligned, facilitate collaboration, and track progress
7. Collect and analyze data to measure and communicate your team's impact on the organization and make data-driven decisions
8. Foster a positive team culture by promoting continuous development, diversity and inclusion, and effective use of technology and tools