Article
So, what’s our team supposed to do and why do we exist?
August 15, 2020
The Leader Must Help the Team Define its Mission and Long-Term Direction and Translate This into Actionable Goals and Priorities
First ask your team to decide: “Why does this team exist and what is its purpose and mission”
Just as the organization as a whole needs a clearly defined mission and direction, the senior team – and subsequently every other team that evolves as the organization grows – also needs clear direction and a compelling sense of team purpose. This will provide focus, motivation and discipline to all team members. Everyone on the team needs to understand why the team exists, how it is supposed to add value and how its work fits into the broader mission and strategy of the organization.
Too often, a team’s time and attention are eaten up by crisis management and today’s pressing problems. Teams can become overly reactive rather than proactive. This leaves little or no time for strategic thinking. So, it is very important, when a team is being formed, to define a meaningful mission and clarify the purpose of the team, basically to ask: Why are we here? What does the team do? Why is it important? The executive team should revisit that theme regularly and not spend all its time fighting fires.
Having a well-defined and shared purpose or a compelling sense of mission unites people around a cause, such as curing a major illness or creating a new technology that will revolutionize the world. High performing teams need this kind of focus and motivation and a set of performance challenges that give meaning to their efforts. Having clear, focused, and challenging goals helps you and your team members decide what’s in and what’s out, what’s important or not important, what helps you achieve the mission and what isn’t helpful.
A clearly defined purpose creates a foundation for important decisions about the team itself. What is necessary and critical in order for us to achieve our purpose? What are the criteria for team membership that will help us achieve this? What skills, knowledge, and experience are needed by team members? What sort of things should we be working on in pursuit of our goals? How often do we need to meet to assess our progress?
Here are some questions for the team to consider:
- What is our role as a team?
- What work have we been brought together to focus on?
- What do we want to achieve as a team?
- Where do we add value to the organization?
- How will working together help us deliver more value than working as individuals?
- What does success look like and how will we measure it?
- What long-term team goals should we be focused on?
- What should be our team priorities?
- What should we be accountable for?
- Where should we spend our time doing together?
- What kind of decisions should we make as a team?
- What is the scope of our authority?
- Should we emphasize operational problem solving, generating ideas and solutions, information exchange, making strategic decisions, or overseeing tactical execution?
- How do we decide who should be members of the team?
- What format should we follow for our meetings, setting the agenda, and following-up?
- How often should we meet and for how long?
- What challenges will we face as a team?
- How can we support one another more effectively to achieve team purpose?
- What other teams or organization do we need to engage, coordinate and collaborate in order to be successful?
Suggestion:
When teams are forming and team members hardly know each other, spend some time together outside the company, having dinners together, getting to know each other personally and learning each other’s background and strengths. “In spite of efforts to improve performance, most organizations struggle to provide what people really need most to be successful – an emotional connection to the team and work,” says Curt Coffman, author of Culture Eats Strategy for Lunch.
Defining the Team’s Broader Objectives and Goals: What Should We Actually Be Doing?
Once the central focus of the team is clear – and as much as possible this should be determined by the members of the team, not floated down from on high – the next step is to set specific, challenging, consequential goals that support the primary purpose and define what is to be accomplished.
The leader plays a critical role in translating broad vision, mission, and strategic direction into specific and measurable performance goals for the team. These goals need to be specific enough to get the team to focus on the critical actions needed to hit its targets and get results. They will be different from the broader organizational goals, and from individual goals, but all should be aligned. The overall organizational mission translates into strategic objectives, and cascades down to functional goals, team goals, and individual goals. It is important that the team’s objectives are created together to gain commitment from its members.
- What should be our team and individual performance objectives for the next year?
- How do our team’s objectives align with the company strategy and priorities?
- What specific deliverables should we be held accountable for?
- What should be our critical priorities for the next month, quarter, year?
- How should we measure our performance and track progress on our team goals?
- How should we report on our progress toward individual and team goals?
- What interdependencies are important and require collaboration, coordination and regular communication?
- What actions need to be taken to achieve each of our individual and team goals?
- How should we celebrate progress and wins?
Decide together
. Work closely with the team to determine what results, deliverables and work products the team should focus on. What does the team need to make happen? Be sure each team member understands what part he or she has to play toward achieving the team’s goals. As the leader, it’s your job to help build commitment, mutual support, and alignment of all team members around the team’s objectives and goals. Here are some guidelines:
- Discuss goals and priorities regularly and push for clarity and specificity. When the conversation wanders off target, bring the team back to focus on the essentials – the goals and priorities and how to accomplish them.
- Write the goals down, being sure to get input and involvement from team members, and re-think and rewrite together with the team until they are in a form that is clear, simple, specific, and measurable.
- It is important to get all team members to agree upon the goals and their importance, as well as on what metrics or milestones will be indicators of their achievement.
- Formulating the goals together gives a feeling of shared accountability. This process will make it easier for the team to maintain focus on what is critical, as well as to track progress and hold itself accountable.
If, instead of a team process, generating strategic objectives and goals is always decreed from above and doesn’t allow a collaborative process to develop, the level of member buy-in will be reduced, because they had no ownership role in creating the goals they’re expected to live by. Shared objectives and goals are more powerful than those dictated by the leader. A micro-managing, high-control, autocratic leader will tell people what the goals ought to be; an effective team leader facilitates a discussion among team members to formulate the objectives together. This is especially true for members of the Millennial generation, and knowledge workers who expect to be consulted and to work together in formulating priorities.
Goals should be challenging but attainable. The great artist and architect Michelangelo said, “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark.” Team as well as individual goals should stretch people and challenge them, but still be realistic enough to be achievable. Google employs two types of goals, “committed” and “aspirational”. People are expected to achieve committed, absolute goals 100%. For aspirational goals (otherwise referred to as “moonshots” and “BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals)” achieving 70% is considered quite okay.
Measure progress with milestones. It is important to create milestones that will allow for small wins along the way, so people have a tangible way to feel they are progressing.
share this
Related Articles
Related Articles
Reprint from Thought Economics, A Journey of Intellectual Capital
Startup founders represent the ultimate paradox: celebrated for their innovative brilliance yet notoriously susceptible to failure. In reality, the difference between astronomical success and dismal failure boils down to a surprisingly consistent set of behaviors and personality traits. Drawing from extensive 360 feedback studies, personality assessments, and deep insights from Founders Keepers, we've unraveled exactly what separates winners from losers in the startup world. Myth-busting: Genius Jerks Rarely Prevail A common myth persists that successful founders must be narcissistic, domineering, and abrasive—the stereotypical "genius jerk." Yet, our rigorous analysis of data from 122 founders, comparing the top performers (at least 10X returns) with bottom performers (zero returns), decisively shatters this myth. Successful founders, contrary to popular belief, rarely succeed because of egocentric ruthlessness. Instead, they thrive due to their extraordinary adaptability, relationship-building skills, disciplined execution, and deep personal grounding. Meanwhile, unsuccessful founders often implode because of their rigidity, isolation, impulsivity, and inability to truly lead teams. Adaptability: The Endless Pursuit of Product-Market Fit Successful founders understand one critical truth: product-market fit isn't a finish line; it’s a continuous process. They show an exceptional ability to: Remain open to input, eagerly soliciting and integrating team feedback. Effectively manage resistance, empathetically addressing team concerns. Skillfully create buy-in, building commitment through transparency and genuine engagement. In contrast, unsuccessful founders typically fail due to rigidity. They stubbornly anchor themselves to outdated strategies, ignore valuable feedback, and react defensively to challenges, eventually becoming roadblocks in their own companies. Relationship Building: From Loners to Leaders A pivotal distinction lies in the ability to work effectively through others. Successful founders consistently excel in empowering their teams. They: Delegate effectively, granting autonomy while clearly defining expectations. Maintain trust through consistent behavior, integrity, and transparency. Develop robust emotional intelligence, adeptly managing conflict and strengthening team cohesion. Unsuccessful founders, on the other hand, struggle profoundly with delegation. Their chronic micromanagement erodes trust and morale, creating environments of fear and resentment. They often isolate themselves, failing to build genuine relationships, thus missing critical insights and innovations their teams could provide. Execution: Discipline Over Charisma Execution—arguably the most underrated pillar of startup leadership—truly separates winners from losers. Successful founders meticulously: Set clear, measurable, and achievable goals. Follow through relentlessly, holding themselves and others accountable. Create robust systems and processes to scale effectively. Conversely, unsuccessful founders typically suffer from chronic disorganization and impulsivity. Their inability to prioritize, constant pivots without strategic clarity, and poor follow-through generate chaos and stifle growth. Personal Grounding: Stability Amidst Chaos Perhaps most counterintuitively, successful founders exhibit deep personal grounding—a trait seldom highlighted in sensational startup narratives. They: Demonstrate emotional resilience, remaining composed under extreme stress. Exhibit patience, tolerating ambiguity and uncertainty with grace. Maintain optimistic yet realistic perspectives, avoiding destructive cycles of anxiety or panic. Unsuccessful founders, however, often spiral under pressure. Their volatility and emotional reactivity exacerbate crises, leading to poor decision-making and destructive interpersonal dynamics. Self-Awareness: The Hidden Driver of Success Underpinning all these traits is profound self-awareness—arguably the most critical competency of all. Successful founders consistently seek self-improvement, humbly recognizing their weaknesses and proactively addressing them. They actively solicit honest feedback, never fearing the vulnerability required for growth. Unsuccessful founders, conversely, often display a tragic lack of self-awareness. Their denial of shortcomings, defensiveness to feedback, and unwillingness to evolve ultimately doom their startups. Real-World Wisdom: Voices from the Trenches Beyond the data, the human stories captured in 360 feedback illustrate these differences vividly: Successful founders receive praise like, “He constantly solicits input, adapts swiftly, and builds deep trust. His humility makes everyone want to follow him.” Unsuccessful founders, by contrast, earn harsh critiques: “He ignores input, reacts defensively, and insists on controlling every detail. The team is disengaged and demoralized.” These narratives underscore the simple but powerful truth that the best founders aren't isolated geniuses—they’re skilled leaders who build environments where everyone can thrive. The Path Forward: Turning Insights into Action If you're a founder, investor, or leader within the startup ecosystem, confront these truths head-on. Assess yourself and your organization rigorously: Are you truly adaptable, or merely superficially agile? Are you empowering your team, or stifling their potential? Are you executing with discipline, or flailing with chaos? Are you grounded emotionally, or reactive and volatile? Are you genuinely self-aware, or defensively delusional? Final Thoughts Ultimately, founder success isn’t about flashy charisma or ruthless ambition. It’s about a disciplined commitment to growth—both personal and organizational. Embrace adaptability, deepen your self-awareness, and master the art of leadership grounded in trust and integrity. This is not merely good advice—it’s the proven difference between a startup’s spectacular success and its avoidable failure. What traits do you see defining successful and unsuccessful founders in your experience? Let's discuss!
