Building a High-Performance Team: Leadership Strategies for Scale-Up Businesses

There are business visionaries out there who see a future in which the products or services they’re developing are integral and guide their companies according to a long-term master plan (e.g. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Elon Musk). Personally, I don’t believe you need to see the future from A to Z to have a successful strategy or lead an organization. 

On the contrary, if you can identify near-term opportunities, execute them, and then build on them in an iterative cycle, that is a smart and pragmatic approach to strategy.  When you ski through the trees, you don’t see all of the turns you’re going to make, because they're hidden behind the trees.  Have the confidence to know that when you make your way around the tree, you’ll see the next turn (or have an option of a couple of different turns) to continue your successful run. And when you have the right team surrounding you, zipping through the trees in search of your next turn isn’t as scary.

Your team members are the most important cohort you have. Getting the right people working together in the right way on the right things is the most vitally important thing you can do as a leader, and the success of your team stems from the way they are treated.

As you work to build a team, there are a few things I’ve learned that tend to make a big difference when it comes to bridging the gap between having any team behind you and having a high-performance team behind you.  

Build your culture and actively nurture it. 

As a leader, you will be the primary voice establishing how people in the organization behave – the company’s culture.   At the companies I co-founded, we worked vigilantly to create and maintain a culture in which people were treated fairly and with respect. Our team members were trusted, given responsibility and opportunities for advancement, and compensated fairly. In return, we expected that they work hard focusing their energies on the objectives of the organization and not their own individual agendas. When missteps inevitably happened, we never looked for specific individuals to blame. Instead, we collectively learned from our failures (and successes). Our employees’ faith that they would not be blamed if things didn’t go as planned resulted in them not being afraid to try and take appropriate risks. I’ve found that If team members feel trusted, they’ll generally be more loyal and committed to the company’s success which engenders more trust in them. It’s a virtuous circle.

Make everyone your partner.

Although your team members are the most important cohort, the people working for your clients and vendors are also critically important members of your larger-scale team. Charge or pay them fairly, provide great service, and treat them like partners. As in life, things in business often don’t go as planned. If a client or vendor messes up, that’s an opportunity to show them you’re a partner and not trying to maximize economic returns in every situation. That behavior builds trust and loyalty with them. If your company messes up, see how your clients and vendors behave and let them know you’d appreciate some grace and being treated like a partner by them. This is how we built long-term relationships and decided who we wanted to work with. It works.  

Part ways gracefully when things aren’t working out.

When an essential team member decides to leave your organization, it’s appropriate to try and talk them out of it. Especially if you think it’s a mistake. If they leave anyway, wish them all the best and offer to do what you can for them in the future. The world is small and round and you never know when or how you may cross paths with talented people down the road. Beyond that, the rest of your team is watching. Nothing makes a company’s morale crumble faster than seeing others treated disrespectfully. 

On the other side of things, when someone isn’t working out in a role, most managers know it far before action is taken to move them out of the organization. Well-meaning managers can give multiple chances and the benefit of the doubt to inadequate performers. This leniency often results in unnecessary damage, drags down the morale of folks who are performing well, causes distraction, hurts your culture, etc.  Listen to your instincts and if someone isn’t working out, take action quickly.  I never fired anyone too soon, but I’ve definitely fired people too late and the rest of my team suffered because of it.  

Embrace diverse perspectives in building your team 

Embrace diversity, not because it’s the right thing to do, but because different perspectives are vital.  I’m a fan of diversity in every flavor – socioeconomic, age, gender, race, background, and experiences.  All provide different perspectives which are valuable in making decisions.  Without diversity, you miss opportunities of perspectives you haven’t considered. Relatedly, you’ll also be at greater risk to blind spots due to the homogenous nature of the group. To fully take advantage of your diverse team, you have to be open to hearing all points of view (what Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio calls an “idea meritocracy”).  The understanding here is that anyone, regardless of their position or tenure in the organization, is welcome and encouraged to give their perspective and it will be considered. In exchange, they agree that if the company decides on an idea/approach other than that they are advocating, they will get on board wholeheartedly with the decision made.

Choose honesty, transparency, and humility.

Leading by example is key here. See things clearly. Be honest with your team and honest with yourself.  I continually fail in big and small ways. We all do. It’s fundamental to the human condition – why would we expect anything different at work? Accepting setbacks and trial and error as a necessary part of growth enables us to be honest about our failures, learn from them, and try and improve for the future. Maintaining optimism and confidence while expressing vulnerability and admitting shortcomings/mistakes as a leader gets you credibility and helps to build trust across your organization. Running a scale-up business is hard enough without pretending to be doing everything right all the time. To quote Morgan Housel, author of Psychology of Money, “Planning is important, but plan on the plan not going according to plan.” 

Having said that, success requires grit and tenacity. So have the wisdom to know when to pivot and when to grind.  And if you are uncertain on a path, listen to your gut and ask honest brokers who will tell you the truth.

Making the choice to run or work at a scale-up stage business is a big one. There’s a lot at play for both yourself and your team, and every decision makes a big difference. It’s a lot of pressure, but also a fantastic experience that will lead to personal growth beyond your imagination. 

Of all of the decisions you’ll make, the strategic choice to build a high-performance team is one of the most important. By building a vibrant culture, treating your team, vendors, and clients with the utmost respect, embracing diversity in experiences and opinions, and acting with transparency, you can build a team that truly has your business’ best interest in mind, helping to propel you to the success you desire. 

Scale-up stage organizations are flat and lean. They have fewer resources and a thinner bench of talent.  If you’re on the leadership team of one of these organizations, what you do matters. Much more than it would working at a large business which generally has greater resources and redundancy. So a leadership role at a scale-up business is inherently harder, riskier and more stressful, but, in my experience, is infinitely more satisfying and fun. As soon as I felt relatively competent and confident in my career, I wanted what I did at work every day to matter.  The final lines of Mary Oliver’s famous poem “The Summer Day” are:

 “Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?”

I believe this beautiful and thought provoking question should also be applied to your career.  You have talent, how do you want to put it to use?

Go make something happen.