10 Traits Of High Performance Teams

Hi friends, I'm Bobby LeHew, Chief Content Officer at Commonsku. Occasionally we'll read an article from our blog that was popular with the community, and today I'm sharing an article from our series on high performance teams. And it's about the 10 traits all high performance promo teams possess. It includes the story of the record-breaking Formula 1 racing Red Bull team and surprising connection between a pit crew and a promo crew. It's just a few minutes long, and if you enjoy this article and feel it's helpful, share it with your team. Share it with a colleague. Today's article is brought to you by CommensQ, the work-from-anywhere platform that powers your connected workflow, enabling your high-performance team to process more orders and dramatically grow your sales. To learn more, visit commensq.com. Now here's the 10 traits all high-performance promo teams possess. In 2019, the Red Bull Formula 1 racing team, a pit crew of 20 people, set a new world record. They changed tires, refueled the car, adjusted aerodynamics, checked and repaired parts, and got the driver, Max Verstappen, back on course in under 2 seconds—1.82 to be precise. Blink and you could miss it. The average pit stop takes 2.4 seconds. Red Bull's record-breaking pit stop is a 25% improvement, an astounding feat when the smallest winning margin in a race can be a tenth of a second. Max Verstappen went on to win the Brazilian Grand Prix, and perhaps more notably, this was the third time the Red Bull Racing team crew broke their own world record that year alone. High-performance teams can win or lose a race. Like race car driving, we too live in a fast-paced business with high competitive threats and constant deadline pressure. For your crew, teamwork relies on a few critical essentials: the right tools to get the job done and the right people powered to do amazing work. Today, as many of you face record-breaking growth, you are hiring more than ever before. And many of you are hiring talent outside of the industry, which means you're left wondering how to assess the right person if experience doesn't shape your decision. Regardless of where your next hire comes from, the real secret to high-performance teams is best summed up by Christian Horner, the team principal at Red Bull Racing. Trish Medillion wrote that Horner, quote, puts teamwork and collaboration above all else as a recipe for success. Horner has seen it all and is having to constantly adapt to new technology and rules. End quote. To create extraordinary teamwork and collaboration, we've identified 10 crucial traits your high-performance crew should unfailingly possess. Use these traits in your one-to-ones as a gentle scorecard to measure performance. Share these traits among your team, even and especially among your seasoned pros. Talk about them, include them in your values. These 10 are hallmarks of winning teams. Here are the 10 traits. 1. Curiosity. They will need to learn about 1,000 different decoration methods, 100 various shirt options, 1,000 cup styles. A curious and open mind will guide them and keep them engaged. 2. Flexibility. Pivot power. Your team will need to be able to pivot quickly. Supplier out of stock? Pivot. Missed ship date? Pivot. Pivoting away from problems towards solutions is a special kind of mastery the pros know and is a non-negotiable for those working with inventory deadlines and production. 3. Respectful tenacity. Sometimes your team will have to get very direct with manufacturers and clients, and they need to be able to do so tactfully and respectfully. They need to be able to effect change with the convincing force of a hurricane but through the sweet disposition of a gentle rain. Sounds strange, but the best of them convince kindly but with authority. 4. Exactitude and thoroughness. A detail-oriented mindset tempered by deadlines. Obsessiveness about getting it right. Many salespeople wouldn't classify themselves as detail-oriented, but many become that way as they navigate the complexity of the promo world. And number 5 in our 10 traits your high-performance crew should possess: patience. Grace under pressure. Patience with leadership. Patience with colleagues. Patience with suppliers. There will be high pressure in these roles from time to time, and often on back-to-back days. Make sure they can handle it with compassion. 6. Conscientiousness, or what I like to call "give-a-shittedness." They need to care strongly about the outcome of each transaction. This is surprisingly one of the most challenging traits to teach. Either they possess it or they catch it learning from you and your team, but each team member will need to be able to see projects through to deadline without handholding. 7. Interdependence. Working on a team in this business requires an interdependent attitude. All parties must possess a confident humility and deference toward one another. And like the racing team mentioned above, every single person is needed, working harmoniously while under, at times, intense conditions. Rick Stevens, Senior Vice President of HR at the Boeing Corporation, said, "There's not one specific thing or skill people have to have to work for us, but I can tell you why we fire people." Soft skills. We hire for hard skills, we fire for soft skills. The ability to interact and communicate with others or behave ethically and take responsibility for things tends to be where people tend to break down. End quote. Number 8, initiative. Enough said. Number 9, confidence. We asked Sandy Gonzalez, CEO at Made to Order, a successful large distributor, to identify the number one trait all top salespeople have and what many salespeople lack. Without hesitation, she said, Confidence. You can't have 100% confidence in inventory 100% of the time. You can't have 100% confidence in decorating capabilities when viewing complex artwork. You can't have 100% confidence in timelines until you talk to the factory. There's a lot to be unsure of, but memorable sales moments are not predicated on the known factors. If it were simple and clear, they wouldn't need you. The best sales opportunities are created by exploring the unknowns through the certainty of what you do know. And number 10 is the most critical, crucial trait regardless of role. Adopt a client mindset. Peter McCutcheon from Harper Scott is ASI's 2022 Distributor Salesperson of the Year. According to ASI, he, quote, increased his sales by more than 250% and hit 8 figures, end quote. In March, Mark Graham, Comiskey's co-founder and chief brand officer, and I traveled to Brooklyn and enjoyed sitting down with a part of Harper Scott's team, including Peter. And learned from Peter that a large part of his success stems from his mindset. Prior to joining Harper Scott, he was a significant buyer of promo, working on the client side and agency side first. Danny Meyer, the famous restaurateur, suggested an imagination exercise each of us should try when interviewing a candidate. Imagine this person working on the most complicated, stressful, multi-product order for your biggest client. Can they think like the client, understand what's at stake and why this project matters? Can this person handle the complex details of the order? Can they shepherd projects through multiple suppliers, corral kitting and packaging, and bring order out of chaos? Can they handle out-of-stocks gracefully with both suppliers and clients? Can they sync with your team graciously while communicating with your busy client in a way that exudes calmness and provides assurance? The, quote, sales force is now democratized, meaning everyone is in sales now. Virtually everyone works with either critical clients or critical supplier partners. Therefore, a non-negotiable is that they should have amazing client skills, and the best way to adopt those skills is to think like a client. About Red Bull leader Christian Horner, Trish further wrote that not only does he put teamwork and collaboration above all else as a recipe for success, but, quote, Horner has seen it all and is having to constantly adapt to new technology and rules. Formula 1 racing is one of the most watched sporting events outside of soccer and the Olympics. And by the way, they do a hell of a job with merch. And yet they're in a constant state of change. The rules may change for you and your team too. Hello, supply chain. The client may change. Hello, kidding. The tech may change. Hello, shiny new software. But according to Horner, your biggest asset is your people. The brainpower and the way they work together. People feed off each other, and when you've got that stimulus within a group, people bouncing ideas off each other, that's what drives the performance of the car forward. End quote. Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this article, you can subscribe to more at community.commonskeew.com. Until next time, friends.