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Having worked with hundreds of executive leadership teams, I’ve been a witness to both teams that become high performing and produce breakthrough results, and others that stay mediocre at best.  

So the question that I continue to reflect on is this: What is the difference that makes the difference? 

From my experience, it boils down to three things: 

1. The Leader – the desire, mindset and practices of the leader itself 

2. The Foundations – what is necessary to establish a “conducive team climate” and align deeply on the “three blueprints” necessary for high performance  

3. The Rhythm – systemising a high performance team rhythm 

 

In this post, I focus on #2 above, specifically the three blueprints necessary for high performance, namely, the: 

1. Directional Blueprint 

2. Execution Blueprint 

3. Operating Blueprint 

  

1. Directional Blueprint 

 The 3 key deliverables that constitute the directional blueprint are: 

  • Purpose – At the deepest level, what we believe about the most compelling and important reasons for our existence.
  • Goals – The vital few (1 to 4) most important goals that we must achieve in the next 12 months.
  • Shifts – For the team to move to the next level of maturity and performance, what are the vital few mind-set and behaviour shifts (From/To) that the team needs to make.  

2. Execution Blueprint 

 The 3 key deliverables that constitute the execution blueprint are: 

  • Levers – The few big levers that if we pull, will make the biggest impact in us achieving our goals. For example, if my goal is loose weight, then the two biggest levers I can pull are diet and exercise. 
  • Initiatives List – To execute on the key levers:    
    • What killer key initiatives (projects or chunks of work) must we START?
    • What initiatives or pieces of work can we STOP because they are no longer aligned to our purpose and goals?
    • What are aligned initiatives or pieces of work that we are already doing as part of BAU (business as usual), but can do much BETTER?
  • Implementation Plans – For each new initiative, how specifically are we going to implement it e.g. scope, approach, milestones, resources, budgets, timeframe, responsibility etc.  

3. Operating Blueprint 

 The 3 key deliverables that constitute the operating blueprint are: 

  • Scoreboard – A simple but powerful snapshot of our progress – something that enables us to gauge whether or not we are winning, and help us to make any necessary adjustments to maximise our chances of winning.
  • Meetings Architecture – An agreed view of the time we invest together, including: 
    • For what purpose? 
    • How long for? 
    • How often?
    • When?
    • How do we set up all our time and interactions for success?
  • Rules of play – How will we operate as a team i.e. the agreed rituals, routines and practices that enable us to: 
    • build strong teaming muscles
    • maximise the return on investment of our time together 
    • increase the probability of achieving our goals with speed, passion and precision

 

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