Building High-Performance Teams

August 10, 2024

Forget the bullshit about companies being like families. Unless you’re massive enough to be cool with mediocrity, treat your company like a high-performance sports team.

Here’s some life lessons from my 10 years of building such teams:

1. Set the Bar Sky-High

Hire like your company’s life depends on it – because it does.

When someone leaves, don’t rush to replace them. Your team might have leveled up enough to absorb the work. When our backend dev left, I took on their tasks and realized we could redirect resources to a frontend hire instead. Always be pushing the envelope of what your team can accomplish.

2. No Brilliant Jerks Allowed

One toxic superstar can tank your entire operation. I learned this the hard way early in my career.

A 10x engineer turned into a nightmare, and executives lost control. The team’s morale and productivity nosedived. Only after they left did the team rebuild and go on to create world-class products.

Teamwork trumps individual brilliance every time. Don’t rely on one. Rely on everyone.

3. Feedback is Fuel

Praise publicly, critique privately. Do them rapidly.

Recognize contributions in front of everyone, especially the behind-the-scenes work. This builds trust and sets you up to deliver necessary criticism.

A team member who gets honest feedback from a leader who praises them openly is primed to improve rapidly.

They’ll want that next moment in the spotlight.

4. Play to Strengths

Your goalkeeper isn’t your striker.

Identify each team member’s superpower and leverage it. When giving feedback, focus on amplifying their strengths, not nitpicking weaknesses.

Don’t waste time trying to make your data scientist a sales expert.

5. Push Past Limits, Then Keep Pushing

We had an intern who started with zero Python knowledge.

Within a year, she was building machine learning models, deploying web apps, and publishing APIs.

Why? Because we kept raising the bar.

When someone blows past your expectations, set new ones.

Your job is to unlock their potential through coaching, resources, and relentless encouragement.

6. Crank Up the Heat

Review progress daily. If you’re stagnating, it’s time for a surge.

Set massive objectives and squash excuses.

Demand what your team is truly capable of – not what’s comfortable.

Work overtime if needed. Your mission is to show them how much they can achieve and make them proud of their own capabilities.

7. Strategic Recovery

Even championship fighters don’t battle every day.

After intense pushes or major deliveries, give your team time to recharge. Keep them engaged with lighter, meaningful tasks during recovery periods.

This is a work in progress. I am a work in progress.

But this should be enough get started with.

I can’t wait to see the teams you will build.

Good luck and godspeed.