APAC Issue 4 2018 - Leading Teams

10 APAC / Issue 4 2018 , should never be on criticism or reproach, but always on improvement; on moving forward and driving even greater achievement for the team, and at Leading Teams this is something we work to cultivate in every team we support.” This unique model sets Leading Teams apart from its competitors in the market. It is also central to the firm’s own internal culture, as Martine explains. “Whilst many of our competitors in the leadership market are individuals working alone, at Leading Teams we are one team that practices what it preaches. We employ our own methods internally to ensure that we offer our clients the very best service and support possible. “Consisting of just 18 staff, we all work together as one team, despite the fact that we are based around the country and work with a range of different clients. We conduct training sessions several times a year to ensure that everyone fully understands the level of excellence they need to provide to their clients and can apply our model within their clients’ teams. “Thanks to our in-house application of our model, we are able to support each other in an environment where discussions around performance can safely take place. We have our own agreed behavioural framework – we call it our ‘trademark’ – and we all adhere to this, which has allowed us to create strong professional and personal relationships. As a team we have overcome a great many hardships thanks to our strong foundations, and as such whenever we recruit for new team members we always select candidates based on their behavioural traits, so that we know that they will fit well into our team and support their colleagues as well as their clients.” Recently there have been changes within the company’s team, as Leading Teams has expanded its workforce in light of its ongoing success. The firm is also moving to build upon its brand and expand the range of clients it works with. Martine and another director of Leading Teams recently attended a national HR summit to meet a range of industry experts and potential clients. Not only does this allow the company to gain greater exposure of its work in the industry, but it also gave Martine a vital insight into the current HR and team building market. “In the wider team building and HR space, in which Leading Teams operates, we are currently seeing a greater reliance on performance data by companies who are looking to improve productivity among their teams. At Leading Teams, we call this data ‘the mechanics’ of HR. The area that we work on is in the people, culture and behaviours of the team, or what we refer to as the ‘dynamics’. Rather than aiming solely for making a change in the data we concentrate our efforts in the team dynamics to address real behaviours by real people in the business. The outcome is still a positive shift in the data, but by focusing on the underlying behaviours we create a sustainable high performance culture at the same time.” Looking to the future, Leading Teams is committed to engaging with an ever-increasing number of teams looking to improve their performance. Whereas previously the firm’s clients were gained predominantly through referrals from other satisfied customers, going forward the company is eager to grow its brand and work with even more teams across the corporate landscape, whilst simultaneously ensuring that it retains its unique in-house culture and continues to provide the innovative approach that clients have come to rely upon. Martine concludes by exploring the strategies that the company will employ moving forward to achieve these aims. “Over the past 25 years, Leading Teams has achieved incredible success thanks to our unique high performance model and consistent approach, and as we look towards the future we intend to build upon this success by continuing to provide our clients with the same tried-and-tested model and exceptional service, whilst at the same time growing our own team to work with even more clients. We have recently welcomed several new staff members and are currently in the process of onboarding them so that they understand our work and know how to best support their clients. “The past few months have seen us establish new equity partnerships, which has led to a further four directors being incorporated. We also completed our annual vote for the leadership group that runs our business on a day-to-day basis, which is made up of some of our directors, including myself, as well as some of our other staff. We will all be continuing to drive excellence for Leading Teams and working collaboratively to ensure that we continue to deliver the same standards of excellence and performance improvement to all our clients. This will ensure that we continue to provide them with the support they need to create and maintain high performing teams.”