You hear it all the time: “High-performing teams.” It’s everywhere—keynote speeches, workshops, big strategic meetings. Clients tell us they want them, leaders dream of building them, and who wouldn’t want to be part of one? But honestly, in all the buzz, I’ve noticed we rarely stop to figure out what a high-performing team is.

It’s become one of those buzzwords, tossed around without anyone agreeing on what it means. If we don’t know what it is, how on earth are we supposed to build one?

I was thinking about this topic at a recent event. There were many genuinely helpful tips and tools, but the big question remained: What does “high performance” look like? Everyone is walking around talking about it, assuming we all mean the same thing.

When I’m working with clients, I’ll drill down to what is meant underneath the request. I also look at what is making the organisation successful, and the strengths it has.

From those experiences, I see four ways we can define “high performance” for a team.

Before I go on, I will apologise in advance to my brilliant colleague Ian Guyah-Low as I’m using a sports metaphor without knowing anything about sport. At least it makes a change from cats.

1. Are We Winning? (Achievement)

In this definition, “high-performance” is about achievement or success. It’s all about the numbers, the tangible wins.

Think of it like the Olympics: how many medals did we bag? How many goals did we score? In a work context, it’s about hitting those sales targets, getting projects done on time, snagging industry awards, or owning a big chunk of the market. It’s the clear “what” – what did the team get done? Did they smash expectations? This one’s all about the results.

2. Are We Working Smart? (Efficiency)

Aspire Leadership is a B-Corp, and we are keenly aware of the resources we use. Another way of defining high performance is efficiency and optimisation. Did we keep the effort and resources to a minimum for everything we produce?

Picture an Olympic sprinter. It’s not just about how fast they are, but how they hit max speed with hardly any wasted energy. For a team, this means slick processes, cutting out waste, making the most of our tools, and generally doing more with less. And of course, about the efficiency of using resources like energy.

It’s about the “how” – how cleverly and economically the team pulled off those results? Are they getting the best bang for their buck (or time, or effort)?

3. Can We Go The Distance? (Resilience)

When we discussed ina strategy meeting the qualities we wanted from the Aspire team, our director, Liz McKenchnie, said “grit.”

My third way of defining high performance is the marathon runner: resilience and endurance. Can the team keep up its top performance for the long haul? Can they bounce back from setbacks without everyone burning out?

This is all about the team’s ability to keep going, using their energy and resources sustainably as individuals and as a group. It’s about shaking off failures, learning from screw-ups, and staying consistent even when things get tough. This high-performing team isn’t just about quick wins; it’s about consistent, long-term effectiveness and ensuring everyone stays healthy and happy.

4. How Quickly Can We Change Gears? (Adaptability)

Finally, we’ve got adaptability and agility. Imagine a heptathlete who is brilliant at many different sports and can switch focus super-fast. In our wild, uncertain world (you know, that VUCA thing), being able to change quickly and easily is a big deal.

This dimension asks: how fast and well can the team react to new info, market shifts, or curveballs? Can they change their plans, learn new tricks, and try fresh approaches without missing a beat? It’s about how quickly they can react and learn when everything’s changing around them.

It Depends

Four definitions of high performance, then – which definition is correct? Like we often say on an Aspire Leadership training course, it depends!

In my experience working with organisations, there’s no single, universal definition of a high-performing team.

It comes down to the situation, driven by what the organisation values.

A hotshot startup in a crazy market might need loads of Achievement (grow, grow, grow!) and Adaptability (pivot, pivot, pivot!). A well-established company that wants stability might focus more on Efficiency (smooth operations) and Resilience (steady quality, happy staff).

And also, crucially, what makes the team members tick.

If my organisation needs a lot of Achievement and I have team members who aren’t motivated by competition, then I might be able to squeeze out some winds, but they will come with a price to engagement.

If market conditions require a lot of adaptability, and my team members are motivated by security, then I need to create a team culture that gives people the sense of safety they need to operate at their best.

We dig deep into this in our Line Management programme: How do we determine what truly motivates a team?

What makes them feel good and brings out their best work?

And, crucially, how do we ensure those individual and team drivers fit the company’s bigger goals and values?

So, our job as leaders isn’t to just slap a generic label on a team and expect high performance. It’s to:

• Discover what motivates your team members.
• Engage the team in a discussion on what high-performance is for the company’s current goals – and why.
• Connect the dots, showing everyone how their motivators help them hit the specific “high-performance” targets needed right now.

Finally and most importantly for me…

• Build the team dynamic—create a team culture that fosters the conditions for the high performance you seek by balancing the team’s motivators with the organisation’s needs.

Building the Team Dynamic is something my colleague Jess Sedler is particularly passionate about, and we examine in our public Senior Leadership programme.

You can find out more about how our team coaches like Jess and Lucy, work in-house with organisations to discover, engage, connect, and build high-performing teams here.

And the first thing they’ll ask you if you say you want a high-performing team:

What do you mean by that?