A New Year, A New Team: Re-Aligning Values, Vision, and Performance
Welcome to 2026! A new year is the perfect opportunity to transition from "working together" to becoming a high-performing team, for a project team, a departmental team, or another type of team/group charter). This 2-month series is designed to help you and your team build a foundational vision from the ground up.
Week 1 Focus: Self-Awareness and Personal Values
High performance starts with the individual. Teams are only as strong as the individuals within the team. Before aligning as a team, let’s understand the unique "operating systems" each person brings to the table.
For the Leader: Take the "Living Your Leadership Values” assessment (below).
Reflect on:
Which of these values do you feel most proud of living out?
Which one, if violated, would make you feel as if you were betraying yourself?
Which value makes you a trusted leader, today?
Which value does your team need from you, today?
Step 2: Rate Your Current vs. Desired Level of Satisfaction
List top 5 Core Values in left column, below
Rate your current satisfaction with each core value (2nd Column). Use a scale of 1 to 10 to assess how aligned you feel with each of your Top 5 values.
Set your Desired Rating for each core value (3rd Column), using a scale 1 – 10
Calculate Gap - Desired Rating minus Current Rating (4th Column)
Step 4: Reflect and Integrate:
Identify your top three non-negotiable values. How do these show up in your leadership style?
What are you doing-or not doing-that contributes to a lower score for some values?
What patterns or themes emerged from your values and gaps?
How would closing the gap impact your leadership presence?
How would closing the gap impact your personal and professional satisfaction?
What would be different in a year, if you were to focus on activities to close these gaps?
Step 5: Action Plan Individually
Move forward one action plan each month or quarter. Once you are closing the gap on a specific value, move forward another action plan. This can be a full year activity, if you are dedicated to living your core values more authentically.
Step 6: Calendar Your Success
Our weeks get busy with many details. So often, we do not take time for strategy, for vision, for team building. In week one, calendar 1.5 hour sessions each week, over the next 6 weeks. Invite all team members, and share a brief message for all that your focus is to create a Team Vision, Focus, Charter based on high-performing teams.
This post is part of a New Year series on building intentional, high-performing teams. Future articles will continue the journey in the weeks ahead.