Page 78 - Appreciative Leadership

The Wisdom of Inquiry 51

Fostering High Performance
Relationships are formed, goals and roles are clear, and diff erences are
respected. In other words, the team foundation is in place for high per-
formance. Yet even at this point there are questions. Consider these:

• Tell me about a team that brought out your best; how did it do this?
• What is your image of us as a high-performing team?
• Based on your knowledge of other successful teams, what prin-
ciples guide high-performance teams?
• How shall we celebrate our successes?

When teams use inquiry to identify shared principles of high
performance and ways to celebrate success, they skyrocket to success.
They become what they study: a high-performing team.

Growing from Success
There is a time in the life of every team to pause and to reflect on the

way the team members are working together and with others. Unfor-
tunately, too many teams do this only in the face of problems, barriers,
or failures. Appreciative Leadership guides high-performing teams to
use inquiry as a way to grow from success. Helpful questions at this
time in a team’s life include these:

• What was the high point of the process or project for you?
• Who or what made this a successful endeavor for you? How?
• What can we learn from this situation to ensure our ongoing
success?
• If you were to give us an award, what would it be for, and what
would it be?

When teams take time to study and learn from their successes
and best practices, team members feel appreciated and the team
furthers its knowledge and collective wisdom. Team members