As a manager, your job isn’t just to oversee tasks—it’s to work together with your team to achieve goals. But what if you could create something more? What if you could be the kind of leader that gets more from your team and encourages greatness from them in a way that brings success for everyone? When you foster an environment where people feel inspired to reach beyond their expectations, you unlock their full potential and create a culture of excellence. It’s about empowering your team, helping them believe in their abilities, and guiding them toward doing things that may be beyond what they knew they were capable of doing.
Achieving greatness is the result of ongoing improvement that begins with a vision and then provides the necessary guidance and support to achieve that vision. As a manager, one of your primary jobs is to get people to stick to the plan and stay motivated—especially when parts of the job can be really challenging. But it all starts with establishing goals.
Leaders who cultivate greatness are not afraid to set bold, ambitious goals. A strong leader doesn’t just push for incremental improvement; they challenge their teams to reach for something extraordinary. Setting bold goals creates a shared vision for success, one that motivates the entire team to rally together and overcome any challenges that may come their way. The process of pursuing bold goals requires commitment, teamwork, and resilience—all qualities that contribute to the development of greatness.
Establish a process to reach goals.
You know what they say: a goal without a plan is just a wish. Well, a team without a plan is just a bunch of people hoping their coffee keeps them awake long enough to finish the day.
Inspiration starts with a vision, but execution is where the magic happens. Steve Jobs didn’t just create the vision for Apple’s products—he made sure every detail, every step in the process, was crystal clear. He was a master at keeping his team laser-focused. Yes, Jobs had the “one more thing” thing going on, but he also had the “one more iteration” going on, which meant Apple employees were always improving, tweaking, and making sure their work was aligned with the vision.
Support comes into play when leaders help individuals break down these lofty goals into manageable, actionable steps. By providing the resources, guidance, and feedback necessary for success, leaders ensure that the team stays on track and doesn’t lose sight of the bigger picture. It’s this combination of bold vision and steady support that propels teams to new heights.
Great leaders help the team stick to the plan.
A positive environment leads to greater accountability. Look at Richard Branson, founder of Virgin. Branson is notorious for empowering his employees, but he’s also known for holding them accountable in a way that’s inspiring rather than micromanaging. He once said, “If you don’t enjoy it, don’t do it.” But here’s the kicker: Branson’s fun-loving attitude didn’t mean he was lax on expectations. He was always there to remind his team that they needed to deliver—not just for the company, but for themselves.
When your team makes mistakes or underperforms, step in and keep people on track with reminders of the bigger picture and review the process that results in achievement. A great leader doesn’t just say, “Here’s the big picture.” They help employees see exactly how to get there—and make sure they stick to the plan
Inspire greatness by making the process enjoyable.
A team that feels invested in the process will be more likely to stick to it and put more effort into it. As much as we all love the idea of a “destination” (that sweet moment when you achieve a goal), it’s the journey where you spend most of your time and where the small wins occur that lead to the overall victory.
Take Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, as an example. Nadella didn’t just keep Microsoft employees focused on quarterly numbers—he created a culture of learning and growth. He encouraged experimentation and failure (as long as they learned from it), creating a work environment where employees felt empowered and inspired. When people believe in the process, they will stick to it, even if the destination feels far away.
As a leader, one of your greatest superpowers is the ability to inspire your team to push beyond their limits and do more than they thought possible. It’s not about waving a magic wand or giving grand speeches (though a good pep talk never hurts). It’s about creating an environment where people feel motivated, supported, and challenged to go the extra mile.
People stay focused on their goals when they know exactly what they’re doing, when they’re not afraid to take risks, and when they believe in the process.
Choose one person on your team this month and make it your mission to be their relentless supporter.
This means:
The process matters as much as the vision
Coaches help their employees connect to the vision established for their jobs and careers. We have talked about communication in detail, but the most important part of what coaches do is keep employees on track to achieve goals. They set a vision and establish individual goals to work toward that vision. A nudge is really a reminder of the vision.
Coach Alvarez established the vision for our football team and provided a clear and disciplined process for us to follow to achieve it. The vision itself was the “what,” the process was the “how.” In my experience, both in sports and in business, individuals start to fail when they lose focus. A good coach helps each person maintain their focus on the process and holds them accountable for executing the process each day.
Coach Alvarez held people accountable by instilling discipline and diligence. Discipline is about learning to follow the process, learning the steps, practicing the foundational skills to become a better player. Diligence is about putting in the careful and persistent effort it takes to make progress and continue improving. As a manager and a coach, you’ll need to help your team develop both.
Coaches keep the vision in place
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that once you have the right process in place, you can relax and let the team cruise on autopilot. There are two conditions where they’ll need your strong support to stick to the process. One is when they’re struggling and feeling like they’re losing. When you’re desperate (and the pre-Alvarez Wisconsin Badgers knew a lot about being desperate), you’re tempted to re-invent the how. Coach Alvarez helped the team stay focused on the process and the game plan.
I’ve witnessed this in sports many times. The other team gets off to a huge lead, or you make a lot of early mistakes, and the pressure to abandon the game plan starts. You aren’t executing well, but instead of focusing on execution and doing things the way you know they should be done, you’re desperate and you think changing course will turn things around.
I’ve witnessed the same thing in business. The company sets the vision and priorities in December. Then first quarter falls short and suddenly new projects/programs/priorities start to roll out. Nobody knows what to focus on first, communication gets confused, priorities begin to compete, and performance falls—when what really needed to be focused on was execution.
The second condition that can be dangerous to discipline is winning. It sounds like a contradiction, but winning can make you sloppy. It’s easy to think that now that you’ve started winning, you can ease up on the process. The group thinks, “We’ve got this” and then lets up on the gas.
Coach Alvarez also taught us that there are no days off from the process. Win, lose, or offseason, the how is just as important as the what. Coach Alvarez used to always say, “Top-rated teams playing non-rated teams still start the game tied at zero. We created a game plan that gives us the best chance to win. Stick to the plan and execute it to the best of your ability.”
It’s the same with business. It’s easy to say, “We hit budget last year, we have an awesome team, and we are so smart. The team deserves a break. What difference does it make if a few people cruise in a few minutes late? Why not try a few new things? Why not take a chance on a new hire that seems a bit risky? My smart, awesome team will surely be able to carry things for a while.”
Make sure you have a good plan, then run your plan. Even if the game’s not going the way you thought it would, don’t change strategy because you had some bad luck. Or some good luck, for that matter. Lose because your plan didn’t work, not because your plan wasn’t executed well.
