As leaders, we seek to create high-performing teams. Meaning teams that drive results. Teams that deliver on the company mission. Teams that create meaning for each of its team members.

While all leaders aim for those lofty goals, many don’t know where to start. I have personally worked with many teams to help them become more values-centric and the tips below come directly from our work.

The ability to communicate is arguably the most important skill of leaders across all industries and at any level. Communicate to inspire. Communicate to gain alignment. Communicate to persuade. Unfortunately, most leaders take a one size fits all to leadership communication. Complicating matters further, most leaders (and people) assume that others like to be communicated with in the same style that they prefer. In reality, people have a diverse set of communication styles and preferences.

If you want to up your game as a leader, try tailoring your communication style to the audience in place of using your preferred method. Before we discuss the “how to” of adapting your communication style, let’s focus on the benefits of adapting your communication style to the audience.

All leaders experience fear. In a previous post, I shared a tip from a Navy SEAL about overcoming fear by finding something familiar. Here, I want to share insight from therapist Dana Upton about how you can overcome fear by greeting fear like an old friend and make it serve you.

Below is an excerpt from The Savage Leader that will help you start to overcome fear.

For so many years, I’ve set goals focused on external success metrics; company revenue, number of clients served, content volume and frequency, and of course the all-consuming vanity social media metrics of views, comments, and shares.

External success metrics and goals are important and guide our efforts. They also allow us to measure meaningful progress toward those goals. In short, these types of goals are a must.

But what about all of the goals and work that support those externally visible and measurable goals? To help turbo-charge your goals this year and beyond, consider trying the following:

“Do I need to have purpose to be successful?” That’s a question I hear all the time. Many people, even successful ones, spend so much time in a heads down sprint that they never look up to see if there is more out there.

Is a sense of purpose a luxury for a select few or is it prerequisite for success modern life?

Purpose is by no means required for modern life, but it surely will help you live a life with greater meaning and anchor you when faced with important decisions.

“Okay, so what’s the value of purpose?” you may wonder? A sense of purpose offers several practical benefits.

“If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace. If you let go completely, you will have complete peace.” – Ajahn Chah

I came across this quote recently while using the Calm app to meditate. In that moment, letting go was aimed at reducing stress, anxiety, and getting a full night’s sleep. The quote reminded me of a dream I had a few years back and of a partially written blog post about how letting go could be a superpower that not only gives you peace and calm, but also greater focus, productivity, and sense of purpose.

Helping leaders create a sense of purpose is one of the most meaningful parts of my executive coaching work. Most people assume that purpose is created in a flash of light, through a singular experience. The reality is that we create purpose through intention, reflection, and action. For me, creating purpose was a long and winding road that unfolded over many years. I wanted to share my story as well as what I’ve learned to fast-track the path to creating purpose so that you can build more purpose into your life and career.