Lamar Jackson's 3 words for Andrews, whose drop of a crucial pass cost the Ravens the playoff game. And what it means for businesses.

??If you didn't catch last weekend's game between the Ravens and Bills, imagine it’s the final minutes of a high-stakes playoff game. The crowd is roaring, it's bitter cold, the pressure is suffocating, and every player knows that one play could determine the outcome...and their shot at the Super Bowl. Picture Lamar Jackson walking over to Mark Andrews after a dropped game-winning pass—not with blame, but with a reminder: “Ain't just you. It's all of us. We're a team."

??In football, as in business, the best teams know that success doesn’t hinge on a single play or player. It’s about how the team rallies together, aligns on a shared goal, and executes with trust, resilience, and purpose. Great teams are defined not just by their talent but by their ability to focus on outcomes, adapt under pressure, and lift each other up when things go sideways.

While McKinsey’s recent article, "All about teams: A new approach to organizational transformation," highlights the foundational principles of high-performing teams, their approach is nothing "new." In fact, Exemplary Performance has delivered a systematic approach to diagnose, benchmark, and scale the success of high-performing teams for years. We do this by uncovering what top-performing individuals and teams do differently and translate those insights into actionable practices that drive sustained results.

By focusing on purpose, clear outcomes, and scalable strategies, we empower businesses to not only adapt to complexity but also thrive in it. See below for a summary of the full article.

1. Tying Teams to Business Purpose (Outcomes-Focused)

McKinsey emphasizes the need to align teams with the organization’s identity and purpose:

“Teams most critical to creating future value may not exist yet; they must be created to address a real business need.”

Exemplary Performance’s Role Excellence Profile methodology mirrors this principle by focusing on outcomes that matter most to the business. By analyzing top-performing teams, we identify how their behaviors and collaboration drive critical outcomes, ensuring alignment with the organization’s strategic goals.

2. Aligning Teams Around Clear Outcomes

The article highlights the importance of empowering teams with a clear mandate:

“Teams clarified the value they could create for stakeholders... and aligned around short-, medium-, and long-term outcomes with measurable results.”

Similarly, Exemplary Performance’s approach focuses on translating the behaviors of high-performing teams into actionable strategies for others. By providing clarity on the “why” and “how” behind their success, we help align other teams to replicate these outcomes effectively.

3. Scaling High-Performance Across Teams

McKinsey calls for scaling high-performance team practices:

“The bank started with 50 teams and added subsequent teams in waves, including some previously overlooked or under resourced.”

Exemplary Performance extends this scalability by creating systemic tools that ensure learnings and best practices are shared across the organization. These tools transform insights into job aids, coaching plans, and frameworks that enable other teams to achieve similar high-impact results.

?Ready to amplify your organization's success? Let us help you uncover what sets your high-performing teams apart and replicate those results across your organization. Reach out to learn how Exemplary Performance’s proven methodology can turn your top talent’s winning behaviors into a scalable strategy that drives measurable outcomes.

Contact us today to take the first step toward building a culture of sustained excellence.