Unlocking High Performance Teams: A Powerful Blend of West Point and John Maxwell Leadership Principles Applied to the AI/ML/DS Landscape

In today's fast-paced and competitive business landscape, building high-performance teams is vital to success. It increases margins across many business use cases, which translate into larger market share, higher revenues, and more cost savings. For publicly traded companies, stockholders and board members are happier. But the greater why is your teams start thinking about work on Sunday and get excited about it. A high-performance team is characterized by clear goals, trust, effective communication, accountability, collaboration, continuous learning, adaptability, resilience, and a culture of recognition.

As a West Point graduate and a career military officer, I was immersed in West Point’s leadership principles. We learned them, we might have rebelled against some of them in our youth, we discussed them, we practiced them. We lived them. In the corporate world, John Maxwell’s thought leadership has tremendous influence on many. In my corporate experiences, more appear to focus on management and risk instead of leadership. Both are important. Yet, management doesn’t create high performance teams, leadership does.

What if the essence from both West Point and John Maxwell is extracted and combined into a unified construct? Extracting ideas from the esteemed principles of West Point and the insight of leadership expert John Maxwell, the opportunity to cultivate teams that consistently exceed expectations and increase margins exists.

Known worldwide for its dedication to excellence, West Point follows a set of leadership principles that are instilled in its students and graduates. These principles focus on character, competence, and commitment to excellence, aiming to produce exceptional leaders who can serve the nation effectively. While there are different interpretations and variations, a commonly referenced set of leadership principles at West Point include: the value of duty, commitment, discipline, integrity and honor, courage, humility, accountability, and attention to detail. By instilling these qualities in our teams, we can cultivate a culture of continuous improvement and high standards that are respected globally.

John C. Maxwell is an internationally recognized leadership expert, speaker, and author. He has written numerous books on leadership, and his principles have been widely appreciated and utilized by leaders across various fields. John Maxwell's timeless leadership principles, rooted in his principles-centered approach, emphasize the importance of integrity, influence, and the development of others.

Combined, these principles provide the framework for fostering leadership excellence within our teams. I believe both have common tenants. The common leadership principles of West Point and John Maxwell can be applied to building high-performance teams in the following ways:

Ethical Leadership: Fostering an environment of ethical leadership is crucial for building a high-performance team. Leaders who prioritize ethical behavior and encourage their team members to do the same establish a foundation of trust and integrity within the team. AI, ML, and Data Science involve sensitive data and powerful algorithms. Nurturing an environment of ethical leadership is paramount, ensuring trust and integrity within the team.

There were many valuable by-products of VMware’s culture (expressed in the acronym EPIC2) and one of those was demonstrating care by doing no harm. Our teams were globally trusted and recognized for ethical behavior. Our teams imbued EPIC2 values, and it showed. On a side note, it’s important to speak and discuss values. One mentor, LTG Cavin, often reminded us that if you don’t talk about values and ethics, people naturally assume you don’t have any.

Leading by Example: Team members are more likely to high-perform when they see their leaders modeling excellence and the behaviors they expect from others. By leading by example, leaders inspire their team members to give their best and strive for high standards. Leaders must embody excellence and demonstrate the behaviors they expect from their teams. By leading with a passion for learning, growth, and innovation, they inspire their team members to reach their highest potentials.

While at VMware, every leader and person in the Enterprise AI team was able to code and code in the AI/ML/DS trifecta of python, R, and SQL. With this foundation, it’s easy to leap into and learn another coding language, technology, or platform. The trifecta also demonstrates a baseline technical proficiency, one that team members can expect leaders to have and the very foundation the leaders expect of the team. It was a level playing field.

Character Development: High-performance teams are built on individuals with strong character. Developing leaders and team members who embody traits like honesty, accountability, humility, and perseverance creates a culture where individuals are committed to doing their best work and supporting each other. In AI/ML/DS, traits like intellectual curiosity, honesty, adaptability, and resilience are key in fostering a culture of continuous improvement and high achievement. In the corporate world, one can select those with natural curiosity. Our team gained its largest whale customer when two team members embraced the challenge of tackling a new data structure. Actively listening to a customer, accepting their point of view, and changing require character. Without this type of character, design thinking is less effective and so are the developed technologies.

Building Relationships: Positive relationships within a team foster collaboration, communication, and trust. By prioritizing relationship-building, leaders create a cohesive environment where team members are more motivated to work together towards high performance. In the dynamic field of AI, ML, and Data Science, effective collaboration is essential. Leaders must prioritize building strong relationships within their teams, encouraging open communication, camaraderie, and trust.

Teams who actively experience the same events tend to grow in their relationship with one another. Shared experiences are extremely valuable. They teach us the larger group is greater than the single individual. Some of that experience is respecting different ideas and views, which are essential towards building strong and trusted relationships. Many times, a client’s view can be dramatically different than an original perception, or it can change due to current market conditions.

A strong relationship powers through change and retains trust. It’s also important to allow failures and learn from the failure. I cannot recall a single example of when the first version met all requirements and satisfied a client. Many failures evolved into a viable and valuable product.

Continuous Learning: High-performance teams are constantly improving and growing. Leaders should encourage a culture of continuous learning, where team members are supported in their pursuit of personal and professional development. This can be achieved through providing training opportunities, promoting knowledge sharing, and fostering a learning mindset within the team.

The AI/ML/DS knowledge base is experiencing hockey stick growth. Continuous learning is both essential and requires calendar time. Going back to the trifecta of python, R, and SQL… the trifecta facilitates rapid learning of new technologies such as large language models, in their design and profitable use cases. Or, when a client desires PowerBI instead of Tableau, the trifecta facilitates the rapid learning of a different platform.

Empowerment and Development: Leaders of high-performance teams understand that they need to empower and develop their team members. By providing opportunities for growth, delegating responsibilities, and offering mentoring and coaching, leaders give their team members the tools they need to excel and contribute to the overall team performance.

One of AI/ML/DS largest hurdles when developing teams is preparing your teams for client facing interactions. Encouraging a talented technical minded person to think like a client and express technical outcomes in the client’s perspective is both a challenge and a gift. This empowering event has risk, but when your team successfully accomplishes it, their value and reputation rapidly increase.

Service and Sacrifice: Finally, high-performance teams are often built on a sense of shared purpose and selflessness. Leaders who prioritize serving their team and sacrificing personal goals in favor of the team's success create an environment where team members are motivated to go above and beyond for the collective goal.

By applying these combined leadership principles, leaders can foster an environment where high-performance teams can thrive. These principles create a culture of trust, accountability, collaboration, and continuous growth, all essential elements for achieving exceptional team performance.

By merging the foundational principles of West Point with the influential teachings of John Maxwell, we arm ourselves with a powerful toolkit to develop high-performance teams in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Data Science.