They took time to listen, assess, and care.

Focusing on clients is the most important thing for a PS team, but focusing on the team is the most important thing for a services leader. The mentors who had the most impact on my life and career all have one trait in common: they listen (and care) to everything I say (and I tend to talk... a lot).

A PS team should be investing their time and effort in diagnosing and solving client pain rather than fixing their own internal problems. Diagnosing team problems is the primary responsibility of the services leader, and similar to being a good trusted advisor to our clients, services leaders need to start the process by listening for (and caring about) team pains.

Define a Team "Why" - A "Why" that focuses on Clients

I'm a proponent of Simon Sinek's "Start With Why" philosophy. Successful companies start by asking why they are doing something rather than what they are doing. By focusing on how effort affects people rather than the effort itself, it forces teams to continuously assess if they are making a positive impact.

Having a goal focused on "effect" rather than blindingly delivering things gives teams a daily "raison d'etre" to go above and beyond instead of just doing just enough to deliver a product. By happenstance, by defining a team "Why", it also helps with making sure our work is given relevance, measurement, and credit within the organization.

We often see organizations nitpick and argue when we deviate from our original plan, but if we clearly define out "why" and strive for it, then why would anyone care how we got there?

Prioritize The Biggest pains - Grow and Scale Right

Growing isn't always about hiring into your team. Hiring isn't a silver bullet that solves every problem. In fact, what is holding back your team from growing could be: