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Business leaders aiming to drive team performance and engagement may need to rethink traditional concepts of success, according to Robert Walters, Senior Vice President at AT&T.
Walters advocates for prioritising steady, collective improvement over an obsession with individual excellence, a mindset he believes creates more resilient and effective teams.
Reflecting on his career journey, Walters explained that striving to be the single best performer was a useful approach early in his career as an individual contributor. But once he transitioned into leadership roles, he realised that method was limiting his team's overall progress.
The turning point, Walters said, came in 2011 while leading project management, network planning, and engineering teams. His earlier focus on individual achievement meant he had little patience for those he did not consider top performers. It also prevented him from lifting the average level of performance across his team.
"Quite frankly, I had less patience and less time allocated toward nurturing relationships with those I didn’t consider top performers," he said. "What I recognized was I wasn’t raising the median level of performance of those around me."
Shifting from personal accolades to collective achievement
By changing his mindset to prioritise building a strong, collaborative team, Walters saw tangible improvements. Focusing on helping everyone achieve milestone goals created a sense of momentum and self-fulfilment among team members, leading to outcomes that exceeded expectations.
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"Most things are achieved through a collective team effort," Walters said. "Instead of thinking that I could solve 'world hunger,' I recognized that as a collective group we were able to start rowing in the same direction."
Walters' approach echoes advice from leadership thinkers like Simon Sinek, who stresses the importance of maintaining momentum over chasing accolades. Speaking at the 2023 World Business Forum, Sinek argued that there is "no such thing as winning" in professional life. Instead, employees and leaders should adopt an “infinite mindset” that focuses on continuous growth rather than finite achievements.
Daily progress over single moments of success
Walters now applies this philosophy through a practice he calls "stacking days," aiming to make small improvements each day rather than fixating on occasional big wins. Over time, he believes this compounding effect drives significant career growth and team development.
“Whether [that day] is a small progression or a large progression, you’ll look back at your career 10 years later in awe of how you’ve progressed," Walters said.
For HR leaders and business executives, the message is that fostering environments where steady, collective progress is valued may ultimately produce stronger teams than systems that reward only the top performers. In an era where engagement, retention, and team cohesion are critical to success, adjusting to Walters' 'a rising tide lifts all boats' leadership mindset is a highly effective way to build enagement, career progression and, ulimately retention.
