If you are leading a team that is not performing up to expectations the first place you should look is in the mirror. Before considering solutions that focus on your team and its members consider whether or not you're guilty of any of the following:

Failure to set the example. An effective leader serves as a role model for his or her team. As a leader, your words, actions and attitudes are observed and imitated by your team. This can be detrimental to effective team performance if the you are providing a negative example.

Failure to enforce policies. Closely related to failing to set the example, failure to ensure that the team adheres to relevant policies and procedures is a leadership failure. Any deviation should be addressed and, absent any compelling reason for the departure, corrected immediately.

Failure to provide the necessary training. Do not assume that your team members possess all the skills, knowledge and abilities required to accomplish their assigned tasks. Provide ongoing training and educational opportunities to teach and reinforce those subjects deemed critical for success.

Failure to grow. Just as it's important to train and educate the team, a successful leader must follow an ongoing program of self-improvement.

Failure to properly delegate. A leader must be able to delegate those tasks better performed by someone else on the team. A leader who fails to do so or who micro-manages the performance of delegated tasks will quickly lose the respect and support of the team.

Failure to respect the team. A team leader who does not take into account the individuality of each team member is destined to fail. You must know what motivates them, what's important to them and their individual strengths and weaknesses in order to mold them into an effective team.

Even the best teams can fall short of expectations. Effective leaders know that these failures sometimes start at the top. An honest self-appraisal is an important first step to addressing the cause and building a high performance team.

According to tennis legend Arthur Ashe, "success is a journey." And just as a physical journey requires a destination, a journey for success requires a goal; what is it that you aim to achieve? But while a goal is important to success, it's not the most important part of the journey. In order to succeed, in order to reach that goal you've set for yourself, it is just as important, if not more important, that you commit to your goal.

If you've ever been a member of a gym or a fitness club you know that a rush of members with New Years resolutions fresh on their minds make January and February the busiest time of the year for most clubs. But by the middle of March most of those new members have quit showing up. Although they made a resolution to get in shape or lose weight, although they chose a goal, they failed to commit to that goal. And because they didn't commit they found it easy to rationalize failure when they encountered a bit of inconvenience or discomfort.

Think about the goals you have set on your journey to success. How many of them have you achieved and how many seemed to be just out of reach? The difference between success and failure was most certainly the level of commitment you brought to bear in working towards them. The goals that you were passionate about, the goals to which you were truly committed, were likely the goals that you reached.

That's not to say that the principle of setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely) goals is not important. Those criteria form the foundation of an effective goal setting strategy. But you'll fail to realize even the simplest of your goals if you don't commit to doing what's necessary to achieve them.

Regardless of what your goals may be, then, always remember that it will take firm, unwavering commitment to reach them. Don't let a little bit of inconvenience, discomfort or uncertainty cause you to abandon an otherwise worthwhile goal. Set your goal, break it down into smaller goals if you need to, and then COMMIT. If your goal is worthwhile it's worth committing to, and if you truly commit to a realistic goal you are sure to reach it.