Very few tasks are performed completely in isolation for today's leader. Leaders harness diverse resources and collaborate across functions. In fact, our favorite definition of teamwork is "connected independence."

The success of most organizations is directly proportionate to their leaders' ability to inspire excellent teamwork. High-performing teams consciously apply the Team Effectiveness and Alignment Model (T.E.A.M.).

As I reflected on the life of our family dog, Sparky, I was struck by his gold standard of reliability.

Before Sparky went to doggy Heaven, he greeted me at home every time I walked in the door for 14 years. To put that into perspective, that’s 20,000+ times without failure! The same greeting, the same panting with excitement, the same wagging tail. He was as reliable as, well, a dog.

So, it made me think about my own human reliability:

A good plan might get you into the game, but sticking with it catapults you into the winner's circle.

Based on 21 years of field research with the highest-achieving leaders here are the habits they stick with: