Next-Level Teamwork: The 5 Tensions to Manage for High-Performance Teams

by Tim Arnold, Virtual Voice (Narrator)

Tim Arnold has spent over two decades helping leaders manage complexity, increase resilience, and deliver results within organizations such as the United Nations, Compassion International, Royal Bank of Canada, Allstate Insurance, Toyota, and Siemens. His popular book, Lead with AND, focuses on helping leaders unleash the superpower of Both/And thinking in an Either/Or world.

Are you tired of dreading Monday morning? Does working in a dysfunctional team drain your energy and leave you feeling defeated? If so, this playbook is your ultimate guide to breaking free from this cycle and unlocking your team’s full potential.

Let’s face it, most teams don’t work. Dysfunction, drama, and division run rampant, making your workweek feel like a never-ending battle. But there’s hope!

While other teams run away from tension, you’re going to learn to embrace it. You will learn to harness the power of healthy tension in these five key areas, equipping you to shift your team from unproductive to trust by focusing on tasks AND relationships.Increase engagement by leveraging structure AND flexibility.Have courageous conversations through truthful AND tactful communication.Align your team to win by promoting collaboration AND independence.Unleash ownership by increasing empowerment AND accountability.This book does not provide you with miracle cures or magical formulas. What it does offer is something even more an actionable plan. By implementing the “plays” outlined in this book, you will set your team on the path to success.

Life is simply too short to settle for working in a dysfunctional team!

"In this new world of work, leaders are dealing with unprecedented challenges like remote work, labor shortages, and ever-evolving technology, making teamwork more difficult yet more important than ever. Next Level Teamwork faces these challenges head on and provides a plan that can be implemented immediately in any workplace. This short and practical playbook is a must-read for leaders who want to build thriving teams."
Mario De Divitiis
Chief Executive Officer, Ronald McDonald House Charities

"This book captures the essence of what it takes to create, maintain, and grow a high-performance team. Tim has an incredible ability to break down complicated concepts and make them simple and actionable for both new and experienced leaders. And the short “playbook” approach is focused and easy to follow. I am convinced that anyone reading this book will become a better leader once they put these ideas into action. I know that I am!"
Brian Day
Senior Vice President, FIRST Insurance Funding of Canada

Genres: Leadership

Audible Audio

Published April 14, 2025

Reviews

[April Sunshine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a practical book for leaders who manage teams of people. Our world is more polarized than ever and helping my team manage tensions is something I'm always looking to learn more about.

The activities in this book are easy to do within the team meetings I already have scheduled and they are activities my team actually likes doing because they provide relief rather than more to-dos.

So glad this is only volume 1 and that we can look forward to more from Tim.

[Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Managing a team is hard, and managing a high-performing team that knocks its projects out of the park is nigh impossible. Or so you might think, until you read Tim’s terrific Next-Level Teamwork, where plays to help teams achieve their wildest ambitions are carefully outlined for leaders in any industry. This very digestible guide is meant for practical use, and is a perfect companion for a team experiencing step-by-step transformation into the high-performing unit it was always meant to be.

[Christy Bloom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how practical this book is, filled with actionable ideas that are easily do-able. It is a quick read, which is great, as I sometimes put off reading longer business and leadership books, but this playbook was easy to pick up and get gold from in one sitting. Definitely recommend it for leaders looking to level up their team effectiveness.

[Claudia Valle · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are so many elements involved in working effectively as a team. Where do you start? Next-Level Teamwork clearly outlines 5 key tensions you need to be aware of- but more importantly- you need to manage. Tim not only describes each of these key tensions, but provides us with strategies we can use with our teams immediately! So helpful to have a framework that is clear and easy to implement!

[Libby Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a smart, digestible read on what truly makes teams high-performing. I loved how this book breaks down the invisible dynamics that impact teamwork and gives clear strategies for building trust, alignment, and accountability.