A high performing team is defined as a group of people with complementary skills committed to a common purpose and performance goals. They show high levels of collaboration, innovation, and produce superior results. Key characteristics of a high performing team include being self-organizing, empowered to make decisions, committed to team success, consensus-driven, and continuously improving. The document provides guidelines for building a high performing team such as creating a shared vision, setting goals, limiting team size, building identity, and providing strong leadership.