Building extraordinary teams
Issue: Volume 29 Number 1
In my experience, most people are hungry for tips and techniques, if you wanted to make a million dollars simply write a 'how to' book. People are dying to be told the secret that will help them be a better 'whatever'; everything from making a quick buck to losing weight. Our modern society is fashioned by a 'fast food' mentality - we want the answer and we want it now.
When it comes to building great teams this way of thinking will not work. Einstein once said you could not solve a problem with the same thinking that created the problem in the first place. If you have an environment where 'team' is important to the outcomes you wish to produce remember this: there is always more power in the questions than there ever is in the answers.
So what are some of the questions that are worth asking? Let us begin with the obvious one first. Where do you start such a process and what are the key elements to focus on?
Great teams may occasionally happen naturally. In these cases, we sometimes attribute the outcome to personalities and some kind of chemistry or even still to the superstition that 'it was just meant to be'. In these circumstances, however, there are observable and distinct patterns and behaviours that emerge. Is it possible to recreate these principles and practices in any environment? With great care and patience – yes.
In order to produce a consistent, reliable result in any discipline or undertaking we need a number of orientation points; references we can return, to ensure we are true to our principles. This is very important.
I will not attempt to cover all of these points in this article, but rather focus on one specific distinction that I stand by and trust implicitly.
Orientation Points
- An understandable and proven theory or philosophy
- A set of observable 'distinctions' that allow for seeing what is missing
- A language that translates what is observed into effective practices
- A method by which to measure the effectiveness of what is being practiced
Please consider this possibility, the quality of your experience in any environment or relationship is directly equal to the quality of the conversations you have in that environment or relationship. Look at any relationship you have and see if this is not true. Wherever you experience being appreciated, respected and acknowledged you will also say you experience being in communication. That being the case, anything becomes possible in that relationship.
Our actions are shaped by what we value. A culture will be fixed by the distinguishable operating principles that are valued by those in that environment. The culture will in turn be defined by the observable operating practices of the people in that environment.
Team cultures are a network of conversations. Who talks to whom and what about? What are the conversations that work and can you distinguish the conversations that do not work? More importantly, what are the conversations that are missing?
In any environment many identifiable conversations are generated. There are also those that are tolerated and then there are those conversations that are actively withheld or avoided. All of these conversations define how that specific group of people practice being together.
I have always found that it is easier to distinguish what is NOT 'team' than what is. I have also found that if I start with the possibility that there is no such thing as 'team' that 'team' is only a concept and cannot be applied like a formula, I am confronted with the reality that 'team' has to be generated from nothing.
If you wish to build great teams, you must be willing to identify the conversations that are self-centred and detrimental to the possibility of 'team' being realised and strip them away. Gossip, bitchy, under mining, self-concerned, adult tantrum behaviour has to be tackled every time it surfaces. As a young footballer trying out in the big time, I had my first taste of adult coaching from the great Norm Smith. As the ball came my way in practice, I called in a loud certain voice…Mine! Mine! Norm promptly called me to his side, looked me in the eye and said in a clear and measured tone, 'Since when has football ever been about you. It never has been, it is not now and it never will be. If I hear you call mine again you will be asked to leave the track until you learn that lesson'
I am not sure whether I really understood the lesson back then, but I do know that I stopped calling 'mine' on the track.
Coaches do not coach personality, they coach commitment. A coach must always return to the aligned commitment of the group and the core commitment of the athlete. A coach must stand for their athletes being great even when there is no evidence, treating someone small as if they are unable does not serve the athlete or coach. Your job as a coach is not to have an opinion of an athlete’s ability but rather discover ways to empower them to greater heights.
Understanding about or thinking about what a team is does not make a team occur. Whatever one can say about 'team' does not get us closer to being one.
'Team' can only be generated or caused into existence and 'team' only exists in the moment it is being caused. With all that said there are, however, a number of critical conversations worth having when a group sits down to design itself.
What is there to manage to begin to build a great team?
How can a group of people learn to think in a different way on a collective level?
- First, you really need to understand what a team is. What is a team in the deepest sense? It is not simply a set of rules and disciplines, a group can have these in place and yet the experience of team is not present. If you think deeply, you will discover that every team, institution or organisation, without exception, has no reality save in your mind. Great teams are neither because of the name they carry nor because of the logo on their strip. Great teams do not emerge because of the venue they play at, or who is playing for them. Great teams are a mental concept around which people and resources gather in pursuit of a common purpose
- If great teams have no reality save in your mind, then what is its real nature? What is its real strength? The heart and soul of every healthy group or team of people, is purpose and principle. You must ask yourself collectively, what is the purpose that brought you together and what is the system of beliefs about how you intend to conduct yourself in pursuit of that purpose?
- Your group needs to be clear about purpose and principle and must be very careful to know what a purpose and a principle is. A purpose is not a goal; it is not a mission statement: a purpose is an unmistakable expression of that which people jointly wish to become. In addition, a principle is not a cliché; it is a fundamental belief about how you intend to conduct yourself in pursuit of that purpose.
You have to get very exact about these things. If the purpose and principle is healthy and constructive then your group will begin to shape itself in ways that you cannot imagine. They will release the spirit of the group and empower people to create opportunities for the experience of team to show up. Purpose and principle, clearly understood, articulated and commonly shared is the core of any healthy, great team (consider the accompanying diagram).
Whoever you are being in any given moment, will shape the actions you do. Out of taking those actions you will have results directly related to those actions. This is the natural law of the universe. However, education has trained us to think in the other direction; you have to do to become, and it does not work that way.
The focus in most forms of education is on what actions one needs to take to accomplish the goal. Knowing what to do does not always leave us being effective, in fact it is often the booby prize. I have witnessed athletes and groups who understand completely what there is to do, remain stagnate. Until there is a shift in who they are being, nothing happens.
The being of a group is articulated in the declaration of a mission, vision or core values. These are powerful tools under the management of a vigilant coach. They align the group to an agreed set of principles that reference how they go about the task of competing together.
The doing of a group are the team rules, rituals, practices and disciplines undertaken, all of these must be observable with the understanding that what we do defines who we are. One can stake a claim for being something, but how one acts will always be our measure.
The having of a group are the goals and measurable results the team commits to and produces. A declared goal is a future yet fulfilled and although there is truth in how our past shapes who we are, an astute coach understands that it is the future and what we look forward to that has more say in who we are and the actions we take each day. I believe that one of our tasks as coaches is to create futures that empower our athletes to excel. Ultimately 'team' is an expression of who the group is being together.
Finally, a theory counts for nothing if the coach and athlete are 'talking the talk' but are not committed to what they are saying. Great teams are built on commitment, promises and people’s word. Are you willing to trade other’s and your own word for reasonableness, excuses and stories? If you are, then you are also willing to cast the fate of your team to the wind. If you are willing to stand for passion, integrity and honour, then there is a chance for 'team' to be generated. That, however, is a much bigger conversation than we can have right now – you see, I have to keep a promise and get to training on time.
Summary
Working with the key stakeholders of your group:
Design and align on a clear purpose for the group - an unmistakable expression of that which people jointly wish to become. Note: the shorter and more concise the clearer the purpose. Think newspaper headline. For example, Bold, adventurous playmakers leaving no opportunity wasted
Create three to five principles for the group - fundamental beliefs about how you intend to conduct yourself in pursuit of that purpose. It is always a good idea to align with the group on a set of actions and behaviours that clearly express these core principles. For example: Inspired, Passionate, Courageous, Dignified, Honest
As a coach, it is vital that you manage the group from the stated purpose and principles. This is not easy; in this realm it is not for you to have to know how, but rather to discover along with your team, the possibility of that which has been created.
Building great teams is not an exact science. You cannot get the secrets from a book or from a 'how-to' list. In my experience, it takes enormous courage, trust and integrity to guide and support a group in pursuit of their purpose. Discover research, listen and talk to as many team builders that you can, give yourself permission to make mistakes, take care of your athletes’ spirits and never sell out on what is possible. Once you get your group to understand this, then energy, excitement and enthusiasm will explode out of them, they will know what to do, you won’t be able to stop them.
