As part of our work on elite teams we asked all our Pro Licence learners to research a team from outside of football which had achieved and sustained success.
Amongst the teams which were researched we had some from business – Under Armour, Salesforce, Cathay Pacific Pilot Training; some from the military – The Army Infantry, The Red Arrows; public service – Humber Estuary Pilots, Fire Service, The Yorkshire Air Ambulance, and then other sports – Mercedes Petronas F1, Bath and Saracens Rugby Union, Surrey County Cricket, Great Britain Hockey, and a ringside team from professional boxing.
We then examined each presentation to find common themes. The themes below were repeated across the presentations and appear to be consistent for this selection of High Performing Teams
- Values driven cultures where everyone knows how they contribute to the overarching goal
- Constant eye on purpose: what is it we are here to do?
- Planned performance reviews after every incident or event which ask really hard questions and are a key part of improvement
- Player ownership of the working week through valued contributions
- Responsibility of individuals, units and teams for their own readiness
- Brutal honesty – without personalising it – in appraising contributions and what’s needed for improvement
- Trust as a key factor in elevating standards, innovation and especially making Hot and Cold decisions
- Adaptability to the present situation
- Locating decision-making where it’s needed – don’t assume it’s someone else’s job
- Greater understanding of the individual performer and how they are motivated
- Clear communications as a key part of building relationships
- Recruit for the human qualities brought to the team
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