“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.” Babe Ruth (US baseball star)
Team performances are often referenced in terms of team-spirit, cohesion and synergy – elusive elements that clearly separate a group of individuals from a true ‘team’. The whole can be greater than the sum of the parts to produce a performance equation where 1 + 1 = 3. What kind of equation is your team operating to?
Unfortunately team dynamics often produce equations where 1 + 1 = 0 .5 or even less! Does your team have genuine Character – or does it simply have a few characters?
How players relate, interact with and influence one another is crucial in all aspects of life – and optimising these takes a great deal of finesse. In assessing your team here are some aspects you might like to consider:
• Clarity of Team goals: areas of responsibility and accountability; • Clarity of roles within the team; • Rules of the road – procedures, processes and penalties; • Team Cohesion: Interpersonal relationships; • Energy & Attitude: how do these impact on the performance of your team? • Stages of Team development: how will you ‘grow/mature’ your team? • Openness & Trust: what levels have you got? How will you develop these?
This is not, of course, an exhaustive list but each of the above is outlined in further detail in the book ‘Mental Mastery’ by Ken Way. Of course, if you need help in this area, you could go straight to the author himself – Contact