Bound for Glory? Why successful teams need more than talent

Citius – Altius – Fortius

This is the motto of the modern Olympic Games.  Translated (faster – higher – stronger), it is an interesting insight into a culture that focusses on, and certainly celebrates performance through the lens of physical capability beyond that of the normal human.    By extension, it perhaps also points to, in part, the apparent rise of performance enhancing drugs, in pursuit of super-human performance at the expense of moral or ethical codes of conduct.

We may may never be certain of a “clean” Olympics again, however, we are perhaps witnessing a new paradigm of performance, where athletes are being selected and nurtured on aspects beyond genetic superiority and super-human capabilities.   The Australian Basketball team, the Boomers, are one such example.

A working model

The team, much maligned for their apparent failures on the international court over the generations, are developing a team culture that is showing signs that glory is closer than ever before.    Sure, they are working on becoming faster, higher, stronger etc, but so too are they concentrating on the human side of performance, that being personal values aligned to professional standards of behaviour and the way in which they “fit” together as humans, not just exceptional individual athletes.

What we can see and hear regularly from the Boomers camp, is genuine care for each other.  Don’t get me wrong, they want (perhaps expect) success.  And it is being driven my extraordinarily talented individuals.  There is one unique difference, they are absolutely committed to each other, to a common goal and a very clearly aligned set of ‘human’ standards, well beyond the realm of running, jumping and lifting.  They genuinely care, as demonstrated by Boomers player, Patty Mills, following the decision of NBA superstar, Ben Simmonds, not to participate in the Boomers Olympic campaign (ref: Fox Sports news July 2021).

Another of our sporting greats, Sir Don Bradman, captured the essence of the direction being taken when he stated:

When considering the stature of an athlete or for that matter any person, I set great store in certain qualities which I believe to be essential in addition to skill. They are that the person conducts his or her life with dignity, with integrity, courage, and perhaps most of all, with modesty. These virtues are totally compatible with pride, ambition, and competitiveness.

The lessons here are as true for sporting teams as they are for our workplaces.  If technical performance is the only lever we use to recruit and measure performance, we are exposed to potential and increasing risk-taking behaviours (ref 2008, GFC…).  If we can find / facilitate a balance between technical expertise and human alignment, we may just be bound for glory.

5 quick tips for creating the balance:

1. Avoid the pitfall of focussing solely on “God-given” talent.  Yes, we need people who can execute skills, but skills can be taught;
2. Identify core behaviours; the non-negotiable, consistently observable behavioural standards you will need to see from your team;
3. Bring awareness to the level of interaction and inter-dependence your individual team members will have on each other;
4. As a consequence of #1-3, identify the types of people who are likely work most effectively together (or tear each other apart…);
5. Use behavioural profiling systems to help.

Want to hear more?  We’re experts in this field (yes, some might say Super-humans) and we can definitely help you on your path towards the results you expect from your teams.