With the NFL regular season ending, you might have heard of several teams hunting coaches to prep for the next one. Almost every other potential candidate is speaking about ‘team culture’, with players echoing the need for the same. If you’re a sports coach, or a team captain, or a player who hopes to take on a leadership role in the future, this post on team culture is for you.
Team Culture: Shared beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviors which define how team members interact and work together to achieve their goals. Team Culture is the responsibility of coaches, players, support staff and management.
Why Is Team Culture Important In The First Place?
Since I started out the post with a reference to the NFL, let me discuss a few instances from the regular season where the team failed because of problems in their team culture. The New York Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh mid-way during the season, and clearly disrupted the team culture. Despite having a talented quarterback in Aaron Rodgers, the team failed to make it to the playoffs, clearly because of poor team culture.
Another example would be the Chicago Bears, who simply sucked, all because of their disappointing team culture. And now, the Bears are desperately looking for a coach who will solve the team’s problems with culture. Loads can also be said about the Indianapolis Colts, who did not utilize their talent as a result of the management screwing up the team’s culture, thus ending the team’s chances in the playoffs.
On the other hand, teams like the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills are superb examples of team culture done right. As a result, despite their challenges, these teams will be featured in the upcoming playoffs. If you are not an NFL nut, you can still read up on these teams or watch their highlights and post-game press conferences to learn more about what went right/wrong in terms of team culture.
How Can Coaches Create The Right Team Culture?
Coaches can create the right team culture through a multitude of ways. Some of the most effective ways which I have known to be quite efficient are,
- Leading the team by example
- Create unique team rituals
- Open up communication
- Build up a growth mindset
- Encourage accountability
- Use senior players as mentors
- Institute pre-game and post-game rituals
- Leading the Team by Example
Probably the best way a coach can improve the culture in their team is by simply leading by example. It is simple, direct and yet can be quite challenging for a coach to do this. If you are wondering as to how to do this, just remember how you used to closely watch your own coaches when you were younger. Would you want to be the same coach for your players now, or would you make changes to your behavior, words and lifestyle?
- Creating Unique Team Rituals
Think about your family or your community. What sets it apart from others? I am sure one of your responses would have been rituals and routines. Perhaps you celebrate festivals in a different way, or have different ways of cooking meals. The same thing applies to your team culture. Create unique team rituals for your team in order to cultivate a unique team culture. One example would be to create a team song, while another would be to dedicate the game ball to the player who best exemplified the team-culture.
- Opening Up Communication
This open communication does not only refer to that between your players and yourself, but even the communication of your support staff, your management, and even perhaps the parents of your players. When you are trying to open up communication within your team, you need to put aside some time for one-on-ones with your players. Also, communicate openly whenever, wherever, not only during training sessions, but during meals, travel time, etc. If you want more directions on how you can open up communication within your team, ask away at mindyourwicket@gmail.com
- Building Up a Growth Mindset
Whenever I see a coach who is not afraid of making mistakes, and encourages their players to do the same, I whisper a prayer of praise. It is through mistakes that players learn and grow, and this is exactly what the growth mindset tries to inculcate in players. In order to instill the growth mindset in your players, remove judgement of any sort from the field. You will soon an enriching and uplifting culture grow in the team.
- Encouraging Accountability
When players are accountable to themselves and the team, the culture naturally shifts toward a winning mindset. One of the best ways to bring about accountability in your players is to create clear goals and roles. For example, if it is a player’s role to organize all the equipment, they should be held accountable for setting up and packing up all the gear before and after practice as if their life depended on it.
- Using Senior Players as Mentors
I have seen many coaches apply the ‘Buddy System’ and it actually works very well. Firstly, the younger players get to work with their role models in the team and learn the ropes quite quickly. Secondly, the senior players find themselves more accountable now that they have someone who is looking up to them in every way.
- Instituting Pre-Game and Post-Game Rituals
Rituals, even if they seem silly, are more important than you think when it comes to creating a wholesome culture in your team. This becomes more important when it surrounds performances and games.
By coming up with a pre-game and post-game ritual for your team, you are not only allowing your players to prep effectively for the game, and then ground themselves after that, but you are also bringing more security to your squad. Your players always have the pre-game ritual to look forward to even if they are crazily nervous about the game. They also have the post-game ritual to anticipate, even if they might have not played their best in the game.
One example of a pre-game ritual can be a visualization circle, where you as the coach, guide the visualization process, thus, setting up the players for success even before the game starts. Having the players go around thanking fans, ground crew, trainers and parents after every game, or having a yummy snack together after the game are also great examples of post-game rituals that you can establish in your team.
Conclusion
As a coach, understand the importance of team-culture and how this will work positively for your team in the long run. Teams which have great culture show better longevity and better performance, even if they might not win games back to back all the time. Take time to work on your team’s culture, and this will eventually translate to wins for your players.
If you like this post or have any questions, drop me an email at mindyourwicket@gmail.com
References
https://lpsonline.sas.upenn.edu/features/role-team-culture-building-high-performing-teams
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17430437.2018.1442197
https://www.cultureconsultancy.com/blogs/high-performing-cultures-business-and-sport/
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