Building Your Team: A Strategic Approach
“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”
- Henry Ford
To be the best at what I did and add value to the organization, I felt it was imperative to concentrate on three pivotal areas: establishing a clear vision, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, and making the people I worked with the best they could be. This plan's steps were critical in ensuring cutting-edge growth and sustained success.
Building a Championship Department
Establishing a Clear Vision
· Statement of Philosophy
Many would call this their “vision statement,” but I hate that term. A vision is so far away that we might never get there. A philosophy is more hands-on. It tells us where we are going, who we are, what we do, and how we will accomplish the success we are all working towards.
This philosophy will be the foundation on which we will build our organization. A weak foundation (philosophy) will lead to a weak organization. In contrast, a sound, broad foundation will allow us to grow three-dimensionally, so we will be prepared for whatever the future will ask.
To make this happen, the philosophy should look at where we have been, where we are, and where we envision ourselves. For instance, rather than merely stating an intention to "improve player (customer) satisfaction," this is what the other organizations will hope to do. By understanding who we are, we will "become the leader in player preparedness by consistently exceeding expectations and building loyalty through consistent experiences with each individual.” This will inspire and provide a clear plan of attack for my department while keeping the organization's philosophy at the forefront.
· Why It Matters:
Every season in the NFL, between 25% and 33% of the organizations will change head coaches. Why is this? The truth is that they don’t have a strong philosophy; they have a ‘vision’, “We want to win the Super Bowl”. But that is where it ends.
Every sports team wants to win the championship, and every business wants to be the best at what it does. If we don’t take steps to build this foundation and then help each department within the organization understand their role and how each worker depends upon making the end goal a reality, then you will become part of the statistics at the end of the season.
Understanding the rationale behind the company's philosophy and the corresponding philosophy of each department head is crucial for its acceptance and implementation. The philosophy must address specific challenges the department faces while proactively identifying opportunities for growth. By messaging how this transformation will benefit team members, the athletes, and the organization, you create a compelling case for change that will strike a deep chord with all.
· Shared Understanding:
To ensure everyone is on board within your team, it is essential to teach the importance of open communication regarding the department's direction and how it fits with that of the organization. Use as many messaging methods as necessary, such as workshops, team meetings, and small group meetings, to encourage discussions that promote understanding and buy-in from all members. This focus on transparency and an “all-for-one” thought process enhances commitment and infuses a unified approach toward achieving the desired outcomes.
Focusing on Continuous Improvement
· Process-Based Attack
As I mentioned earlier, most organizations fail immediately by promoting the result and not focusing on the process, which, when done right, will lead to the outcome that is taken for granted, to be the best.
Identifying the key processes within your department presents an opportunity for a chance to remove all the bullshit that slows you process down. If you hear anyone say, “That’s how we have always done it,” no real reason why it is being done that way should be banished to the smallest office in the building. When we eliminate all the fluff, what we are left with are the things that will genuinely make a difference in your department and positively impact the organization's success.
For example, I was always working on a schedule that did not allow me to do EVERYTHING I wanted. I couldn’t add time to the clock or ignore the other department's needs, so I streamlined my training. I looked at the most critical trait to making my athletes better prepared to play at the highest level. This was distilled into the need to move. If we moved faster, quicker, and more explosively than our opponents, we would be more successful than other organizations. As other teams worked on getting stronger, we improved our athleticism while maintaining the ability to be “strong enough”.
By making this radical change in our process of training athletes, we turned “dead” programs at USC and Seattle into championship organizations. Our changes smoothly aligned with the organization’s philosophy, allowing the “machine” to work more efficiently than other organizations.
· Experimentation and Innovation:
It is important not to get stuck in one method of doing your work. The rise of data-driven decision-making is an exciting and expanding world. I have always looked forward to what is on the horizon. Encouraging experimentation can develop an organization's creativity and jumpstart a history of slow growth. As a leader, I think it is vital that we never mute our staff's creativity. Encouraging research and brainstorming what-ifs is a part of growth and expansion.
The key is to make small changes in what you are doing. Numerous changes all at once can not be measured. If something goes wrong within your department, what caused it? If you added five new ideas all at once, how do you know which change, or combination of changes, caused the issue? Not only when things go wrong, but more importantly, what happens if you have a run of historic success? What caused it? Was it one of the changes or some other occurrence that brought about the wins? Can we repeat this chain of events to continue moving forward? Or what is it, a fluke? Positive movement is the key byproduct of the process.
A second warning about change: Never experiment with key engines within the department. Work small and see how things work. Study the effect and slowly expand how much of the overall process is dedicated to this new idea. When we add changes slowly, the new ideas will be assimilated into the system more efficiently. Why does it matter if success comes in a week or a month? Compare this to adding a change that cripples your entire organization because the thought process looked good on paper but did not work in the real world? Wouldn’t it have been wiser to find out it wouldn’t work earlier in the process, so the organization could continue to run while the changes were removed?
· Be a Pirate:
I have never been against borrowing ideas from other coaching staff. I would travel around the country visiting successful organizations and their staff, watching them do their work, taking notes, and asking questions. This happens more in the coaching profession than in any other part of the business world, but gaining valuable information is still a meaningful way to expand your department's work. If you can’t visit a company doing work differently from what you are doing, then hire a person from the company. I did this. The premise of the book “Moneyball” is based on: taking a person deeper into the thought process, you want to get to, working somewhere else.
I grew up a fan of Husker Power, the strength program of the University of Nebraska's powerhouse football team of the 70’s and 80s. I visited the school and spoke with their legendary head coach Boyd Epley. I also spoke with one of his longtime assistants, Bryan Bailey. Boyd was great, but the organization's real engine and cutting edge were the assistants, Bryan and Mike Arthur. Mike was entrenched in the NU system, but Bryan felt he was stagnating at Nebraska. So, I hired Bryan. It cost a little more, but my understanding of how to train athletes expanded in leaps and bounds, and it showed as I moved from USC to the more focused training with the Seahawks in the NFL, which made the hire well worth the money invested.
Researching best practices from other organizations or industries can bring valuable insights that will encourage the growth of your process. You don’t have to be a “sneaky” pirate; you are always looking for better ways to do what you are doing that have been tried and have proven to make a difference. You will always stay ahead of the curve when looking at what can be and not be stuck with what you are doing.
Empowering and Engaging Your Team
· Develop Your Team
If you aren’t willing to invest the time and energy in your team members (staff), you will stagnate and cease to be vital. Stressing continuing education and the ability to go and visit people who aren’t necessarily in your same market to find new ways of thinking and dealing with the stresses and issues your department deals with is investing back into your success as an organization.
By letting your staff research your team's questions, you will energize your team because they get to see how others do their work. When they return, they can share their newly acquired information with your staff, who can see how it fits into your department.
I would send my team members on how to work with martial artists to help us learn new techniques in handfighting to help our players get away from their opponents more efficiently. Visiting nutritionists helped our team understand how to refuel and recover. Speaking with members of the military taught us how others taught resilience.
None of these helped us in our specific training, but adding new ideas helps us broaden our approach when dealing with our athletes.
· Recognition and Rewards:
Appreciating your staff reinforces positive relationships among team members. Recognizing outstanding contributions boosts morale and motivates individuals to strive to be the best in everything they do.
I never let an opportunity go by without discussing how vital my staff was to my department's success. Saying, “I want to thank my team …” is not enough. Mention them by name and what specifically they did. It’s not taking away from you and what you do, but shines light on the people who allow you to do what you do.
When success is appreciated from above, make sure that everyone gets a bite of the apple. Raises and added benefits always make the team feel appreciated. Since everyone doesn’t get the same bite, never brag about how much you got or the other benefits that you received for your work. What others don’t know doesn’t hurt them. Play your cards close to your vest.
· Great Communication:
Most organizations fail because the people doing the heavy lifting for the company don’t know why they are doing it. They have never been messaged about the philosophy of your department or the organization, and how they work together to move the organization forward. When people join your staff, they are expected to pick up what has happened, do what is happening, and understand how this all fits together in the big picture. This is how the organization fails. The new staff member will have no idea how things are done, what needs to be done, or where they fit into the organization's future success.
We must constantly teach and communicate about what we do, why we do it, how we do it, and where we fit into the organization's success, not from the person sitting next to them but from you, the team leader. They need to know how vital they are and what they do, which, when done without attention to detail, can cause problems further down the line.
When a leader is open with their communication, the team will mimic this and communicate better. When we are all working together and focused on the process in front of us, we will become more effective and more efficient.
When the plan has been laid out and they understand how they fit into the grand scheme, they will feel a sense of ownership in the process, making them more accountable for their work.
Get To Work!
By focusing on these three key areas—establishing a clear vision, embracing continuous improvement, and empowering your team—you can effectively navigate the issues of transforming your division into a best-in-class model. This strategic approach improves operational efficiency and builds an engaged workforce committed to achieving excellence.
Have an awesome day!
