The Teams Guide

PRACTICE

THE TEAMS GUIDE

DERSHIP

SUCCESS VISION

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE PREMIER LEAGUE

COMING TOGETHER IS A BEGINNING. KEEPING TOGETHER IS PROGRESS. WORKING TOGETHER IS SUCCESS.” HENRY FORD

Teams Guide

The League Managers Association, National Football Centre, St. George’s Park, Newborough Road, Needwood, Burton upon Trent, DE13 9PD www.leaguemanagers.com

The views and opinions expressed by contributors are their own and not necessarily those of the League Managers Association, its members, officers or employees. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited.

4

Editor Alice Hoey alicehoey1@gmail.com Editorial Contributors from the LMA Mark Farthing, Rebecca Gentle, Sue McKellar Publisher Jim Souter jim.souter@leaguemanagers.com Art Editor Sarah Ryan sarah.ryan@leaguemanagers.com Illustrations © iStock & flaticon.com

CONTENTS 06

WELCOME

13

DEVELOPMENT

17 21 25 33 39 45

BUILDING YOUR TEAM PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILING DIVERSITY UNDERSTANDING TEAM DEVELOPMENT POSITIVE BEHAVIOURS YOUR SUPPORT TEAM

53

LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES

57 63 69 79 85 89

TARGETS AND PLANS ACCOUNTABILITY AND OWNERSHIP MANAGING A MIX OF CHARACTERS NEGATIVE BEHAVIOUR AND CONFLICT INCLUSION STRENGTHENING

99

COMMUNICATION

103 109 117 123 127

PURPOSE AND VALUES MOTIVATION FEEDBACK AND CRITICISM A TEAM IN CRISIS ROLE STABILITY

132

THE CONTRIBUTORS

5

Teams Guide

WELCOME

RICHARD BEVAN Chief Executive, LMA

W

elcome to the Teams Guide, the LMA’s sixth leadership and personal development guide, produced by the LMA Institute of Leadership and High Performance.

The Institute’s aim is to provide relevant, vocational and engaging educational programmes, continuous professional development and one-toone support for the LMA’s members and all other coaching practitioners in the professional game. Its unique and innovative offering is based on our working knowledge of the specific requirements of our members and the challenges they face in the modern game. We aim to help them build the skills and resilience they need to survive those challenges, to maximise their talent and be the best they can be.

To do this, we draw on the insight and experience of a world-class team of experts and facilitators, from football, elite sport and other leadership disciplines, as well as from the huge pool of knowledge within the LMA membership.

This guide builds on many of the themes covered in our previous guides (Leadership, Health & Wellbeing, Communications, Self-Improvement and The First 60 Days), but focuses on the one entity at the heart of every manager’s and coach’s role, the team. Identifying, acquiring and developing talented individuals is crucial, but how you build those people into a team that is more than the sum of its parts is fundamental to success.

This guide aims to develop your understanding of the science and theory behind teams, and the techniques and practices that help to unite individuals in a team context. We also want to share the views and experiences of LMA members and others outside of football who have built successful teams in the past, and I would like to thank John Carver, John Coleman, Graham Potter, Hope Powell, Gus Poyet and Gordon Strachan for their time and insight.

I would also like to thank our editor, Alice Hoey, for her continued dedication to the LMA’s publications and our various trusted contributors for sharing their 6

expertise - Tom Castley, Michael Caulfield, Roberto Forzoni, Dr Phil Hopley, Richard Hytner, Richard Nugent, Mark Procter, Lee Richardson, Jeremy Snape, Steve Walsh and Russell Watters. A final thank you goes to our Institute partners, most notably the Premier League, whose contributions and support allow us to keep pushing the boundaries in what we offer to our members.

At the LMA, we are continually guided by our values of being unified, respected and forward-thinking, we have a passion for the game and work hard towards excellence in all that we do. We are committed to building the profession of football management and to investing in and retaining the talent we have in the game.

7

Teams Guide

INTRODUCTION

HOWARD WILKINSON LMA Chairman

A

s a professional player and wannabe coach in the late 60s and early 70s, I had a lot of time on my hands. Unless I was injured, every afternoon was free and Wednesday was often a day off. I found myself spending hours scouring the sport section of the local library looking for anything that might enlighten my thinking on my efforts to, one day, coach and manage.

I discovered there were many successful people in the sporting world who were daring to be different, whose thirst for learning and improvement had led them to widen their view beyond the merely physical. These were people who thought deeply about the heart and mind qualities of elite athletic performance.

In Australia, for example, there was a wildly eccentric athletics coach called Percy Wells Cerutty, whose holistic living, coaching, training, thinking and eating philosophy was very much at odds with traditional methods. Within a year, he had tranformed a run-of-the-mill 1,500m runner, called Herb Elliott, into a world record holder and gold medallist at the 1960 Rome Olympics.

In South Africa, was another outside-the-box thinker, Gary Player. He was starting to change the thinking and preparation of top golfers, many of whom had a reputation for enjoying themselves on and off the golf course. His view was that the best golfer was as fit as any top athlete. He also maintained that the brain was the most important muscle in the body and that most golfers undertrained it. His mantra, ‘we create success or failure on the course primarily by our thoughts’, was right at the centre of his philosophy.

Then I discovered gold in the form of an American gentleman called Vince Lombardi, who in the 1950s took The Green Bay Packers, an American football team, to the top of the mountain. Lombardi revolutionised team preparation and team ethics, laying out a crystal clear vision, philosophy and values for his players and staff. His ideas were 50 years ahead of their time.

Gandhi once said, “Be the man you want to see!” Well, for me, Lombardi was that man. In October 1988, when I moved from Sheffield Wednesday, who were

8

very well placed in the First Division, to Leeds United, then third from bottom of the Second Division, people said I must be crazy. However, I saw it as my chance to start with a clean sheet of paper. After three meetings and long discussions, the chairman, Leslie Silver, agreed to commit the club to my 10-year plan: promotion in the first full season, the First Division Championship within five years and build a youth academy to produce our own.

I spent the rest of the season preparing for the next. I promised the players and staff that we would be the most organised, the fittest and best prepared team in the league and that eventually we would also have the best players. I told them it was down to each individual to decide if he wanted to be part of that journey or leave.

You may, at this point be rolling your eyes, because who in the modern game would be foolish enough to allow themselves such dreams. I would say that if you don’t, you will probably fail anyway. People will always be more engaged by a decision that is founded in a clear vision, with a sense of purpose and direction, than by a list of activities. It’s not easy to go to work every day thinking you will be there until you decide to leave and yet know you could be gone tomorrow. Good coaches, as with good players, can make the time when they need to.

A thirst for learning and self-improvement is a never-ending journey up a downward escalator: stand still and you will go backwards.

When I read through the list of topics included in this Personal Development Guide, I am reminded of many of the concepts that I learnt from the likes of Lombardi, Player and Cerutty. The difference is, it took me years to unearth them all. Now, here they are at your fingertips. They are an invaluable addition to any ambitious coach’s toolbox.

9

Teams Guide

UNLESS YOU TRY TO DO SOMETHING BEYOND WHAT YOU HAVE ALREADY MASTERED, YOU WILL NEVER GROW.” RONALD E. OSBORN

10

LMA MEMBER INSIGHTS

This guide, like much of the learning provided through the LMA Institute of Leadership and High Performance, would be nothing without the unique insight of the LMA’s members. We would like to sincerely thank each of the managers here for their time and honesty in sharing their experiences

JOHN CARVER

JOHN COLEMAN

GRAHAM POTTER

HOPE POWELL

GUS POYET

GORDON STRACHAN 11

WE HAVE NO HOPE OF SOLVING OUR PROBLEMS WITHOUT HARNESSING THE DIVERSITY, THE ENERGY, AND THE CREATIVITY OF ALL OUR PEOPLE.” ROGER WILKINS

DEVELOPMENT 17 21 25 33 39 45

BUILDING YOUR TEAM PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILING DIVERSITY UNDERSTANDING TEAM DEVELOPMENT POSITIVE BEHAVIOURS YOUR SUPPORT TEAM

Teams Guide

39% 97%

CONFLICT AT WORK

...of surveyed employees believe that people in their own organisations don’t collaborate enough ...of employees and executives believe lack of alignment within a team impacts the outcome of a task or project

49% is a result of personality clashes and warring egos 34% is caused by stress in the workplace

SOURCE: CLEAR COMPANY

SOURCE: CPP INC REPORT

EUROPE LAGS BEHIND

Positive attitudes on diversity policies:

ROW

67%

THE AMERICAS

62% EMEA

58%

PEOPLE WHO USE THEIR STRENGTHS EVERY DAY ARE SIX TIMES MORE LIKELY TO BE ENGAGED ON THE JOB SOURCE: GALLUP

A DIVERSE TEAM CAN OUTPERFORM A TOP PERFORMING, HOMOGENOUS GROUP BY UP TO SIX TIMES SOURCE: HERDWISDOM

When recruiting

77%

of employers say personality traits, such as a positive attitude or a strong work ethic, are as important as the specific skills required SOURCE: CAREERBUILDER

14

Development

LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS Words: Alice Hoey

S

uccessful teams don’t start out great or, indeed, even as teams; they are simply collections of people brought together by a common purpose or activity. According to one definition, a team is “a group of individuals who share, and are committed to, a common purpose and objectives to which they hold themselves mutually accountable.” Another describes it as “a group of people with a full set of complementary skills required to complete a task, job, or project.”

Although quite different, together these definitions highlight some of the key elements at the heart of any high-functioning or successful team, such as unity of purpose, shared goals and accountability, themes that we’ll examine in greater detail throughout this guide.

In this first section, though, we’ll look at how to build the foundations of a high-functioning team, asking what you should take into consideration when recruiting individuals to your playing and support teams and how you can encourage positive team behaviours right from the outset.

We’ll also attempt to understand the process by which those teams will grow and improve and the crucial role that you can play in facilitating that development. The importance, for example, of establishing clear roles, responsibilities, processes and interactions, and encouraging behaviours that move the team onwards rather than holding it back.

As the leader, it’s up to you to create a framework within which each member of your team can perform at their best for the benefit of the team.

How successful will you be in achieving that?

15

Development

BUILDING YOUR TEAM Before you can develop and lead your team to success you have to build it, but finding talented individuals is not enough. They also need to be great team members and fit with your strategy and ethos.

Words: Steve Walsh

W

hile there’s a huge amount of talent out there, recruitment isn’t simply a question of picking the best players that you can find. There are various considerations to take into account, and foremost among them is your plan and philosophy as a manager. What style of football do you want your team to play and what strategy are you pursuing?

When looking to recruit a new player, you need to assess how well equipped your current team is to meet those goals, and how you might fill any gaps in technical ability, speed, endurance and so on.

The first thing to do here is a player audit of who you have in your current squad, youth teams or academy, to see if there is anyone who could give something more and who would benefit from more opportunities to develop as part of the team. Often, when new managers and other members of the 17

Teams Guide

support staff come to a club they see things through fresh eyes and may be able to see potential in players who have, up until now, been left out of the squad.

FILL SKILLS GAPS When the decision is made, however, to recruit a new player, it’s essential to come at the process with certain qualities in mind. You may well decide to make minor changes to your formation to accommodate the strengths of a new player, but simply looking for generic talent and then trying to get them to fit into your current team can cause problems. Instead, hone what you are looking for down to key characteristics, thinking about how a new recruit might fit into your team and how well they would be able to play the style of football that you want to play.

Be strategic, identifying what strengths and weaknesses you have in the team and then looking for players that will complement that blend while adding something extra. If, for example, you have one player who has good legs, but who regularly gives the ball away, you might look to recruit someone who has the same energy, but who has better ball distribution.

What’s key is that it’s not just about that new player’s profile, but how they fit into what you want them to do and how well they can step up to the plate and do it.

CHARACTER COUNTS Identifying people who have the right fit means getting to know as much as possible about each potential new recruit, including their personality and attitude, and how well they would engage with the club’s culture and teammates. It can happen that recruitment has a negative effect on the team’s performance, if that player has the technical skill you’re after, but doesn’t fit into the culture or the team dynamic.

With higher-profile players, you’ll be able to find out pretty quickly if they’re dedicated professionals, what their social skills are like and whether there are any lifestyle habits you should be concerned about. On other occasions, it might take more research, perhaps speaking with coaches or youth development people who have worked with them in the past.

Another consideration is whether the players themselves feel comfortable 18

Development

being part of your team and club, and whether they will be able to perform at their best in their new environment. This is especially important if you are considering recruiting someone from a different country or from a club in a much lower league. While you may be confident that they have the technical ability to do well in the team, do they also have what it takes mentally to handle the high levels of expectations and the constant scrutiny, and can they cope with the transition and with being moved out of their comfort zone?

Finally, it’s worth remembering that, while years ago managers were responsible for every aspect of the club, including recruitment, today they work with an often-extensive support team. To ensure that you recruit the best and most suitable talent for your team, you need to be able to get the best possible from everyone around you. That means having a very clear vision of the kind of football you want to play and being able to communicate that effectively to the professionals around you, so that they can scout for players that fit that strategy. Bringing in members of your own coaching staff or people who understand how you think and what you’re looking for can be helpful here, as can harnessing the knowledge of those already at the club.

It’s the values of the club and what we stand for that the players buy into, how we act on a daily basis, the work we do on the pitch, the type of football we want to play. You have to recruit players who can identify themselves with that. If people feel they can improve and be part of something then you’re on the path to a great team.

GRAHAM POT TER

19

Development

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILING Psychological science could help managers better understand how to get the best from their players and from the team dynamic.

Words: Lee Richardson

I

nformation is fast becoming central to getting the most from both players and staff, with data on everything from sprint distances and high-intensity runs to fat content and urine hydration markers being regularly recorded.

The trend is for greater investment in the physical sport sciences facilities, with clubs looking for ways to achieve even small margins of improvement.

FACT VERSUS FEELING One area of investment, at least in the business community, has been in psychological science - improving our understanding of people’s motivations, emotions and decisions under pressure and, in particular, the relationship dynamics that occur. However, such investment has been relatively small.

Generally in clubs we tend to rely on a combination of experience and intuition which, often works well. Experienced managers and coaches 21

Teams Guide

understand how to influence the more narcissistic members of the team, communicate differently with ‘trait’ and ‘type’ behaviours and recognise ‘state’ change, even without knowing how they know. This is called ‘tacit knowledge’.

THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS However, information obtained from psychological profiling, and in particular personality profiling, of players can lead to improvements in decision making, fewer errors, better stress management, relationships and player engagement, and a work environment that is more conducive to sustained success.

But finding out through profiling what player preferences are and how they feel regarding their situations or expectations may not lead to improvements on their own. Managers and support staff also need to have self-awareness about their own personalities and preferences.

The information from psychological profiles provides more clarity on the psychological jigsaw puzzle of your team, which can help to crystallise or confound your intuitive beliefs about what makes people tick and why.

You might better understand the specifics of differences in reaction to pressure or decision errors, because you understand more about the biological roots of this behaviour, and you might see what could be done to mitigate this.

The value of this level of awareness also goes in all directions, especially given the often high turnaround of staff and players.

SILENCING THE CRITICS Among the most obvious barriers to this kind psychological profiling to date has been a lack of understanding of the potential benefits. As with other psychological interventions, there has been some scepticism.

In fairness, some mixed reviews over the years, both in the scientific community and in the applied world of contextualising the information have been noted. Thus, sport has been fairly slow to capitalise on this huge potential knowledge bank, with cricket, rugby and athletics being notable exceptions.

The GB 2012 Olympians and the All Blacks, for example, place an emphasis on culture and have incorporated profiling into their broader psychosocial support structure.

Psychological profiling mainly involves people answering questions about themselves, and some consider this approach to be inherently flawed, as people 22

Development

wish to see themselves in a good light and so fill out profiles with their desirable qualities in mind. While this most certainly happens, most people actually tend towards self-reflection and self-scrutiny in the pursuit of mastery. This is most likely to be the case where their leader is fully behind the process and the expectations and purpose of the profiling are properly explained. For example, it should be made clear to the individual that there are no right or wrong answers and that the responses will help the support staff to help them.

FINDING THE RIGHT SOLUTION So what are the best profiling tools? There are many available and they tend to fall into two camps - the usable and the reliable. The usable include systems and models that are easy to understand, but less empirically tested, while the reliable include scientifically sound measures that are harder to interpret in the context of sport.

Lumina Spark combines usability and reliability, while the AIM-FOR Pillars profiling tool is an online system and so can assess numerous people quickly and efficiently.

BENEFITS OF PERSONALITY PROFILING Increases self-awareness – improves personal effectiveness and performance Enhances relationships – strengthens team cohesion Increases staff understanding of player psychological performance dynamics Improves on-boarding - new players who are profiled post-signing or during the signing process can be introduced to the culture Understand player personality traits and how this awareness can help to shape and build character

23

Development

DIVERSITY Greater diversity of backgrounds and perspectives in your teams, on and off the pitch, can lead to more creativity, better decision making and faster problem solving.

Words: Russell Watters

A

s we’ll see later in the guide, teams are made up of various character types, and this dynamic may either enhance or hold back the group’s progress. Perhaps even more important to consider, though, is the diversity of your wider team, not just your squad, but everyone who contributes to the running and success of the club. Are you encouraging or inhibiting differences in ethnicity, backgrounds, genders and perspectives, and are you reaping the full benefits that this can provide?

When looking to build your squad, you may want similar levels of professionalism, fitness and technical ability, but you don’t want every player to be the same. Recruiting players with skills that complement or add to those in your existing side can give you more options. The same principle should apply across the club, to its coaches, physios, sports scientists and 25

Teams Guide

player liaisons, yet in football, as across business sectors, recruitment often works against diversity rather than for it.

Although you and everyone involved in the recruitment of staff and players should understand and follow employment law when it comes to discriminatory practice, the hiring process is not necessarily always fair.

This is because rather than choosing new staff members based purely on their skills and abilities, it is common for people to recruit from within their personal or professional networks; in some cases out of a feeling of loyalty to those they know personally or have worked with before.

It’s easy to see why this might be the case; choosing someone you know or think you know feels safe and easy, and there’s the notion that they’ll ‘get it’ and so achieve results more quickly. We could call such choices gut instinct, but it may well be bias.

There is also no evidence to suggest that recruiting this way works. How many management teams can we think of that have been together for years, whether successful or not? If the team on the pitch was not performing you would change it, do something different, why would it not be the same across the club, why would we not seek to explore different options?

The logic is further flawed, because the personal network from which you’re recruiting may well lack diversity or be made up of lots of people with similar backgrounds and viewpoints to your own.

DYNAMIC, CREATIVE, SUCCESSFUL Great leaders understand that good decision making relies heavily on considering all the options and taking into account the opinions and perspectives of those around them. Therefore, recruiting in your own image or comfort zone, or hiring only staff that share your views and agree with

Nowadays, it’s common to have players of many nationalities and from many different cultures in your team, and you can learn a lot from what each person brings.

JOHN COLEMAN

26

Development

your opinions makes little sense. The McKinsey Group’s 2018 Delivering through Diversity Report backs this up, showing that organisations with gender diverse senior management teams were up to 21 per cent more likely to financially outperform their competitors. The figure rises to a huge 33 per cent when related to ethnic and cultural diversity.

Recruiting from a more diverse talent pool, based on people’s skills and abilities, has many benefits, not least bringing a greater spread of ideas, which creates a more stimulating, dynamic and ultimately successful environment.

A diversity of experience, ideas and viewpoints can lead you to explore options that you might never have considered based on your own knowledge and experience alone.

Meanwhile, teams made up of colleagues from diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, ages, genders and religions tend to have more creative energy and can draw on a far wider range of input than those that lack diversity and are more homogenised. All of this makes problem solving and decision making better and easier.

The evidence is compelling; organisations that get it right not only benefit from better decision-making and creativity, but even attract the best talent as a result of their enhanced images and reputations. They also have much higher employee engagement rates, greater staff loyalty and less conflict.

To ensure you reap these benefits, once you’ve put in place the systems that will facilitate diversity, you will require a consultative leader, one who is open to new ideas, innovations and opinions and, indeed, actively seeks them out.

27

Teams Guide

MAKING IT WORK If you have recruitment practices in place that encourage diversity and have successfully built a diverse team, you will need to ensure you are embracing it to reap the rewards: SHOW EQUAL VALUE AND RESPECT Team members who don’t feel valued are more likely to move on and to move on more quickly.

BE AWARE OF UNCONSCIOUS BIAS When we favour those people whose backgrounds, appearance or views most closely match our own, it can influence decisions around promotions, development and recognition of staff.

BREAK DOWN BARRIERS Research has shown that some managers feel anxious about saying the wrong thing to team members who are different from them. As a result, they talk less to those people and have poorer working relationships with them.

28

Development

29

Teams Guide

JOHN COLEMAN MANAGER

Having a mix of personalities helps to keep the mood in the squad vibrant.

Sometimes the team might benefit from the calming influence of one person, especially if things aren’t going well, while someone else might be able to provide a flash of inspiration. A bubbly person will inject a bit of humour and raises everyone’s mood, while a more aggressive character might put a big tackle in, which lifts the other players during a game. You need all of that in the mix.

I encourage everyone to be themselves and ensure that everyone’s input is valued and respected. We’ll ask for their opinions in team meetings and encourage everybody to speak up openly in front of the group. Likewise, if someone wants their say in the dressing room, they won’t be shouted down, they’ll be listened to. I believe that if they feel important and valued within the group, they will behave and perform well for the group.

We tend to rely on the captain and vice-captain to court the rest of the squad’s opinions and use them as a sounding board, but what’s important is it isn’t just two or three senior players making all the decisions. It isn’t only more experienced players whose opinions are valued, because the younger or less experienced players often have some great ideas.

30

Development

PROF HELENA GAUNT

VICE PRINCIPAL, GUILDHALL SCHOOL OF MUSIC AND DRAMA I think of any team like an ensemble in music or a company in the theatre. It’s no good everyone playing the same instrument or having the same voice. You need diverse talents and an appropriate balance between them.

In the best ensembles everyone is able to shine; their distinctive talents come through, but this only works if the foundation for playing together is there. That comes from everyone knowing the part that they play, but also relies on mutual respect, the ability to listen and to respond, to offer and to receive, lead and follow. These are the things that establish a sense of trust between people.

You know that you are there to support one another and that in turn you will be supported. Without this, it’s impossible for each person to do their best.

Trust enables the ensemble or team to take some risks, experiment and improvise. This is essential for any ensemble to reach anything near its potential.

A great team needs a clear shared understanding of what it’s trying to achieve and over what timescale. When both trust and shared goals are in place, creativity and playfulness can really come into the picture, and suddenly all kinds of unexpected, innovative and exciting things start to happen. They may not all work, but that doesn’t matter at all. Some things will work - and spectacularly well.

31

Development

UNDERSTANDING TEAM DEVELOPMENT Your team will pass through various stages of development en route to excellence and you can play an important part in helping it to progress.

Words: Mark Procter

B

ecoming a high-performing team is something of a Holy Grail in sport, but it requires hard graft, considered leadership and a large dose of patience. Indeed, according to Bruce Tuckman’s model of team development, a team will only achieve this state once it has worked its way through four stages: Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing.

You’ll need to assess what stage your team is at, understand what’s going on during each of these stages and how you can help the team progress to the next step.

Assessing what stage a team is at requires time and observation. For example, a brand new team will inevitably be in the Forming stage, whereas a 33

Teams Guide

long-standing team could be in any of the other three stages depending how quickly it has progressed (some teams never get beyond Storming!). A team in the Storming phase will have frequent conflicts as team members vie for position or opt out. This team would look fairly dysfunctional. A team in the Norming stage would look like a functional team, but still be reliant on the leader for support and to arbitrate. The team would have processes in place and clear roles and be starting to look like a smooth operation.

By the time a team has reached the Performing stage it has little reliance on its leader, with team members working interdependently and holding each other to account. Roles may flex, as team members who are used to working with each other can adapt and get the best from each other.

STAGES OF TEAM DEVELOPMENT (TUCKMAN)

34

NORMING

STORMING

PERFORMING

FORMING

Development

Needless to say, teams don’t always progress as smoothly as this model of development suggests. They may get stuck in one stage, such as storming, or regress a little, especially when there is a change in manager or a new member joins the team. There are, however, things you can do to lead the team through each stage and onto the next.

In the Forming stage, in particular, the team is highly dependent on the leader for guidance and direction, so be prepared to answer lots of questions about the team’s purpose and external relationships. In contrast, processes are often largely ignored by team members during this stage of development. Make sure the team’s purpose and goals are clearly stated as often as needed.

During the Storming stage, individuals in the team start to vie for position in an attempt to establish themselves in relation to their team-mates and their leader. Although this can make decision-making difficult, it’s a healthy part of the team development process, as it shows a willingness of members to challenge one another. Without this jockeying for position and challenging of one another’s views, people might simply agree with decisions that affect the team for fear of losing their place or status in the group, something known as ‘groupthink’.

During the Storming phase, you can help to prevent the team becoming distracted by relationships and emotional issues by focusing it on its goals and processes and mediating conflicts that may arise. Highlight the different strengths that team members have so that these can be appreciated rather than be a source of conflict. Create ways of working and ground rules and ensure that team members are adhering to them.

By the time the team has reached the Norming stage, roles and responsibilities are clear and accepted and big decisions are probably being made largely by group agreement. Smaller decisions, meanwhile, may be delegated to individuals or small teams within the group. Commitment and unity are strong during this period, so the team will engage in fun and social activities, something that you as the leader can initiate or encourage. During the Norming stage, supporting the norms of the team and only intervening if things go off track is usually the leader’s best approach.

Once the team has reached the Performing stage it will have a shared 35

Teams Guide

vision and be able to stand on its own feet with little input from the leader.

The main focus is on over-achieving its goals, so the team will push itself higher and higher. Most of the decisions will be made by the team, using criteria agreed with the leader and, while it will need to be given projects and direction, it will be able to self-manage and self-regulate without constant instruction or assistance.

Tuckman’s model is an easy-to-grasp and useful framework to consider when observing your team’s behaviours and trying to understand how you can lead the team’s development. You may like to openly discuss the team’s development with them, particularly as you reach the Norming and Performing stages. Being able to engage the team in such a conversation is a good sign that you are well on the way to being a high-performing team.

As a manager, I’d never talk to the players about my career as a player, except to share the negative things, which they might learn from. Your job is to make them better and feel good about themselves, not to make you feel good about yourself. You’ll feel good about yourself when you’ve made those players successful as individuals and as a team. That is the joy of being a coach.

GORDON STRACHAN

36

Development

PHASES OF DEVELOPMENT – THE LEADERSHIP ROLE FORMING n Give the team direction and establish clear objectives, for the group and for individuals. n Answer questions and ensure clarity.

STORMING n Establish processes and structures. n Encourage relationship building between team members. n Be open to questions and opinions and be on hand to provide support and bolster confidence. n Resolve conflicts swiftly. n Remain positive and stick to your goals and values. n Help people to understand why any problems are occurring, and how they can work through them. n Demonstrate assertiveness and good conflict resolution skills. n Help team members understand and accept one another’s differences, styles and strengths. Psychometric profiles can help here. n Maintain the team’s focus on its goals.

NORMING n Step back and allow the team to take more responsibility for results and progress. n Provide support where needed, but also increasingly empower team members. n Encourage team bonding and sharing. Inject some fun.

PERFORMING n Delegate more and hand over more responsibility to the team. n Step back, demonstrate trust and focus on other goals and areas of work.

37

Development

POSITIVE BEHAVIOURS Beyond the initiation process, what can you do to infuse and sustain the kinds of behaviours necessary for a high-performance environment?

Words: Richard Nugent

W

hile most managers understand that certain behaviours are essential if a team is to perform at its best, many fear having to enforce them. The concern is often that pulling people up on their behaviour will damage the manager-player relationship and so end up negatively impacting team performance.

The irony is that, while they may still test the boundaries from time to time, or even believe that the rules apply to others more than themselves, highperforming players tend to respect managers who create environments in which their talents can be developed.

MAKE RULES TOGETHER There are also things you can do as a manager to increase the likelihood that team members will acknowledge and respect your preferred behaviours. Simply 39

Teams Guide

creating rules in isolation and imposing them on the group is unlikely to get results, nor is assuming that because a set of behaviours worked well with one squad that it will do so with another.

The best behavioural frameworks are actually those that are created by the management team and the players together. The more input that the players have, the more likely they are to self-manage and hold one another to account when they see behaviours that go against the standards agreed by the group.

Soon after starting a new role, gather together your playing and support teams, and encourage everyone to discuss the behaviours they would expect from each other and what would be unacceptable.

COMMON BEHAVIOURAL STANDARDS The list that emerges will probably include relatively obvious things like trying your best, being respectful, praising and supporting one another, and having a positive mindset, as well as more specific expectations. These may include arriving for team meetings on time, carrying out certain agreed matchday preparations and keeping the dressing room tidy, and should extend to behaviours outside of training as well as on the pitch.

For example, players may decide together that they should avoid use of bad language and behave as ambassadors for the team at all times, wherever they are, to avoid criticising other teams, or to adopt a dress code in certain publicfacing situations. Behaviours to avoid, meanwhile, may include not bringing mobile devices to training or engaging in social media, using bad language, moaning or being disrespectful to fellow players or members of staff.

While each squad will create their own rules of behaviour, there are some that tend to feature prominently in the dressing rooms of high-performing teams, albeit to varying degrees and under different labels.

One of the most common and important behaviours to be prioritised in teams is trust, without which no significant level of performance can be maintained. Trust in one another, as professionals and as people, is the glue that holds any team together and is most effectively strengthened when we share our vulnerabilities. Transparency, especially in communications, is another common priority behaviour. Transparent communications must be respectful, direct and outcome focused, with the overall group goal in mind, rather than personal agendas.

Finally, accountability is often highly regarded as a team behaviour among 40

Development

We encourage the players to create the team ethos themselves, to think about what they feel is most important and what we’re aiming for as a team.

JOHN COLEMAN

successful teams. As we’ll see in the article on page 63, team members are expected to be wholly accountable for their roles in the group; to accept responsibility for the team’s overall performance, with no room for blame; and to take responsibility for tackling issues and behaviours that affect the function of the team. They can’t ignore the underperformance of others, nor can they allow any behaviours that are negatively affecting the team unit.

NURTURING AND ENCOURAGING It’s only when a team exhibits good team behaviours that staff and players can achieve and maintain the high standards they’re after, so it’s important that expectations are clearly communicated and then reinforced. Don’t just relay them once and then take them for granted. Once co-created with the team, refer to them openly on a regular basis, preferably using visual cues in public and team areas to keep them front of mind and instilled as an important element of the team’s culture.

While it is right for leaders to focus most of their time on the tactical, technical, physical and physiological areas of the team’s game, it is worth remembering that there is a distinction between high performance and a highperforming team.

If you focus only on the things that you hope will deliver high performance and spend little or no time on nurturing the behaviours that create a highperforming team, you will never get the most from your resources.

41

Teams Guide

TEAM BEHAVIOURS - 5 TO REMEMBER 1 2 3

4 5

Don’t assume that one team’s set of behaviours will work as well with another.

The most effective behavioural rules are created by the manager and team together. Aim for as much team input as possible.

Encourage discussion around the behaviours the team would like to see and not see. These should include behaviours inside and outside the work environment.

Discuss accountability and what happens when the rules are broken.

Lead by example by following the rules yourself and encourage your staff to do the same.

When we set a rule for the players, such as no alcohol over a period, we apply it to everybody in the staff. You have to set an example.

GORDON STRACHAN

42

Development

43

Development

YOUR SUPPORT TEAM How successful you are in developing your playing team will depend in part on how well you work with your support team.

Words: Mark Procter

T

o realise your potential as a manager you need a highly effective team around you, off the pitch as well as on it. But it takes skilled leadership to build a great support team and create an environment in which they can perform at their best.

When looking to fill a vacancy in your support team or to add expertise in a specialist area, relevant experience and qualifications will, of course, be high on the agenda. It’s important, however, to consider not only the competencies that you’re used to, but also any skills and areas of knowledge that might enhance and complement those already in the team.

Perhaps there is a new approach or technique that you’d like to explore and where first-hand insight would be invaluable, or might the team benefit from the input of someone who has worked abroad or gained experience in a different field altogether?

45

Teams Guide

INSIDERS VERSUS OUTSIDERS When you start a new role, you may have the chance to bring members of your support staff with you to the new club. Many managers value having people around them who they have worked with before and who know how they like to operate, the logic being that it enables them to implement their plans more quickly. There’s also comfort in having someone you trust and can turn to for support, advice or just a sympathetic ear during what is probably the most testing and stressful time in a manager’s tenure.

Bringing someone with you to a new job may, however, not be possible, nor will it always be the best solution. As we’ve seen already in the article on diversity, when you surround yourself with people who are similar to yourself and who think in the same way, it can stall innovation and mean you’re less challenged on decisions.

Having support staff who know the club and the playing team can also have considerable advantages, especially during the early weeks when you need to get results fast. The existing staff may be able to help you acclimatise more quickly to the club’s modus operandi and culture, to introduce you to those within the club or linked to it who have most influence, and to help diagnose what problems or barriers might be holding progress back.

It’s worth remembering that even if you don’t bring long-standing or familiar staff with you to a role, it can be helpful to have additional support from mentors or trusted advisers who are external to the club. As well as providing

Having the right people in your support team is important because everyone has their own way of working. It’s great to have some people around you who you know and who you can trust and delegate to, but having somebody from the club you’re going to can also be invaluable, especially when it’s a club that you don’t know well. They can give you information, help you start new working relationships, and help you to understand the culture and ethos of the club.

GUS POYET

46

sounding boards to bounce your ideas off or acting as devil’s advocates, they can give much-needed support when you’re feeling the pressure.

AN EFFECTIVE TEAM FRAMEWORK Once you have built a highly skilled support team, you’ll need to ensure you are all working as effectively as possible, both as individuals and as a group. Great teams have commonality of purpose, but interdependency when working, so as a leader you must create a shared ‘mental map’ for the team, a framework within which each member can perform. The GRIP model (Goals, Roles, Interactions and Processes) is useful here, as it helps us to define the key elements of this framework and then ensure we’re covering them.

For a team to function at its best there must be a clear goal that everyone can work towards together. Start with a short-term goal and then think about how that will create the foundation for achieving your medium and long-term objectives. Each individual in your team should also have their own goals and, importantly, understand how these feed into the objectives of the team.

The team’s purpose must also be clear. Why does it exist and what value is leveraged in the club from working well together? Discussion around this topic is often neglected, but is important, as it helps to bring the team together to deliver its goals.

The next thing to consider are the roles within the team, not only the functional jobs and day-to-day responsibilities that you will have determined prior to someone’s recruitment, but also their informal roles. These might include trusted advisers and implementers who are great at putting talk into action. Such roles, once understood, can be particularly helpful during meetings or group activities, when their strengths can be put to good use. Perhaps, for example, someone is best at chairing, someone else is a great timekeeper and another is good at capturing meeting actions. These roles can be rotated, but all are essential to the effective management of a team meeting.

SMOOTH OPERATORS The interactions element of the GRIP model refers to the dynamics of how the team works together. Successful working relationships take time to evolve and the early stages can be quite stormy as individuals in the team test out their ideas, work out how they fit into the team and assess one another’s strengths, 47

Teams Guide

weaknesses and levels of commitment. This is quite normal, and indeed essential, if the benefits of team working are to be realised. Trust needs to be developed and open and honest feedback will help to strengthen this.

Finally, there is the importance of agreed processes within the team, because team members need to be moving towards a set of norms for how it will operate. These processes include things like ground rules, decision making and problem solving, and monitoring. Setting some basic ground rules, such as use of mobile phones, punctuality and dress, can go a long way. Think about how team members will share progress and how often, and what will be the frequency, formality and function of monitoring.

48

YOUR SUPPORT TEAM - 5 TO CONSIDER 1 2 3 4 5

Be open-minded when recruiting. Think about the skills and knowledge gaps in your support team.

Recruiting people who you have worked with before may help you implement your plans more quickly and provide support and advice.

There are positives to hiring staff who will challenge you and bring fresh ideas and perspectives.

Staff at the club will have valuable knowledge about its culture, current state and people.

The GRIP (Goals, Rules, Interactions and Processes) model can help ensure you have the right framework in place for an effective support team.

49

Teams Guide

HOPE POWELL MANAGER

When you’re dealing with a large group of players, all very different, it’s a challenge to manage everyone as an individual. You have to create an environment where it’s acceptable to receive praise, own it and everybody be comfortable with that. Every player should accept that because they understand that the player getting singled out can’t perform without the rest of the team, and that everyone is treated in the same way.

One way to praise individuals is to pull them aside for informal chats, in and around training, in the corridor, over a coffee, or walking to the pitch where you say, “really well done, I think you’re on track, and doing the things I asked you to do.” You need formal one-to-one meetings, where the player has a chance to talk and you have the opportunity to help and guide them. But those informal moments with players are just as important, especially in enabling you to praise them without embarrassing them or risk it being counter-productive.

It’s really important, especially in a club environment where you have more time with the players, to really try to get to know them and find out what makes them tick.

50

EDDIE JONES

HEAD COACH, ENGLAND RUGBY When I was a player, if your coach told you to jump, you asked ‘how high and how many times?’ Now, your team members will first ask ‘why?’. It means that just to be instructive as a coach is no longer enough, at least not in the long term.

You have to engage the players in the learning process; it’s now very much an interactive, player-centric model of coaching.

The coaching staff and I will discuss our intended game plan with the senior players, and then we’ll ask them to relate that information back to the team.

The more you can get the players involved in devising a strategy, critiquing it and believing in it, the more likely they are to stick to it, even when they’re under pressure.

You’re not leading the players by stick, but by shared knowledge; you’re guiding and developing them as leaders, and sharpening their decision-making processes. You also have to give them a common purpose, something that will drive them to want to be together and achieve together. For example, our aim is to be the greatest England rugby team there has ever been and we emphasise to the players that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for them.

51

MOTIVATION IS THE ART OF GETTING PEOPLE TO DO WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO DO BECAUSE THEY WANT TO DO IT.” DWIGHT D EISENHOWER

LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES 57 63 69 79 85 89

TARGETS AND PLANS ACCOUNTABILITY AND OWNERSHIP MANAGING A MIX OF CHARACTERS NEGATIVE BEHAVIOUR AND CONFLICT INCLUSION STRENGTHENING COHESION

Teams Guide

46% HAVE A ‘GREAT DEAL OF TRUST’ IN THEIR CURRENT EMPLOYERS MAIN CAUSES OF MISTRUST

n Unfair employee compensation n Unequal opportunity for pay and promotion n Lack of leadership

n High employee turnover n Work environment not conducive to collaboration SOURCE: EY

REDESIGNING ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE Research into how to meet the demands of today’s workforce and business climate identified four keys to success *

70%

Feedback and free flow of information

Transparent goals and projects

Rewards for skills and contribution, not position SOURCE: DELOITTE

38%

SAY THEY ARE PART OF A DYSFUNCTIONAL TEAM

DON’T GET ASKED FOR THEIR INPUT OR INFORMATION

SOURCE: GLASSDOOR.COM

SOURCE: SOCIAL MEDIA TODAY

72% 54

Shared values and culture

27%

of highly engaged employees understand their importance or role and how it contributes to organisational success

of employees who plan to leave within the first year cite feeling “disconnected” to the organisation

SOURCE: CLEARCOMPANY

SOURCE: HERDWISDOM

Leadership Challenges

DIRECTION AND UNITY Words: Alice Hoey

N

ow that you’ve established your team and understand how you can help it to develop and improve, your leadership skills will really come to the fore.

To see how, let’s return to that definition of a team: “A group of individuals who share, and are committed to, a common purpose and objectives to which they hold themselves mutually accountable.”

The first part of this, having a shared raison d’être, lies at the heart of any high-performing team, because it gives team members a common direction and plan of action and effectively guides all activity within the team unit. It also helps to build that essential quality of great teams, cohesion. In a cohesive team, members understand and care about each other enough as people that they will go the extra mile, make sacrifices and remain strong in adversity, all so they don’t let each other down. Reach that state, and there’s little that can break you down.

The level of accountability, or acknowledgement of responsibility for a role or task, and ownership, the personal element of this acknowledgement, must also be strong and, again, here you play an essential part.

In this section of the guide, we look at how you can create goals that motivate and unite your team members, and examine your role in encouraging qualities such as cohesion, accountability and ownership. Can you get the contrasting personalities in the group to come together for the good of the team and what happens when they don’t?

55

Leadership Challenges

TARGETS AND PLANS While each of us has our own personal ambitions, teams need shared goals and direction to perform at their best.

Words: Alice Hoey

A

s we’ll see in this section of the guide, teams need strong cohesion and clear accountability to perform to their full potential. For those things to be achieved, though, you first need goals, not only for each individual – those personal desires and the weaknesses that each athlete must work on - but for the team as a unit. Shared objectives provide direction and purpose, strengthening the team bond, building cohesion and trust, and motivating people to fight and succeed as a group.

What’s more, targets and plans, especially shorter-term ones, give you as the leader opportunities to track progress and reward effort and achievements, which in turn helps you to re-energise team morale and boost confidence.

57

Teams Guide

FINDING A BALANCE When making plans, you need to find a balance between focusing on the shortterm goals that must be achieved to stay in your job, the medium-term targets, which will keep the team on track in a sustainable and progressive way, and the longer-term objectives, your vision for the future.

Achieving your short-term goals, i.e. winning the next two or three games, clearly needs to be the priority, because it is on these results that the success of the team is being judged. Only by meeting these immediate targets will you afford yourself enough time to bring your medium- and long-term plans to fruition. It is essential, therefore, that in the run-up to a match your team is entirely focused on the task in hand, rather than allowing their thoughts to get too far ahead That doesn’t, however, mean that all other thoughts of the future should be put out of mind. Your visions for the medium and long term must be strong and clear enough that they are supported by everything that happens at the club. They are the current pulling you along so, even though your decisions and changes might be aimed at achieving short-term success, they should still be moving you in the right direction.

This has to be true not just for you, but for everyone in your playing and support teams so, while their immediate focus will be on winning the next game, the vision and plans you have shared with them will be an ongoing theme and will influence their behaviours and decisions.

For me, getting the whole team behind one common goal was about creating a shared identity and a unique edge that would give us an advantage in Sweden. We then recruited people who fitted that identity, including players who didn’t necessarily adhere to the conventional view of Swedish football; they could see the bigger picture of our team and how they slotted into that.

GRAHAM POT TER

58

Leadership Challenges

SETTING GOALS It is important that your goals are specific, rather than being vague statements of desire or preference, and whenever possible be positive statements of intent, rather than focusing on trying to avoid negative outcomes. For example, it’s better to say, ‘we will finish in the top half of the table’ than ‘we won’t finish in the bottom half’.

You must be able to measure your progress towards them and they must be realistic and achievable, including your long-term aim. This is the end point of the journey, so you need stepping stones or landmarks at points along the way, both to demonstrate that the goal is indeed possible and to map out the processes and time frames for achieving it.

The low-level goals that you’re working towards daily, meanwhile, should be small and have short time frames, so that everyone can see the progress you’re making. Being able to hit those targets gives you valuable opportunities to reward your team and recognise their progress and improvement. This is essential in keeping people motivated and feeling confident, especially when achieving the larger targets may be some way off.

ENCOURAGING COMMITMENT While you want to encourage your team members to think and work for the team rather than for themselves, it’s important to recognise that team goals need to resonate on an individual level as well. Think about how to personalise team goals, so that each member can commit to them while understanding the importance of their part in the puzzle.

You may find that your team responds better to a target with a range, rather than a single aim, so 8-10 goals in a season instead of simply 10 goals.

Confidence will grow when the lower end of that range is met, so the team will push to achieve bigger and better things.

It can also help to put your goals down in writing so that they’re sealed in ink, perhaps pinning group targets to the wall somewhere they can be seen every morning. Asking each member to sign their name against their personal targets can add even more weight to their commitment.

Finally, and perhaps most important of all, your targets should be performance-based rather than centred on achieving particular outcomes.

While it is tempting to attach labels of success and failure to the black 59

Teams Guide

and white metrics of win or lose, final scores and results, it is often counterproductive.

A wide range of factors can contribute to final results, many of them out of your control, so it is likely to demotivate the team if they achieve their personal targets, but fail to meet an outcome-based goal. It will also serve to whitewash over all the small victories and progress made by the team during recent times, effort that once rewarded can be pushed to the next level.

If your goals are performance-based, linked to working hard and faithfully putting your plans into action, then the results should take care of themselves.

PERFORMANCE PLANNING With your main goal at the tip, as you move downwards, you get the detail on how to deliver the level above.

REQUIRED PERFORMANCE GOAL 75 points KEY DRIVERS Get 20 more goals from new strikers and 10 clean sheets QUARTERLY GOAL Break the season into blocks of 7 games. Show how goals/clean sheets deliver on targets MONTHLY GOAL Set realistic goals with the team for the 7 games WEEKLY BEHAVIOURS Define the strategy for winning each game DAILY ‘WINS’ Daily training and lifestyle choices align to goals

60

Leadership Challenges

PLANNING - KEY QUESTIONS Richard Nugent, managing director, TwentyOne Leadership Where and what are you now?

Form an accurate and honest understanding of your team’s current status, core strengths and weaknesses, as well as the culture of the organisation and how it stacks up against the competition.

What’s important?

What is your vision for the organisation and over what time frame do you envisage achieving this? Do you, for example, want to make sweeping changes or are you satisfied that the fundamentals are sound and simply need to grow and mature? Is there a rich heritage or new approaches that could revitalise the club?

How will you get there?

What problems need to be ironed out and how will you do that? What strengths will you need to build on and how will you help your team cope with the changes?

Who, what, when?

How will you allocate your resources - time, people’s talents and money - to address the priority issues and achieve the set objectives? Who on your staff will help you to champion the changes and communicate your vision? What new technologies and expertise can you afford to implement?

Reflect and review Regularly review your strategy and the processes towards reaching it, assess your progress and refine things where necessary.

THINK SMART Specific (or Significant) Measurable (or Meaningful) Attainable (or Aligned) Relevant (or Realistic) Time-bound (or Trackable)

61

Leadership Challenges

ACCOUNTABILITY AND OWNERSHIP Having agreed on the short, medium and long-term objectives of the group, everyone should be clear on what they are accountable for and feel a personal sense of ownership for it.

Words: Richard Hytner

T

o be accountable is to be, and feel totally responsible for, something. It involves an obligation to account for your decisions and ensuing actions.

You can usually tell when there is avoidance of accountability in a team: discord among team members instead of harmony, clashing of egos, jockeying for position, infighting and territorial behaviour.

When accountability is muddied, there will be undue stress, doubt and insecurity, with people left wondering if they were supposed to have acted differently when things haven’t happened as they should have. People worry that, when it comes to assigning blame, the finger will point at them. It’s a sickening position to find yourself in. You’ve given your best, but have 63

Teams Guide

disappointed colleagues purely because there was ambiguity, rather than clarity of expectation and accountability.

LINES IN THE SAND It’s your job as leader to define clear and unambiguous boundaries, so that each team member knows exactly what is required of them and, equally important, what is not. When you’re looking to clarify roles, a proven, simple project management system called RASCI can help. RASCI (Responsible, Approve, Support, Consult, Inform) distributes varying degrees of accountability across multiple roles.

There really can only be one R, the person who is totally responsible for driving the project to a successful conclusion, and they are accountable to a small number of people who get to approve the decisions, allocation of resources and agreed directions. They will be helped and coached by the approver (the A) as required. As soon as you see more than one person in the R role, expect trouble.

The support acts (the S) are all those people to whom the person responsible will turn in order to get the job done, while there will also be people the R chooses to consult (the C) for ideas, opinions, perspectives and coaching. Importantly, the R is not obliged to pursue the advice of their Cs, just as Cs are not entitled to expect you to tell them what you’re going to do.

Finally, there will always be people the R feels the need to keep informed (the I) of the project’s progress and outcome.

Given that assigning accountability clearly from the outset is essential to the success of any team project, investing time at the start to identify who wants, and is well-placed, to take on each role will pay off. This may require some negotiation over who will play in what position, but it is far easier to have such potentially difficult discussions, and to bury any disappointments, early on than to find counter-measures to problems and entrenched positions further down the line.

DYNAMIC AND NEGOTIABLE In the right hands, RASCI allows for accountability that is fluid and developmental and roles should not be predetermined by job title. For example, on a finance project, the FD shouldn’t automatically be assigned the 64

Leadership Challenges

As a leader, you have to try to create a culture in which your team members feel empowered to make their own decisions and take responsibility for them. There’s no right or wrong way to do that, and you have to be able to adapt to what each particular group needs.

GUS POYET

person responsible just because finance is what they do. Instead, it might be assigned to a potential star beyond the finance function. Sometimes it’s good to make room for others to step up and feel the heat of ultimate accountability. For example, when there is a project that isn’t mission-critical, you might take on the consultant or support role, giving responsibility to your latest new recruit.

The most important thing is that everyone is entirely clear on what they will be held accountable for at any given time, rather than it being left to chance or assumption.

In the best cultures, accountability is often volunteered, so when taking on a project the leader might say, “This is what we need to achieve, who is up for taking the R role for this job? I’ll be in the C role, on hand to coach you and help with any skills you might be lacking.” Assigning accountability in this way is a great way for people to learn and grow, giving them short, sharp experiences of things they haven’t done before.

OWNERSHIP Whereas accountability is extrinsic, formally assigned and communicated by the leader, ownership is intrinsic and personal; it cannot be given or demanded. You want people to feel a deep personal connection to the challenge they have been set and a profound desire to see a successful outcome.

In a high-performing team, every member will feel ownership not simply of their personal contribution to the endeavour, but of the collective success of the group. When each individual feels that in some way, however small, they made a contribution to a winning performance, they own it and the compound 65

Teams Guide

pride propels the team forward.

Invariably, teams achieve beyond expectations when they are driven to fulfil their responsibilities because they want to, not because they are directed to or because they fear the consequences of deviating from instructions. That is not accountability, nor is it personal ownership, it is compliance and it has no enduring effect.

As a leader, you can help to strengthen your team’s sense of ownership by asking each member what it is about the organisation’s highest aspiration that excites them most, and how that connects with their own personal passion and ambition. What’s the relationship between what they wish to achieve and what the organisation is seeking to achieve? Leaders get more for their team players’ discretionary efforts by deepening the connection between organisational and personal aspirations, raising ambitions, focusing on individual strengths and harnessing those strengths for the team.

Your aim must be to create an environment where team members are motivated to set their own standards and regulate their collective behaviours. Therefore, once you’ve assigned accountabilities clearly and explained what you would like to see achieved and why, you should get out of the way.

This, of course, requires a leader who is comfortable with the idea that his or her team members will make mistakes, fail and learn something valuable from those experiences. Great leaders demonstrate their trust in others first, rather than waiting to see evidence of accountability or stepping in as soon as they sense a mistake looming. It requires the courage to not micro-manage and a deeply held belief that people, if clear on the challenge and left to take it on as they see fit, will step up to the plate and give it their best.

The leader‘s contribution can then be to hold a mirror up to the team members, cheering on victories, big and small. It will be to remind them, when necessary, of the standards and behaviours that you expect or, preferably, those they expect of each other and to which they have committed. The impetus for holding one another to account needs to come from within the team. It needs to be the result of the team’s collective ambitions and ownership, rather than because of anything you have told them they need to achieve.

66

Leadership Challenges

ACCOUNTABILITY – 4 TO TRY 1

Review a recent important project or initiative that failed to deliver what you had hoped. Facilitate a candid conversation with the team about how clearer expectations, roles and accountabilities might have altered the outcome.

2

Use RASCI to define clear and unambiguous roles and responsibilities for a significant new project. Who will be the one person Responsible for it?

Who will be the Approver? Who do you wish to be the Support acts? Who within, and perhaps beyond, the organisation, would you like to Consult for their wisdom and perspective? Who must be Informed as you progress?

3

Inspire people to volunteer for roles and responsibilities beyond the ones they typically fulfil, then support them to succeed.

4

Unleash personal ownership by asking team members what it is about the organisation that most excites them. How does that connect to, and elevate, their own personal aspirations, ambitions and passion?

In all the teams I’ve worked with, the players have largely set their own targets based on their ambitions. I’ve helped to motivate them around that and have given guidance on how to get there, but I believe it’s empowering for them to decide how far they want to go and how much they want to achieve. It’s then that they really own it.

HOPE POWELL

67

Leadership Challenges

MANAGING A MIX OF CHARACTERS Great teams are not made of up lots of similar personalities, but of people with different characters, backgrounds and viewpoints. That makes the manager’s job even more of a challenge.

Words: Jeremy Snape

F

or a team to perform at its best and, perhaps more importantly, to develop and improve, its members need to collaborate. Oddly, though, for effective collaboration to take place you need individuality rather than conformity. Everyone on the team needs to feel that they are able to contribute their own ideas and make their mark, and only then will they truly engage with the team’s objectives and take ownership of its results.

As a leader, you can foster collaboration by helping each team member to shine as an individual. Create a work environment and culture where all contributions are welcomed and taken on board, and make it clear that you are listening. When people are afraid to challenge ideas or to express opinions 69

Teams Guide

that go against the grain, it can encourage ‘groupthink’, resulting in poorquality decision making and stasis.

Of course, while having a diverse range of personality types has many benefits, it presents one of the biggest tests for a leader, because different characters can’t be managed effectively using a blanket approach.

Some characters will be easier to deal with than others and, while some traits have the potential to lift and energise the team, others may be disruptive to team dynamics and behaviour. If you lack the experience or skills to manage these people quickly and effectively, it can drain your time and energy and put the brakes on progress.

As soon as possible after taking charge of a team, you will need to get to know each member – both those on the pitch and in your backroom staff – as individuals. But rather than leaving it at that, continue to hold one-toone meetings at regular intervals throughout the season to maintain your understanding of who your team members are, what drives them, what’s bothering them and what helps them to improve.

PESSIMISTS AND INTROVERTS As in most things, it pays to be prepared, so it can help to familiarise yourself with some of the most common character types (albeit exaggerated here), understand why they might arise and look at how you can best manage them.

The moaner, for example, is that very negative and pessimistic person who can suck the life out of the workplace without even saying a thing. Often, they will have been in the organisation for a long time and have stopped making an effort.

The moaner is usually after attention and company, so their negative comments are often aimed at provoking a debate with them at the centre.

Moaners need someone to listen to them, because there is catharsis in feeling understood and they don’t want to be singled out for being the only bearer of bad news.

The danger with this type of person is that their negativity will spread and gather momentum, but as a leader you’ll have to tread carefully. Hold back from agreeing with or apologising to them, as this is fuel to their fire, but being over-defensive in your response can cause them to restate their case more passionately. Think twice also before taking them on in public, as they 70

Leadership Challenges

The players all have different perspectives and personalities and we have to try to channel them as best we can to do their best for the team. How you do that evolves constantly, because as you bring in different personalities they may not all get on in the same way. That’s the constant challenge for a manager.

JOHN COLEMAN

may say something that is difficult to ignore.

Given that moaners love to exaggerate, ask them to write down the specifics of their grievances to help distil their arguments and get to the facts. Then arrange a time to work together to find solutions, being realistic about what, if anything, you want to change. If you do agree to change something, follow it through, as moaners thrive off empty promises.

The introverted technician is another common character in teams. This is an interesting, but often frustrating, person who has deep expertise, but who may not seem terribly enthused by new projects or goals. They may have witnessed failure in the past and so crave evidence, structure and process.

Introverted technicians like to ask questions, so involve them in your thought-processes and problem solving where possible and give them a detailed roadmap of where you are taking them, ideally with distances detailed.

One common mistake is assuming that these people crave the airtime that their more extrovert peers tend to get. If they value the satisfaction of doing things right over public accolades, then a pat on the back or a word of appreciation will go a long way.

FINDING A BALANCE It would be easy to think that everyone would get along if we simply agreed with one another all the time. Being surrounded by people who nod and let your decisions go unchallenged isn’t, however, as good as it seems. Mr Nice Guy types know how to play the game; they are the indestructible black boxes in a team crisis, but too nice to blame.

It’s also important, when you have these characters in your team, to 71

Teams Guide

ensure the leader-follower line doesn’t blur, and keep them focused on getting the job done, with clear objectives and accountabilities. While they will want to please everyone, they must understand that you are the leader and you set the tone. Use data and evidence to provide objective feedback, and ensure that it never feels personal, but is instead about people working well together to hit the standards required.

Guided by relationships, My Nice Guys talk about family a lot and can help to balance the edginess of some of the more driven types in the team.

Indeed, the extent to which these characters make a positive impact depends largely on that balance. Look at whether you have lots of people nodding at you or whether they are counterbalanced by those who are prepared to challenge you.

You have to get to know who people really are and who you can trust. It can take a long time to really understand what individuals are about. You see true personalities come out on the football field during a match, not during training or when talking to you afterwards.

In a crisis especially, that’s where a player shows their real character.

GORDON STRACHAN

WINNING PERSONALITIES Of all the main character types you’ll find in your team, the maverick may well be the most challenging to manage, because although they give a great deal to the team, they also take. These individuals tend to be the game winners and have real flare and bags of confidence, but they often have a warped view of their own importance. Conversations with you and with their team-mates may, at times, become animated and volatile as they attempt to mark their territory. When this happens, address issues early and in private, rather than doing it publicly, which may dent their pride.

Your instinct may be to keep these characters at arm’s length, where possible, but it is actually wiser to keep them close. Help them to feel special and important and they will give you their best; force them to keep quiet and blend into the background and you risk rebellion.

72

Leadership Challenges

It’s also worth keeping in mind that the noise that mavericks make is sometimes there to distract from their insecurities. Get to know them, support them as much as you can, and consider giving them responsibility or perhaps a heads up on new ideas, so they can road-test them with the group.

As a leader, there is only so much you can do to manage the blend of personalities in your team, but recruiting on values and character as much as talent can make a big difference. When seeking new talent, think carefully about the mix of people in your team and how new members might enhance or disrupt that dynamic. If there’s the potential for a new member to have a negative impact on team chemistry, you’ll need to be certain that this will be outweighed by the improvement in the team’s overall performance.

THE PERSONAL TOUCH – 4 ESSENTIALS EMPATHISE AND LISTEN Understanding the context to someone’s behaviour is important if you are to respond constructively.

IDENTIFY MOTIVATING FACTORS Some people are driven by material gain, some relish public praise, while others are motivated by seeing evidence of the improvement in their own performance.

TAILOR YOUR PRAISE A big show of appreciation or reward is not for everyone. Some people feel uncomfortable when singled out, whether for good or bad reasons.

FIND OUT HOW THEY LEARN BEST Do they need the detailed data on everything, to see instructions in writing or in visual form? Do they absorb information better alone or in groups?

73

Teams Guide

FINDING A BALANCE Leaders must strike a complicated balance between the needs of individuals on the team, the team itself, and the aims or goals of the organisation, says Russell Watters.

In John Adair’s model, three circles illustrate the manager’s core responsibilities, which they should have full command of and be able to use and balance according to the task and the situation.

A skilled manager or leader who is balanced on the model will have spent enough time with individuals to hear their opinions, and for them to feel that they are valued. They will spend enough time on the team dynamic to ensure that everyone is clear, motivated and focused on the task and that everyone’s contribution to that task is acknowledged and valued.

Finally, they will be successful in achieving the task, because they will be supported by a team whose members are clear on what needs to be done, and motivated and empowered to perform for themselves, their team and their manager.

Those less formal chats in and around training, in the corridor or over a coffee, are just as beneficial as more formal meetings with players.

It’s important to get to know them and find out what makes them tick.

HOPE POWELL

74

Leadership Challenges

75

Teams Guide

GUS POYET MANAGER

When you join a club midway through the season, like I did at Sunderland, you first have to adapt to the players. Then, slowly, you bring them around to your way of thinking. I have a clearly defined philosophy – built around the idea that the ball is precious and the most important part of the game – but my ideas are not black and white or rigid. I have respect for the different styles of play and methods that other managers adopt.

It’s very important that I emphasise to the players how marginal the difference between winning and losing has been in the previous four or five games; that it was down to just one action, one decision, one miss or one own goal. I need them to share my confidence that our fortunes will change sooner rather than later.

To compete in the Premier League you need every one of your players to be convinced that every position is important, not just the ones who score the winning goals or save the penalties. Players need to buy into the idea that they can’t dip in and out when they feel like it; there must be unity right from pre-season training through to the end. We must all show honesty, respect and responsibility at all times.

76

Leadership Challenges

TONY OWEN GENERAL MANAGER, LONDON MARRIOTT HOTEL REGENTS PARK I was naive at the beginning of my career. I thought leadership was about people doing as you said, but I’ve learned over the years to accept that I don’t know everything – I’m not an expert in engineering or sales, for example. Now, I have confidence that each member of my team knows their area. I’m there to back them up or praise them when needed and my strength as a manager is that I know how to do that.

I know how and when to press the right buttons to get the best out of my team. That means flexing my style with each person that I deal with at the hotel, whether they are a customer or a staff member. You have to adapt to how people like to operate, so some people need weekly meetings and itemised lists to perform at their best, others prefer to come and ask me a question directly and others do things totally by email.

77

Leadership Challenges

NEGATIVE BEHAVIOUR AND CONFLICT If not dealt with quickly and effectively, destructive behaviours can erode team cohesion and put the brakes on progress.

Words: Dr Phil Hopley

A

s we’ve seen already, teams function best when their team members agree on and then commit to a set of expectations and standards governing their behaviour. There may be times, though, when one or more individuals act in a way that threatens to upset the delicate balance and harmony that you’ve established in the team.

Whether they are displaying negativity, are failing to pull their weight, being disrespectful, uncooperative or domineering, or are lacking the professionalism that you expect from them, you’ll need to handle it quickly and diplomatically. Failing to do so has the potential to result in even more conflict within the team and may see negative behaviours spread throughout the group.

79

Teams Guide

Conflict is the most likely issue you’re likely to come across in your team and it can take many forms, everything from a clash of personalities or difference of opinion to one individual’s lack of respect or mistreatment of another. Some of the signs of conflict are more obvious than others and it can either pass under the radar or be very open and visible, such as a heated verbal or email exchange or a meeting where individuals hold unshakeable and opposing views.

In whatever form, if left to escalate conflict can have a negative impact on the health, motivation, productivity and performance of those involved – both directly and indirectly – and in extreme cases can even lead to legal battles and damage to reputations.

The challenge for the leader is to manage any conflict quickly and professionally so that it has a positive rather than negative impact on the work environment and those performing in it. But how?

ACCEPT AND UNDERSTAND First, it’s important to accept that conflict is part of the job of leadership and is not a sign that you are doing a bad job. In fact, conflict-free work environments may be just as unhealthy as those where friction causes regular sparks. Don’t waste energy ruminating about it, and don’t feel bad that you feel bad about it. Just accept it for what it is; conflict is part of life.

As situations involving conflict are often high pressure, leaders need to be

Managers sometimes put up with players because it makes the team better. I call them ‘backsides’ and you accept them as backsides, so long as they’re helping you win games. If they become a problem in the dressing room, though, I call them ‘snipers’, because rather than telling you they have a problem with you, they’ll throw barbed comments from 25 yards away. Once that starts to happen, they may need to go.

GORDON STRACHAN

80

Leadership Challenges

able to stay calm and focused if they are to deal with them in a rational and constructive manner. When our fight or flight response kicks in, we switch from thinking strategically to responding emotionally, which is far more likely to escalate conflict than settle it. You will, therefore, need to develop your psychological resilience in order to think clearly in the face of threats or challenges, and avoid knee-jerk reactions, even when provoked.

Understanding that people see things differently can also help to reduce your emotional response to conflict. When you try to understand a situation from a different perspective it loosens the tight grip you have on a particular point of view and enables you to see that it may not be entirely accurate.

Conflict is unpleasant and some might argue that grown men or women should be capable of thrashing things out on their own. However, sticking your head in the sand won’t make difficult interpersonal workplace problems disappear; in fact, they will almost always get worse. What’s more, leaders who routinely avoid conflict risk losing the respect of their colleagues, employees and seniors, so often don’t last long in their jobs.

THINK LONG TERM When there is discord or disagreement between team-members or an individual is straying from the team’s agreed behaviours, don’t just view it as a short-term blip. It’s important to consider any long-term effects that it might have on the team and its performance and identify whether it might be symptomatic of a longer-term or more deeply rooted problem.

As a manager, you should be working towards your business goals with a clear strategy, so when something gets in the way don’t just drive ahead regardless, think strategically. Consider where you are going and how this challenge might affect your short, medium and long-term goals. If you are dealing with an internal difference of opinion, think about what lies behind it.

Does it signify a lack of shared vision or common goals? If a team member is being negative and pessimistic or showing disregard for team rules, can they see how it impacts on the direction and strategy of the group? It may be time to remind everyone in the team of their shared goals and of the passion and vision that bonds them together.

Success depends on maintaining consistently good team performance, especially through tough times, so you will need to unify your team. This is 81

Teams Guide

achieved better through fair resolution than harsh internal dispute. Think high level, weigh up the pros and cons of the different approaches and look for winwin outcomes quickly.

A MEASURED RESPONSE Dealing effectively with conflict and other negative behaviours requires care and planning. Pick your time and place to tackle issues and think carefully before you speak. Plan what you will say, how you will say it and where might be a good place to do so.

In order to manage and negotiate effectively, you will also need to start from a sound position and be reasonable at all times. Under pressure or facing a challenge, it is human nature to fight fire with fire, but in many cases this will only escalate the situation. Mediation requires at least some movement on both sides, so it is unproductive to adopt a rigid position from the start. As a leader, you must be able to see the bigger picture, rise above and stay in control. If you simply pull rank, you may succeed in temporarily moving things your way, but this is unlikely to be sustainable.

It is important also to consider using any in-house experts that you have at your disposal. Resolution means finding mutually acceptable ways of settling differences and seeking positive outcomes, and external mediation, whereby a third-party comes between the sparring parties, is an increasingly popular tool in the workplace.

Human resources or other qualified professionals will be able to draw on a wealth of relevant internal expertise and external support, when needed, as well as being familiar with in-house policies and protocols. While it may not always be necessary to bring them in formally, they can prove invaluable as a sounding board and a source of balanced advice.

There will, unfortunately, be occasions when the conflict is simply too serious and disputes cannot be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. In this instance, it is essential that you have accurate contemporaneous records. Consider including a third party in meetings to take notes and ensure that during performance appraisals you are well prepared with documentary evidence to support any areas of concern that you plan on discussing. In the event of disciplinary or dismissal processes, it is essential that you have detailed documentation and HR support to reduce the risk of adverse and costly legal consequences.

82

Leadership Challenges

CONFLICT RESOLUTION - 10 ESSENTIALS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Don’t take it personally – tackle the issue not the person Stay calm and focused Don’t ignore the situation, as it will only get worse Think and plan your approach – pick the right time and place Consider the long-term implications Keep recorded evidence Use your resources for support and advice Listen – people are at their angriest and most challenging when they feel they are not being heard Be aware of your body language – keep eye contact and don’t cross your arms Make it clear what you can and can’t do – agree a plan of action

83

Your Career

INCLUSION How can you ensure that everyone, on and off the field, feels included, wanted and valued?

Words: Michael Caulfield

I

nclusion has become something of a hot topic in recent years, in workplaces of all descriptions, but what exactly does it mean and how can we embrace it in football?

In straightforward terms, while diversity is the mix of people in a group, inclusion is getting that mix to work well together. It is a state of being valued, respected and supported, and in order to achieve it the right conditions need to be in place for every person to achieve his or her potential. Inclusion should be reflected both in the club’s culture and practices, and in the relationships that exist to support what is an increasingly diverse workforce.

CLEAR BENEFITS Creating an inclusive culture requires courage, openness, a willingness to try new things and time. Yet, when you digest the evidence on how beneficial inclusion can be for teams, it’s clear that it’s worth the effort.

85

Teams Guide

According to Professor Binna Kandola OBE, 85 per cent of people who feel genuinely included at work are more motivated, engaged and productive as a result. Their psychological wellbeing, he says, is also higher, as are their levels of resilience, which means they are more likely to support one another when there is a setback. Finally, when people feel included at work, they are more likely to be courageous and speak up if they see things taking place that might prove harmful to the team.

This compelling research has huge relevance for football managers. By helping your team and wider staff to feel genuinely included, they will be more motivated, engaged, productive and braver.

OPENING UP It does, of course, beg the question, how can you encourage inclusion? The answer lies in the fact that genuine inclusion occurs only when people feel able to be themselves. It’s only when you share information about your background, beliefs, values and differences that you really begin to be yourself and feel included. If any player or member of staff feels that they have to hide or mask their true self, they won’t feel included and are likely to become increasingly

Obviously, as the manager you steer them, but I believe very much in trying to empower the players and making it a very inclusive environment, so I’ll ask for their opinions and encourage them to take the lead in certain situations. I think it helps to strengthen their trust in you and in each other.

HOPE POWELL

As a manager, the only time I’d talk to the players about my career as a player would be to share the negative things, so that they might learn from them. Your job is to get the players to improve, to be successful and to feel good about themselves as individuals and as a team. That is the joy of being a coach.

GORDON STRACHAN

86

Your Career

guarded, particularly when under pressure or in times of crisis.

One of the simplest ways that you can help others to be themselves is to reveal more about yourself, which takes courage. It’s surprising how little people in organisations, football clubs included, know of each other, aside from their professional backgrounds or roles.

DIG DEEPER When a new member of staff or a player joins your club, it’s likely that you will welcome them with some kind of initiation process or ritual, but it’s worth considering to what extent that encourages them to feel included. Do they feel they can be themselves and open up, and are others leading by example?

Consider asking someone else in the team to interview the new team member in a fun, informal way to start the ball rolling and break down barriers.

Inclusion means accepting people for who they are, not what you want them to be. It means allowing people to be themselves without fear of ridicule or being judged.

INCLUSION – 3 TO TRY 1

Open up to your team members, perhaps sharing stories of your past successes and failures.

2

Make it clear that you are open to everyone’s ideas, so that no one fears ridicule or being ignored.

3

Build informal interviews or quizzes into your induction process to encourage team members to open up about their backgrounds, hopes and ambitions.

87

Leadership Challenges

STRENGTHENING COHESION We often hear of the importance of cohesion in the success of a team, but what is cohesion and what influence do you have over it?

Words: Jeremy Snape

T

o bring the term ‘cohesion’ to life, it can help to look at some of its synonyms, such as ‘unity’, ‘togetherness’, ‘solidarity’, ‘continuity’, ‘coherence’ and ‘connection’. Each of these words resonates very clearly with our notion of what is required for a team to perform at its best.

When trying to strengthen cohesion in a group, we need to consider it in two forms: task cohesion, or the way that people interact to get the job done, and social cohesion, the social bond. Having either good task cohesion or good social cohesion may be enough to get the job done, but a team’s potential will only ever be achieved if both are as strong as they can be.

TASK COHESION Clarity around who is responsible for doing what in the team, what needs to be done, how and by when is essential if task cohesion is to be strengthened. As the manager you will need to ensure that these messages are communicated 89

Teams Guide

in clear and simple terms to each team member, leaving no room for ambiguity or misinterpretation. You can gauge how well you have conveyed these messages by asking individual players or small groups what they have understood after a meeting, although the real test will be how effectively they put your words into practice, especially when under pressure.

Your aim should be to help your team move from a point of surface-level knowledge to one of deep understanding, the starting point being to explain to each person the specifics of their role. To move on from this, you need to test their knowledge out in different situations, perhaps working in small groups to examine what is needed in each scenario. This builds everyone’s understanding together and means no one can claim they didn’t know what was expected. When everything is clearly outlined, discussed and accepted as a group, team-mates feel confident in nudging one another back into position if they forget their roles or if someone spots a gap, mistake or duplication.

The deepest level of task cohesion comes, though, from testing out your game plan against random scenarios, because it will inevitably uncover mistakes and inefficiencies. The team then has the chance to understand why roles are designed in certain ways, and to find solutions to problems as individual athletes and as a group.

Helping the team go beyond the simple delivery of tasks in this way enables them to interact more authentically and openly, which in turn leads to more robust learning and agility. When a team has an exciting shared purpose and mission, they start to question and challenge each other on their individual roles and tasks in a productive way. This isn’t about personal attacks, but about constructive conflict.

SOCIAL COHESION The second vital component of cohesion is developed when teams make sacrifices together, suppress self-interest and let their shields down, so that mutual respect and trust can grow. As a leader, you need to establish how well connected and bonded your players are, and whether they lean on each other, are prepared to show vulnerability and ask for help in front of one another. If you sense that this is not the case, you’ll need to find ways to engender this openness as quickly as possible, whether through specific exercises during training or by taking the team away for the day.

90

Leadership Challenges

Cohesion and trust are everything. Without trust, in particular, the group will fall apart. I believe in being open and honest with everyone, even if the message is something that people don’t want to hear. If players trust the manager and their team-mates, then you are all pulling in the same direction and seeking a common goal. That’s a force to be reckoned with. Openness and honesty breed trust.

JOHN CARVER

The latter can be especially valuable, because when people see each other outside of their working roles, as individuals with challenges, preferences and sensitivities, they are more likely to want to get the job done, not just for themselves but for each other. With a strong social bond, they will feel more comfortable challenging one another to break out of their comfort zones, galvanised as a team, energised and connected.

There’s also evidence to suggest that social cohesion is improved when team members have been together for a long time, as relationships tend to be better. As the players understand each other well, they can spend more time and energy on improving their skills and less on trying to work together.

As a result, high turnover may damage cohesion, because team members have to adapt each time a new member joins. As a leader, it’s essential to consider this effect on the team whenever you sign a new player, asking whether they will adapt well to your system and to the group, and whether any negative effects on cohesion will be outweighed by the value they bring.

91

Teams Guide

BELONGING Other creative ways to strengthen social cohesion are built around the power of solidarity and shared belonging.

Few examples demonstrate this more than Athletic Club de Bilbao, where policy dictates that players can only be sourced from the local area. “It’s about a pride in belonging to this club, belonging here,” says former manager José María Amorrortu, speaking in Ben Lyttleton’s book, ‘Edge’.

“To play for this club means you identify with an idea. It’s a feeling and a way of being, to feel part of something. Athletic represents a lot. It is not only the team of the city. It also represents a philosophy.”

Ignacio Palacios-Huerta, head of talent ID, adds, “I think that if players feel that the club they play for is their club they’ll play with more commitment.

They’ll be more committed to be better at what they do. They won’t feel like ordinary workers, they’ll feel and act as if they are owners.”

No other region has contributed more players to the national side, and no other club has done so than Bilbao.

92

Leadership Challenges

COHESION – 3 TO TRY 1

Create smaller groups within the team. This increases accountability and strengthens internal trust.

2

Create diverse groups of personalities, ages, cultures and skill levels. This can help to fast-track learning and problem solving.

3

Encourage groups to look at given tasks, such as preparing training, social activities, reviewing the last month’s performance or inducting new team members, together. It challenges team members to work together and think wider than just their roles.

93

Teams Guide

WHICH TEAM IS YOURS? COSY TEAM

HIGH-PERFORMING TEAM

DYSFUNCTIONAL TEAM

COLD, EFFICIENT TEAM

SOCIAL

Too comfortable

Engagement Long-term power

Very short-term power

Compliance

TASK

THE DYSFUNCTIONAL TEAM Benefiting neither from strong social ties nor a willingness to get the job done well, the players’ personal agendas mean there’s no trust or even any interest in what each other does outside the workplace. They may see more differences than similarities. Equally, they are not proud of their roles in delivering a performance and are not making sacrifices for or helping each other to hit deadlines or to maintain standards. They just do what they feel like and hope it’s good enough.

ADVICE – Revisit your team vision and targets and explain how each person’s role is critical to their unit and the team as a whole. Re-engage the team around the club’s story and heritage and help them to visualise the future they could create together.

94

Leadership Challenges

THE COLD, EFFICIENT TEAM This group delivers results, cares deeply about technical expertise, does what’s needed and does it well. They come into work with a to-do list and focus on clinical execution. The office or team room is quiet, because the team-members have lost the joy and fun in collaboration. They have their own friends, as they don’t really know their colleagues, and think work and pleasure should never overlap.

ADVICE – Slowly get people talking about their preferences and differences, perhaps holding a Q&A so that members of the team can share stories and hopefully also some humour. Consider taking them out for a day or night somewhere different. This should help them to relax and bring them out of their shells. Getting the players to choose the activity or venue is a good start.

THE COSY TEAM This group have been together for years, they know each other’s families and are connected beyond the workplace. They’ve been through a lot, but they value their friendships over their business results, so when it comes to challenging each other’s work, they’d rather not. This is a comfortable place to spend your days, but don’t expect to reach your potential.

ADVICE – Revisit the stretch goals and individual accountabilities that you’ve set together and give feedback to each person on how playing safe is holding the team back. It’s time to sharpen things up.

THE HIGH-PERFORMING TEAM This team is excited about what they can achieve together and know they’ll need a social bond in order to trust, respect and rely on each other, and clinical accountability for their individual tasks. They take pride in their work and will look back at their time together with no regrets.

ADVICE – Even though it feels great to have success, you should still challenge the team to achieve bigger things. Success can make people complacent, so get the team to set a new ambitious target and share the sacrifices they’ll make to achieve it.

95

Teams Guide

GRAHAM POTTER MANAGER

The creation of the Cultural Academy and hiring of a cultural coach at Östersunds came about from discussions with the chairman about how we might achieve our goal of holistic development and improving the players as people. It was about exposing the players to things they wouldn’t normally be exposed to, performing plays, monologues and modern dance, meeting artists and authors and getting involved in community projects. We wanted them to work towards something as a team and get them used to being comfortable in uncomfortable situations.

What we found during this process is that you get some people who are very up for the challenge and others who aren’t so keen, and from that you can start to do some work on self-awareness, responsibility and empathy. All of these things are incredibly important in a team.

While it’s hard to pinpoint direct results from these activities, we’ve certainly seen a positive impact on how our people behave towards one another, the empathy they show and the respect they have for each other’s perspectives. It has also helped to create a team that has courage, and belief in themselves and each other. I’m sure that’s played a part in some of the great results we’ve seen.

96

Leadership Challenges

DANNY KERRY

GB & ENGLAND WOMEN’S HOCKEY COACH I actively encourage our athletes, especially the older ones, to pursue interests outside of hockey, rather than being insular and thinking only of the sport.

Broadening their outlook gives them a much healthier and more mature perspective on training, on their roles in the team and on their behaviour and that equips them to make better decisions.

It also means that when they’re with the team they are totally focused on what they’re doing and they take ownership of their training and performance far more than if they were to just turn up and be told what to do.

97

THE TWO WORDS ‘INFORMATION’ AND ‘COMMUNICATION’ ARE OFTEN USED INTERCHANGEABLY, BUT THEY SIGNIFY QUITE DIFFERENT THINGS. INFORMATION IS GIVING OUT; COMMUNICATION IS GETTING THROUGH.” SYDNEY HARRIS

COMMUNICATION 103 109 117 123 127

PURPOSE AND VALUES MOTIVATION FEEDBACK AND CRITICISM A TEAM IN CRISIS ROLE STABILITY

Teams Guide

FACE TIME

35% of the variation in a team’s performance can be accounted for by the number of face-to-face exchanges among team members

BAD NEWS IS BETTER THAN NO NEWS According to research by Warwick University, withholding important information can demotivate, irrespective of whether it is good or bad news

Most sources site the ideal number of interactions as being dozens per working hour

EMPLOYEES WITH A HIGH ENGAGEMENT LEVEL ARE 87% LESS LIKELY TO LEAVE

90%

86%

OF EXECS CITE LACK OF COLLABORATION OR INEFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS FOR WORKPLACE FAILURES

of employees believe that decision-makers should seek other opinions before making a final decision

SOURCE: SALESFORCE

...yet 40% think they fail to do so CREATIVITY BOOSTS RESULTS

50%

...of businesses with effective communication are more likely to have lower employee turnover SOURCE: CLEARCOMPANY

100

SOURCE: LEIGH BRANHAM

Large companies, including Google, 3M and Gore and Associates, allow away time or “company creativity time” for employees and credit it with having been behind some of their most successful products.

72% SAY THAT MOTIVATION AND MORALE WOULD IMPROVE IF MANAGERS SIMPLY SAID ‘THANK YOU’ MORE AND NOTICED GOOD WORK SOURCE: REWARD GATEWAY

33% OF EMPLOYEES SAID A LACK OF OPEN, HONEST COMMUNICATION HAS THE MOST NEGATIVE IMPACT ON EMPLOYEE MORALE SOURCE: HERDWISDOM

67%

BELIEVE COLLEAGUES CAN ENCOURAGE/HELP THEM DO THEIR JOBS BETTER SOURCE: SOCIAL MEDIA TODAY

Communication

WORDS THAT COUNT Words: Alice Hoey

O

f all the skills that you need as a leader to develop and sustain a highperforming team, communication is the most important. Without great communication skills, you won’t be able to establish crystal clear, unambiguous goals, values and purpose, and you’ll struggle to engage your team around them. As a result, your team will become inefficient, will lack cohesion and accountability, and will struggle to cope in times of crisis.

High-performing teams have a high level of interdependence, and objectives are achieved when each person’s work interlinks with that of everyone else’s. It requires collaboration and joint problem-solving.

Rather than micro-managing or dictating, the leader should become the conductor, using careful, considered and diplomatic communication to guide and support the team.

However, there will also be occasions when direct intervention and skilled communication are required. You will, for example, need to provide your team members with the advice and criticism they need to move forward, and find ways to motivate individuals and the group through the inevitable peaks, troughs and hiatuses of the game.

In this final section, we’ll guide you through some of the main areas of team management in which communication skills are essential.

101

Communication

PURPOSE AND VALUES Embedding a sense of purpose and shared values in your team will give it the motivational boost it needs to gain a competitive edge.

Words: Richard Nugent

P

urpose, values, ethos... these terms tend to be used almost interchangeably when talking about great leadership and high performance teams, and they articulate who are we, what we are here for and why that matters.

Author Simon Sinek argues that while we all know what we do and how we do it, few of us spend enough time considering why we do it. What’s more, that core understanding is essential if we’re to perform at our best every day. While financial security may be the end result of doing a job, it is rarely the reason, or at least the sole reason, for doing it day to day.

As a leader, you can encourage everyone to consider their personal why factor, whether that is wanting to be inspired and stretched, to feel safe and comfortable in their work environment or to go home each day knowing that they’ve made a difference to someone or something.

Our values are essentially the things that are most important to us and 103

Teams Guide

that influence our purpose, decisions and how we operate. In clubs, teams and organisations, values are a cultural compass, defining how it feels to be part of the group and how we should behave towards each other.

MAKING CONNECTIONS Once you’ve created a shared purpose and values and spent time with your team working through what they mean, it can help to provide visual reminders or cues around the training facility. This isn’t, however, enough; you’ll also need a plan of how to bring them to life and ensure that everything that the team does links back to them.

Perhaps even more important is to keep shared values at the heart of team communication. One way to do this is to use values as the framework or backdrop for the team rules or code of conduct. By creating a team agreement that is linked to the values, you will increase significantly the likelihood of those rules being adhered to.

Given that values are the cultural compass of a team or club, any actions or behaviours that clash with them must not be tolerated. Conversely, players and staff should be rewarded for demonstrating purpose-led behaviours and living the team’s values.

Remember that values are a clear statement of how you operate in your club or team and how you should be with each other; they define what is and isn’t culturally acceptable. Perhaps what is most important of all, therefore, is that you lead by example. If you can go to work every day clear on why you are there, what you believe in and how your values connect with the club, then your team will follow your lead.

We remind the players constantly that it’s a team sport and you can’t be successful on your own. We have to be realistic, though, as the players have their own ambitions. It’s our job to help them see that it’s by being part of a successful team and giving their all to that team that they can achieve their personal career goals. It can be a win-win situation.

JOHN COLEMAN

104

Communication

TEAM VALUES – 7 TO TRY 1

Encourage team members to consider their ‘why’ factors.

2

Develop your shared purpose with the players’ leadership committee before sharing it with the squad.

3

Hold sessions to encourage players to share and discuss their values.

4

Create a written team agreement outlining its purpose and value.

5

Provide visual cues and constant reminders to keep purpose and values front of mind.

6

Reward behaviours that live the team’s values.

7

Values are shared by everyone, so lead by example.

105

Teams Guide

JOHN CARVER

ASSISTANT HEAD COACH To manage everyone’s individual needs, strengths and weaknesses, you have to take time to get to know them, because they are people first and footballers second. They have hopes and dreams like everybody else, not to mention fears and insecurities. By understanding and empathising with each individual’s needs, you can mould and shape those different personalities into something greater than the sum of their parts. You make them a team by looking after them individually.

You can motivate people by emphasising what can be achieved when a group of individuals joins forces to become a unit. Everyone is different, but there is one thing that I believe is universal and that is our desire to belong. We are social beings and our natural instinct is to connect with others, even if they are quite different in character.

I would argue that developing a sense of belonging fosters togetherness, and togetherness goes hand in hand with trust and respect. If that is the starting point and you never lose sight of it, then you are a long way towards creating a motivated, driven and loyal group.

106

Communication

JIM MCGUINNESS

FORMER GAELIC FOOTBALL MANAGER, NOW CELTIC COACH Towards the end of my playing career, I spent a lot of time reflecting on the values and top qualities of the greatest coaches, such as professionalism, a hard work ethic, reliability, trustworthiness, and being caring and positive.

This really influenced how I approached becoming a manager, but also the culture I would want to implement at the club. I was determined that these values would run through everything I did. At Donegal we were very strong on setting boundaries, so everyone knew where they stood within the group. We wanted to be the hardest working club in the country; it was up there in writing and if that wasn’t being achieved then we’d stop training and address that.

But I also wanted people to enjoy their experience with the club. I really believe that if you’re aggressive and hard with your approach then you can get shortterm wins, but to achieve longevity the players have to want to be there and to work hard. They need to enjoy the team dynamic and the staff; that’s what creates loyalty in the group. I wanted to create a life experience or journey that the players could one day look back on and say it was really special.

107

Communication

MOTIVATION & COMMITMENT How will you balance addressing the personal motivators of each team member with putting fire in the belly of the whole group?

Words: Tom Castley

D

epending on the result and the expectations, a football match can be either highly motivating or massively demoralising, and they are sporadic.

This means you have to somehow keep players motivated and committed, not only immediately before and after a match, but throughout the period between games, when they need to be grafting hardest and staying focused.

Motivating your players day to day can be achieved in part by providing goals that are broken down into controllable processes and activities that can be carried out each day at training. These smaller, more strategic objectives are likely to be created using the huge range of metrics now available, such as possession, goals scored and assists, perhaps drawing 109

Teams Guide

on data on each individual player and the team as a whole. They can also be tracked over time using professional statistical analysis.

Players today relish this level of detail on their performance and are motivated by seeing evidence of where they are, how far they have come and what they need to do to achieve the goals you’ve set them.

It’s also worth remembering that the current generation of players and staff are tech-savvy so, once you’ve communicated the goals to the team, individuals may wish to follow their progress via tablets and phones, accessing them anytime and anywhere.

ATTRIBUTION For people to feel motivated to do better, they also need to understand how success and failure come about in the first place. Some people might give irrational reasons for an outcome, such as luck, superstition or a single decision or incident, and when team members do this on a regular basis it does the team a disservice and undermines motivation. As the leader, you can help the team by making clear connections between results or success and actions so that they can take responsibility and see where they need to do more of the same or try something new.

Rather than talking about a particular result or scoreline during training or team meetings, refer to specific events during the game that produced or contributed to the overall outcome. Likewise, when praising the team, acknowledge actions rather than outcomes. For example, “The work we put in this week really paid off” and “The fact we’ve worked so hard on our fitness allowed us to come back and win that game”.

REWARDS AND RECOGNITION The continuous process of motivation must be aimed at meeting both the shortterm wins and the longer-term ambitions of the club. It also needs to address the needs of the group as well as being personalised enough to satisfy each individual.

It takes subtle differences in approach to do this successfully. Highperforming teams are characterised by an alignment of goals, deep trust between team-members, clear communications that allow for disagreements and an understanding that no individual team member is more important than the 110

Communication

As a group, my meetings never last longer than 30 minutes. Any longer and the players won’t take things in. Even through that meeting, there will always be some humour.

GORDON STRACHAN

team. Blanket incentive schemes or rewards may, therefore, help to fire up the team ethic.

However, these kinds of rewards can appear de-personalised unless supported by something on a more individual level. As well as being armed with the right data, managers need to get to know each player as an individual before they can decide how to best incentivise them. Invest in your players as people and show an interest in their lives. Listen to them and take time to understand what they are passionate about and what their personal motivators are.

EXTRINSIC AND INTRINSIC Everyone has their own set of motivating forces that drive their effort and commitment to different degrees. Some people are driven most by intrinsic motivators, such as learning, improvement, a sense of belonging, being understood, having autonomy and the ability to contribute to something bigger than themselves. Here, it’s important to recognise how good it feels to improve – whether that means finally mastering a new skill or just making solid progress towards a goal. Often, we are so blinded by the need to achieve outcomes that we fail to notice the growth spurts and give praise and recognition for them.

For someone who is motivated primarily by a need to improve on their own performance and to prove something to themself or to their manager, a one-toone chat and a heart-felt pat on the back may have far greater impact than any kind of tangible reward. By breaking down what individuals want, you can develop a strategy from the bottom up that will help you achieve your team goals.

Other people are driven by external motivators, which may include financial reward, prizes and media attention. Younger or newer employees, in particular, may seek peer-to-peer recognition and so relish public approval of their work.

More experienced players, meanwhile, may want something deeper - wider recognition by the club or new responsibilities – and may find a public show 111

Teams Guide

embarrassing and even patronising. Consider involving them in your decision-making process or putting them in charge of social or team-building activities.

Building a strong sense of pride and belonging in your team can also be a key driver of performance. In sport and business, it’s better to focus on the heritage and values of the badge on the front of the shirt than fixate on the name on the back. Storytelling about what makes your team unique is a practical way to illustrate your team’s identity.

THE HIERARCHY OF NEEDS Abraham Maslow created a five-stage model of motivating factors and said that each lower level need must be satisfied before you can progress onto the higher-level needs. Once these have been satisfied, you might be able to reach the highest level - self-actualisation.

SELFACTUALISATION NEEDS Realising personal potential, self-fulfilment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences ESTEEM NEEDS Achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, self-respect, respect from others LOVE AND BELONGINGNESS NEEDS Friendship, intimacy, affection and love - from work group, family, friends, romantic relationships SAFETY NEEDS Protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, freedom from fear BIOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS Air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep

112

Communication

REIGNITE THE SPARK – 10 TO TRY A team’s mental state has such an impact on its performance that when the chips are down it’s very difficult to return to business as usual.

1

Ensure goals and objectives are tangible, realistic and clearly communicated.

2

Remember that while some of your team members will relish having detailed plans, others may prefer just an outline of the objectives and clear instruction.

3

Break your objectives down into smaller steps, setting short-term goals for each training session or week so that players can see their progress and gain confidence.

4

Help team-members to see how you are addressing some of the problem areas of recent performance, giving them encouragement that what they’re doing is not just more of the same.

5

Map out the process, define exactly what you need from each person and get everyone to commit to that.

6

Paint a vivid picture of what success looks like and how it will feel to get there. Try recalling the club’s past successes or heritage.

7

Create a hunger to change and a desire to look forward rather than mulling on the past.

8

Consider making physical changes to the work environment, re-jigging the changing rooms or adding fresh touches to turn the page on a new chapter.

9

Raise the intensity levels and urgency of what you’re asking of the team so that they’re working hard as a group.

10

Notice any improvement and praise them for starting the turnaround.

113

Teams Guide

GORDON STRACHAN MANAGER

I work on the idea that you never let your team-mates down, because one day, when you’re not very good, you’ll need their help and vice versa. It’s quite simple this is your team-mate and this is who you’re playing for.

When I was a footballer, no matter how many medals I won or how many goals I scored, what really mattered to me was being known as a good team-mate. If my ex-team-mates at 70 years old look back and say, “Gordon Strachan - what a great team-mate” then that’s all I need.

The common goal of the team, though, is to get better everyday. As a coach, never come in and waste a day, and never go away unless you’ve helped the team or the individuals in it in some way.

Rather than trying to get people to play how you think they should, I’ve learned it’s better to look at them as people and think about what’s the best way for them to play. I’ve tried to change the style of play too quickly in the past, and to try to introduce a style of play that worked elsewhere. You don’t necessarily have the players to do that, so you end up putting players into places where they aren’t comfortable.

114

Communication

SIMON SINEK

AUTHOR AND LEADERSHIP EXPERT The mistake people make sometimes in sport is they think it’s all about winning.

Understanding why an organisation exists has to go beyond winning, because what happens if you lose? Does that mean you should pack it in? What if you’re in a team that loses more often than not? Does that mean that all the players are unmotivated? Does it mean that all the players are poor? Of course not.

Winning is the result, the question is what brought you to the pitch in the first place. Why do you continue to show up every day? It’s when people feel a part of something bigger than themselves that things start to shine. Some of the greatest sporting coaches will say winning comes second; it’s the players that come first. These are the coaches who think long term, who say, “it’s not about winning this season, it’s about winning every season.”

115

Communication

FEEDBACK AND CRITICISM Communicated in the right way, your advice and guidance can support the team in working towards its goals, while helping to build the bond of trust between you.

Words: Roberto Forzoni

W

ithout criticism and feedback, your team members will never improve their techniques, behaviours and performance to their full potential. They need direction, timescales, detail and advice and it’s your job to deliver that in the most constructive and motivating way possible.

Thanks to your training and experience, you will know what action needs to be taken, but your words are only half of the picture; the language you use and how and when you use it can dramatically affect the impact it makes on the recipient.

CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM Giving criticism or negative feedback is a task few managers enjoy, but in the world of elite performance it’s an essential part of helping athletes 117

Teams Guide

to improve. The key is knowing how to give it in such a way that it becomes welcome and appreciated, rather than offending or upsetting the recipient.

Research has shown that the risk of the recipient becoming immediately defensive and trying to justify their actions can be minimised by using the ‘sandwich approach’. This is where you open and close with some form of genuine praise or positive feedback, with a future-orientated instruction sandwiched between.

For example, you might say, “You worked really hard today. Next set play, make sure you’re on the shoulder of the attacker and are touch tight. Terrific effort and that was a great shot in the first half.” The opening positive statement gains their attention, the future-oriented instruction is heard, and the compliment helps to maintain trust and increases the likelihood that the recipient will engage in whatever behaviour you want from them in the future.

It’s important that whatever you want them to correct or improve is futureorientated to avoid the player thinking immediately about the error and then repeating it. For example, say ‘you need to try this next time’, rather than ‘you did this wrong’. It also avoids the danger of adding insult to injury with sarcasm or ridicule. The closing statement increases the chance that the instruction will be remembered.

ENCOURAGING PROGRESS Professor Carol Dweck’s work on fixed and growth mindsets can also help when considering how best to offer words of advice, praise and criticism. Dweck has researched the effect of language on personal development and growth, and extols the virtues of encouraging and developing what she terms a ‘growth mindset’ as opposed to a ‘fixed mindset’.

When you have something to communicate to just a few individuals, it’s best to avoid addressing the whole group, because you end up labelling everyone with the same thing. That can cause conflict and lose you the respect and trust of those players to whom it doesn’t apply.

JOHN COLEMAN

118

Communication

If not handled correctly, rewarding and praising can look like favouritism. Having said that, if an individual is showing outstanding ability or character then he or she should be praised and held up as an example for others to try to emulate. If the culture is right, then nobody should get upset at a team-mate receiving genuine recognition for their efforts. If anything, the other members of the team should be endorsing the manager’s praise.

JOHN CARVER

People with growth mindsets believe they can learn, improve and develop.

Nothing is black and white. The opposite is true of someone with a fixed mindset; they believe they either win or lose, and are good or bad at something.

There is no in-between and so no focus on making incremental improvements.

Through our language, we can encourage either of these two types of thought processes. As an example, rather than congratulating your team members (or yourself) on being good, gifted or talented following a victory, try complimenting them on their efforts towards achieving that success the preparation, strategic planning, long hours, resilience and never-give-up attitude. This has the effect of motivating the team to try even harder and explore more ways to improve.

If, however, you encourage the talent or ability response by focusing rewards and praise on the final result alone, it can be demotivating. When the team is confronted with a tough challenge and their success is not repeated, the message they are left with is one of ‘I’m clearly not as good as people think or say I am,’ leading to a decrease in effort and excuses, which can lead to maladaptive behaviours such as cheating, skiving and giving up.

Finally, remember that as the leader you set the tone, so be conscious of your manner, language and behaviour, at all times. Always, for example, speak with respect and ensure that your advice and criticism is focused on specific areas of play or behaviour, rather than being a personal attack on individuals within the group. Consider any likely objections or resistance and prepare for that, ensuring you have any helpful information or evidence to hand to back up your words.

119

Teams Guide

Always choose your time and place carefully, so you can focus entirely on the matter in hand without making people feel exposed or like you’re rushing to wrap things up quickly. And show empathy, understanding and a desire to find solutions to move things forwards, rather than simply focusing on what went wrong in the past.

FEEDBACK - 10 ESSENTIALS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Use the sandwich technique – positive, negative, positive.

Criticise the action, not the person.

Explain why a particular behaviour or action is not acceptable.

Offer help when needed to change (this can be personal help or signposting them to the relevant person or agency).

Follow up, rather than assuming an issue has resolved itself.

Outline the consequences for failing to change.

Acknowledge any change with praise.

Communicate any faults in a positive way – ‘you were fantastic, but you haven’t shown it on this occasion’.

Motivate with positive language – ‘you can win this’ instead of ‘you can’t lose this’.

If the advice relates to something specific, strike while the iron is hot.

Otherwise your words will seem out of place or irrelevant.

There’s a difference between criticising somebody and sharing your observations about how to help them perform better. And that’s what it’s all about. If they come out of a meeting and they feel like they’ve been made better then it’s been a good day.

GORDON STRACHAN

120

Communication

121

Communication

A TEAM IN CRISIS When something happens to knock team morale and self-confidence, you will need to provide reassurance and direction.

Words: Jeremy Snape

A

ll teams go through periods of intense difficulty, when self-belief is shaken and doubts and anxieties start to creep in. But whereas some teams pull together and grow stronger in times of adversity, others quickly fall apart.

What makes the difference is how resilient and cohesive the team has become and how effectively the manager is able to communicate with them.

When difficult situations arise, fears, doubt and rumours can grow in a vacuum, so you’ll need to act fast to dispel them and give clarity and hope. The first step to gather as much information as you can, as quickly as you can, on how the issue has arisen, who is involved and what the main areas of contention might be. Given that speed is of the essence, it helps to have a pre-prepared contact list to hand stating, for example, who the main stakeholders are around each team member, academy or department, in the legal or financial team and in the governing bodies, and what relevant insight they might have.

It is also useful to draw a stakeholder map, with three concentric circles 123

Teams Guide

denoting who is involved directly, affected indirectly and who affects the situation from the outside alone via noise and rumours. Those people who are directly involved need to be brought together quickly so you can establish their positions and feelings on the situation.

Remember that even those members of your playing team, support staff and others who are not directly impacted by an event will often still have a stake and so shouldn’t be neglected. Show authority and provide these people with information quickly, with regular updates. They are also then more likely to give you support when you need it.

READY FOR ACTION You and your team need to be mentally and physically fit if you’re to weather a storm, so ensure that the essential ingredients of resilience, such as healthy eating and drinking, and getting enough sleep, are not compromised.

Great leaders are always prepared to deal with any crisis that should arise and, while it isn’t possible to predict what and when that will be, the important systems and processes can be implemented in advance and rehearsed with your team.

Just as businesses develop continuity plans for a range of risk scenarios, your team needs to be prepared to respond to crises and periods of high stress. You might, for example, build ‘what if’ sessions into the season, where you dissect the impact and implications of a range of potential crises, or learn as a group from how past crises have been dealt with by others. Such discussions and preparations will leave your team feeling more confident in their ability to respond to different circumstances and can provide great opportunities for team building.

The best organisations and leaders develop and practise their coping strategies during periods of calm, giving their teams the clarity and confidence they need to perform at their best when a crisis hits.

124

Communication

IN CRISIS – 10 ESSENTIALS 1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10

Get the facts from the key stakeholders fast.

Provide solid information and facts to show you understand what is happening and that you are qualified to fix it.

Be visible, honest and authentic.

Offer compensation or an apology, ideally before it is demanded of you.

Prepare for negative events in advance with contact lists, pre-prepared statements and scenario testing.

Be open about any problems. If people think you’re holding something back or doubt your ability to respond to the challenges they won’t give you their all.

Stay calm and emotionally detached from the problem in order to think quickly and clearly.

Listen. Asking them the right questions and listening is often more useful than anything else.

Words are not enough – body language, tone of voice and behaviour all convey critical messages.

Language must be clear and unambiguous – leave no room for debate and discussion.

It’s very important to have clear messages and to be honest when there’s a crisis. You need to give everyone in your team as much confidence and support as you can. Don’t overcomplicate things, because while there are so many things you have to consider as a manager, it’s easy to cause confusion by going over too much with the players.

GUS POYET

125

Communication

ROLE STABILITY Clear communication and discussion around everyone’s responsibilities are essential for a team to perform at its best.

Words: Mark Procter

A

s we’ve seen already, the question of roles and responsibilities goes to the heart of how a leader gets the best out of people when working in a team. People are not machines who will respond in a predictable way when there is an effort to control them. Rather, they tend to be selforganising and do their best in a given situation with the skills, attitudes and behaviours that they possess.

People will work out what’s best for them within the set of parameters that defines their environment or system of working. Your role as leader, therefore, is to create the framework in which team members have the best possible chance of self-organising and working to the best of their abilities.

THINK BIG While it’s tempting as a leader to embroil yourself in too much task focus, try to think instead of the bigger picture, of the frame that will support 127

Teams Guide

sustainable performance (see the diagram below). Football makes a good analogy here. The football manager does everything he can before a match to put all the elements in place for a solid performance on Saturday, but once the match has started he has only limited influence from the sidelines. He has to rely on the team to self-organise within the frame that he or she has established and has only the half-time break to review how it is working.

GAN

NG

SELF OR

RKI WO

PE

RS

ONA

L R E S P O N SI BI L

MONITORING PERFORMANCE AND GIVING REGULAR FEEDBACK

128

IT Y

DEVELOPING THE PEOPLE IN YOUR TEAM

MAKING SURE YOU HAVE EFFECTIVE PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES IN PLACE

N

AM

ISA T

IO

TE

ENSURING ALIGNMENT THROUGH ROLE CLARIFICATION AND OBJECTIVES

COMMUNICATING A CLEAR VISION AND STRATEGY

Communication

CLEAR AND STABLE We’ve seen already how allocating clear roles to individual team members, both in the playing team and the backroom team, is an essential element of that frame. In terms of your communication with the team, there are two sides to consider here: role clarity and role stability.

Role clarity is the individual being very clear about what their role is, making sure it plays to their strengths and that the necessary training and development has been given to do the job well. As we’ve seen in the article on accountability, good role clarity helps prevent team members stepping on each other’s toes or leaving gaps in responsibility, all of which can lead to conflict, demotivation and poor performance.

Role stability, or people keeping to the roles they have been given and not straying, is equally important. Role instability is rife is organisations, examples including managers who micro-manage or take over tasks from their team members, and individuals who think they have more expertise than their colleagues or who like getting involved in things that interest them rather than what they should be doing. Other examples are when players are poorly disciplined and play out of position.

To avoid this, you should try to communicate roles with all team members present whenever possible, so that there is a clear understanding throughout the team and no one can claim ignorance or ambiguity. It’s then important to monitor how well those allocated roles are being adhered to, and discuss any issues that arise during regular team meetings.

At the heart of any high-functioning, high-performing team you will find role clarity and stability, and essential to establishing that is effective and open communications between you and the team.

While we use staff to facilitate some aspects of organisation, when it comes to the players’ roles and responsibilities we’re always looking to create an environment where people feel that they can be creative and make decisions on their own within the boundaries of what we’re trying to do.

GRAHAM POT TER

129

Teams Guide

SPARKING DISCUSSION While you are diagnosing what needs to happen to keep the team improving, it can help to get the team talking about how they work together, not just what they are working on.

It’s important that this conversation results in some kind of action, perhaps a decision on what the team should stop doing or start doing, or agreement on what it’s doing well and should continue with.

For example, a team may decide that it needs to start nominating a facilitator or chairperson for each meeting and follow its agenda more closely. Team members might agree they need to stop interrupting each other and start listening more, and that they should all continue to contribute good ideas.

Encouraging the team to engage in discussions such as these, and to feedback to one another in a constructive, open and honest way is very important if you want them to support one another and you.

It is also essential if you’re to develop trust, which is the foundation of effective team working. Without it, teams cannot engage in healthy disagreement, and without that the team won’t come to realise its synergies and its full potential.

130

Communication

131

Teams Guide

GUIDE CONTRIBUTORS TOM CASTLEY Tom has a long track record of starting, growing and improving the profitability, performance and value of companies. He is adept at employing, motivating and leading complex cross-functional teams to obtain optimal revenue and profit results.

He is a charismatic leader and team builder with strong general management skills.

The solutions from Xactly Corp automate the process of aggregating data from disparate systems into a secure, hosted repository and enable companies to leverage this business data. Xactly helps companies improve operational performance, optimise sales effectiveness, proactively manage risk and compliance, and maximise profits.

CONTACT xactlycorp.com

132

MICHAEL CAULFIELD Michael is one of the UK’s leading sport psychologists and has worked in professional sport for over 25 years. He is a registered sports psychologist with the Health and Care Professionals Council and has completed a diploma in advanced training in neuroscience for organisations and sport, in particular, exploring the demands of leadership.

Michael has worked in professional sport for over 25 years. His experiences range from being the former chief executive of the Professional Jockeys Association through to working with teams in the Premier League and global events, such as the ICC Cricket World Cup. His background in elite sport and business has led to him being trusted by some of the leading names in both disciplines.

Michael’s knowledge of performing under pressure, building resilience and responding to adversity has earned him a reputation as a speaker and Q&A host and his work has taken him all over the world, delivering keynotes at sport and business conferences. He has also delivered leadership programmes for the likes of BMW, Centrica, NHS, Barclays and Nomura. He is a regular contributor to the BBC and Sky Sports.

At Sporting Edge, Michael has interviewed some of the world’s top coaches and managers in elite sport, leading neuroscientists, military leaders and performance experts for its online digital library, the Performance Zone®.

CONTACT michael@sportingedge.com +44 (0) 7831 742 321

133

Teams Guide

ROBERTO FORZONI For more than 25 years, Roberto has been involved in performance consulting and coaching in professional sport and business. A recognised authority on the psychology of performance and group dynamics, Roberto is regularly invited to speak around the world on TV, radio and at various conferences on performance related topics. He has extensive experience in both sporting and business worlds and has extensively studied various forms of positive psychology techniques, including cognitive behavioural therapy, motivational interviewing, solution focused therapy, and a variety of counselling and NLP techniques. While working in many sports, including a host of Olympic sports and tennis, Roberto specialises in football performance psychology, where he works with Premier League managers and clubs.

Roberto has a strong coaching background in football, having started coaching amateur teams in the mid-80s, progressing to coaching in non-league football and youth academy football and later taking first-team coach roles at Crystal Palace, Brentford and Brighton and Hove Albion. During his early coaching years, he also took a psychology diploma and an MSc in Sport Sciences at Brunel University, and later completed the FA Diploma in Fitness and FA Diploma in Psychology and British Association of Sport and Exercise Scientists Accreditation. He is now studying for his Doctorate on the Applied Psychological Effects of Video in Sport.

CONTACT robertoforzoni@mac.com

134

ALICE HOEY Passionate about the power of great leadership inside and outside of sport, Alice was part of the team that came up with the concept of The Manager, the LMA’s quarterly member magazine. She has been its editor for most of the 10 years since its inception and has commissioned, edited and helped to write all four LMA Leadership and Personal Development guides.

Alice’s expertise in the fields of leadership, elite performance and wellbeing is built on over 18 years of experience in the publishing industry, producing bespoke content for clients such as Lloyds Bank, Barclays, HSBC, IBM, Atkins Global, the IIA and Vodafone.

Working for media agencies in the City and now as a freelance editor, she has interviewed countless key figures in the fields of business, the arts, politics and sport and written on everything from insomnia, travel and London 2012 to adversity strategies, telecoms trends and business auditing.

CONTACT alicehoey1@gmail.com

135

Teams Guide

DR PHIL HOPLEY Dr Philip Hopley is Managing Director and Consultant Psychiatrist at LPP Consulting and specialises in stress, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and drug and alcohol problems. He also consults to organisations on people performance and psychological health issues.

LPP Consulting provides a broad range of clinical services for individuals and organisations struggling with psychological health problems. The breadth of its team of psychiatrists, psychologists, psychotherapists, counsellors and dieticians means clients see the best experts for their needs. LPP is also a leading provider of individual and corporate resilience services, working with business leaders, managers, front-line staff and sportspeople to improve their performance under pressure and ability to cope with setbacks. By optimising health and enhancing performance LPP delivers measurable benefits in sales, productivity, engagement, retention and absenteeism.

CONTACT +44 (0) 20 3219 3080 enquiries@lppconsulting.org www.lppconsulting.org

136

RICHARD HYTNER Until setting up beta baboon in 2016, Richard was Saatchi & Saatchi’s deputy chairman, leading its global strategy and innovation practice with clients. He has been engaged this year to help leadership teams from the worlds of sports, media, medicine, science and business.

His speaking and research interests include creativity and how to think differently; how to improve the relationships among those collectively responsible for their organisation’s leadership; building the confidence to have more courageous conversations with colleagues and customers; and how to ignite growth for brands.

Richard is adjunct professor of marketing at London Business School, teaching on both degree and executive education programmes. He runs an elective course open to all degree students on Creativity in Business.

Richard co-founded the Manchester United Supporters Trust and remains its honorary president; was, for eight years, a trustee (five of them also as chairman) of Planting Promise, a sustainable educational enterprise in Sierra Leone; and he served two terms as a trustee of the British Heart Foundation.

In 2015, he joined the Met Police Commissioner’s Management Board as a nonexecutive adviser and was re-appointed for a second term in 2017. He is also a non-executive director of Foundation for Leadership through Sport.

CONTACT richard@betababoon.co.uk For details of his first book, ‘Consiglieri: Leading from the Shadows’, visit consiglieribook.com 137

Teams Guide

RICHARD NUGENT Richard founded TwentyOne Leadership with the purpose of helping individuals and organisations to realise their leadership potential. His approach combines the latest research in the fields of leadership, personal development and change with over 10 years of experience of working with demanding clients to create lasting change. He specialises in executive leadership development around this and coaching emerging talent. He is the author of the best-selling book ‘Secrets of Confident People’ and is a renowned keynote speaker.

At TwentyOne Leadership, leadership capability is seen as the competitive advantage in business and sport, and everything it does is designed to help clients tap into this source of competitive advantage.

The company blends the best in leadership psychology, brain-friendly learning, neuroscience and high-performing teams to create powerful, impacting a nd unique experiences for its clients.

CONTACT richard@twentyoneleadership.com twentyoneleadership.com

138

MARK PROCTER Mark joined Learning Curve following a successful career in the IT and telecommunications sectors and an MBA. For the last 15 years he has worked and consulted with managers from a wide range of organisations in the private, public and international sectors, improving their effectiveness and developing the leadership skills of their people.

Mark’s favourite questions are “Where are you going?” and “Why should anyone be led by you?” In finding the answer to these questions he helps organisations and their leaders to develop their business strategies and explore how they engage, empower and influence.

Mark is an educator for Duke Corporate Education and an associate at Warwick Business School, where he has taught widely on Open (MBA & Diploma) and Executive Education programmes in the UK and internationally. Mark has taught sessions on influencing skills, negotiation and leadership for football managers on the LMA Diploma in Football Management, which he has been involved with since 2002.

Learning Curve helps organisations address their business issues and achieve their goals by growing the capability of their people. It has a client focused approach and many years’ experience in the design and delivery of training and development solutions. Learning Curve is a team of five managing partners, of which Procter is one, supported by a network of well-established associate consultants.

CONTACT mejprocter@gmail.com learningcurvegroup.co.uk 139

Teams Guide

LEE RICHARDSON Lee Richardson is a highly qualified and experienced performance psychologist who has worked extensively with football clubs, including, most recently, Hull City and Crystal Palace. He has also worked as an assistant coach and psychology consultant to the England U19 team. Richardson has been a counsellor and mentor at the PFA since 2010 and performance psychology consultant at Lancashire County Cricket Club First team since 2011.

Richardson is a qualified coach, and was assistant manager of Chesterfield Football Club between 2001 and 2007, and manager of Chesterfield Football Club from 2007 to 2009. he is the founder of AIM-FOR online psychological resources.

CONTACT aim-for.com thepfa-safetynet.com

140

JEREMY SNAPE Jeremy is a former international cricketer with a Master’s degree in sport psychology and is a non-executive director at the LMA. His analytical thinking and ability to simplify complex performance challenges into practical solutions has fuelled his reputation as a thought leader for high performance.

Jeremy is a founder of Sporting Edge, a high-performance coaching company that fast-tracks success by sharing the secrets of the winning mindset. Its fresh approach to coaching is powered by a digital library of exclusive video interviews with the world’s top coaches and athletes. These insights are blended with practical tools from performance psychology to drive results.

Sporting Edge can deliver confidential 1:1 coach and athlete support; inspiring team talks; coach education programmes; and cultural identity projects.

CONTACT +44 (0) 1858 414214 info@sportingedge.com sportingedge.com

141

Teams Guide

STEVE WALSH Steve’s first senior scouting role came at Bury, where he was a player, coach and chief scout between 1983 and 1985.

A similar role followed at Chester City FC, before he became senior and European scout and opposition analyst at Chelsea FC in 1992. He held this role until 2006, when he moved to Newcastle United to become chief scout.

Between 2007 and 2009, Steve was assistant manager and head of recruitment at Leicester City, a role he reprised in 2011, after a spell as assistant manager and head of recruitment at Hull City. During his time with Leicester City, he brought relatively unknown players, such as Riyad Mahrez, Jamie Vardy and N’Golo Kanté, into the side and was instrumental in the team’s Premier League success in 2015/16. Since 2016, he has been director of football at Everton.

Steve is one of only three people to have won medals with the same club in League one, the Championship and the Premier League. He was given the FA award for Excellence in Talent ID in 2016.

CONTACT stephen.walsh@evertonfc.com

142

RUSSELL WATTERS Russell Watters, of Interactive Learning Solutions, has been designing and delivering training for more than 20 years. Specialising in training that drives real behavioural change, and often using drama as a tool, he works across topics, including leadership, equality, diversity and unconscious bias.

Within football, he has designed and delivered training and resources for the Premier League, English Football League, The FA, The LMA, The PGMOL and the majority of the current Premier League clubs.

CONTACT rwatters@interactivelearningsolutions.com interactivelearningsolutions.com

143

ABILITY IS WHAT YOU’RE CAPABLE OF DOING. MOTIVATION DETERMINES WHAT YOU DO. ATTITUDE DETERMINES HOW WELL YOU DO IT.” LOU HOLTZ

KNOWLEDGE

PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY

INSIGHT

LEADE

EXPERIENCE VALUES

1919

CLUB LEADERSHIP

THE LMA CHARITY

NETWORKING

INSPIRATION

Benevolent Community Education

UNIFIED | RESPECTED | FORWARD THINKING | PRIDE | PASSION | EXPERTISE

PASSION