A round up of 2023 teams

Over the last 12 months, teams of all different purposes, shapes and sizes have worked hard to achieve their goals. For me, four teams stand out as providing useful lessons that are applicable not just on the pitch (or field) but also in business. In fact, come to think of it, they’re lessons we should apply in so many aspects of our lives. Let me explain who they are and why we should learn from them: . While all these examples are sporting and sometimes these are hard to translate into business teams, I think the lessons that they provided are important and transferable.

Ted Lasso’s Richmond Football Club.

But wait, they’re not even real! True, however, that doesn’t mean we can’t learn a valuable lesson or two from the fictional team. The word “believe” which is hand written on a poster in the team locker room becomes a theme that’s weaved throughout the entire show. The idea of belief becomes a unifying purpose for the team as they face a variety of challenges. Ultimately, the successes they achieve are a result of the shared belief and commitment they have in and to each other.

As Katzenbach and Smith observe in the “Wisdom of Teams”, the key characteristic of high-performing teams is a deep commitment to each member of the team. Ted and his team demonstrate this throughout the season with a consistent willingness to put the needs of the team above their own.

Reflection question: How committed are the members of your team, to the team?

The English cricket team.

I don’t believe I’m writing this, but it can’t be denied that during the Ashes series this year, the English cricket team played some great cricket. Ultimately, they didn’t win but that doesn’t take away from the fact that their performance was not only excellent but entertaining for anyone watching them. Dare I say it, they played like the great Australian teams of previous generations.

Why? Talent was definitely a factor. But an even more crucial element was the freedom created by their philosophy of “Bazball”. This released them from the shackling effect of fear of failure and allowed them to move into a high-performance zone and maximise their skills. The coach and captain used their leadership effectively to create a successful culture for the team.

Reflection question: Does your team culture allow people to perform without fearing judgment or failure?

The Matildas.

We all cheered for the mighty run of the Matildas in the Women’s World Cup. They united the nation and achieved a result to be proud of. They played with spirit and tenacity.Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of their performance, especially in the earlier stages of the tournament, was the success they had without their best player and captain, the inspirational Sam Kerr. This was a huge credit to the entire team, including Kerr, because it proved their ability to share the leadership responsibilites while working together to combine and maximise their talents. The Matildas were able to navigate to the semis with only minimal playing time from Sam. To put it simply, they weren’t dependent on just one player.

Reflection question: How dependent is your team on its leader? How many decisions are deferred to the leader unnecessarily?

The Wallabies.

Sometimes we can learn as much from failure in teams as we can from success. I’m a passionate supporter of the Wallabies so it breaks my heart to write this but there are a fair few lessons we can learn from the 2023 Wallabies approach. Every team and organisation has a degree of dysfunction but this year's Wallaby outfit seemed to have been hindered by the sheer amount of dysfunction in the system around them.

There’s a leadership lesson here about how to manage your team, and at times protect them from the dysfunction in an organisation by keeping them focused on the future direction, solidifying the team's own culture, and being clear on what’s required for performance in a team. The Australian rugby team saw the transition of a new CEO, a sudden change of coach, continual changes to personnel, a carousel of captains and various changes in approach. The next leadership challenge will be to navigate their way to becoming competitive again and perhaps the question for leadership is this: how do we get clear on our pathway to performance, and protect the team from the necessary change and disruption that will need to occur for this organisation to be sustainable for the future?

Reflection question: What dysfunction exists or is emerging that impacts your team? How is it being managed?

Final reflection questions:

Have we dedicated enough time to optimising the performance of our team? Are we preparing our team for success now and in the future?

Do you want 2024 to be the year your team becomes optimised? Get in touch with the BI team today for a free consultation.