Ten Lessons I have learnt from high performing professional teams and individuals.
1.Mentality – The best players in the world have a consistent mentality. You wouldn’t
have an idea whether they had achieved success or experienced a poor run of form.
The energy they brought into the environment and the energy they gave to the
environment was consistent and authentic to who they were as athletes. It was
something that was evident every day. Not just when experiencing success, but day
in and day out the team knew what they were going to get
2.Process Driven – As a team and as individuals the process was more important
than the results. Ultimately if our processes were consistent we would experience
consistent results. Preparing in a processed way and finding a rhythm as a team
and as individuals added to the calmness of competition. Preparation and processes
is what gives us confidence and a calm mind. Calm minds make good decisions. The
best batsmen, golfers, athletes, goal kickers, tennis players all have a process before
the next point or action. The discipline of sticking to these processes is what
separates the best from the average.
3.Standards – Strive to be the worlds best in your role. Don’t look at the people
around you, look at those in the world that are dominating in their field. What do they
do differently? If you want to be the best you need to prepare and train like the best in the world.
4.Growth Mindset – There is a lot of failure in sport. To stay on the top and be the
best in your field you need to always reflect on failure and see it as an opportunity
for growth and positive change. Always looking to get better, faster, stronger,
smarter and believing you can improve.
5.Focus on your own team – We lose sight of our own teams strengths when we look
at the opposition and in most cases put them up in bright lights. What are our teams
strengths? What are we doing well? Its good to know what your opposition is doing
but concentrate on your own strengths and goals.
6.Selfless team players – When we join a team or sign a contract for a company, we
are signing ourselves over to them. Its important to have individual goals, but the
best teams have players who understand that the team goals are more important than
their individual goals.
7.Role definition – In high performing teams, individuals are given specific roles.
Every member in the team understand what those roles are and how everyone
around them fit into the bigger picture of success. Look after your own garden before
you help others with theirs.
8.Adaptability – The ability to adapt and change quickly is something high performing
teams do well. Prepare and have a plan, but have the ability to change quickly.
When the plan goes off track, communication as a team and trust with the
leaders is what makes the difference between a win and loss.
9.Teams and individuals that have the ability to self reflect.
What did I/we do well today?
What could I/we have done better today?
Who did I make better today?
10.No Egos – high performing teams do not tolerate egos. No
superstars. Its not about the individual but about the collective and the team goals. If
you want to be an individual then start your own business, take up an individual
sport!