One of the most common sayings in sport is: “There’s no I in team”.

The saying is supposed to convey the belief that the strength of any team is the team itself – i.e. unity, people working together, selflessness etc.

On a certain level that’s true. Many High Performing Teams do have a culture of shared connection where the honesty, respect and trust between team members forms the fundamental framework for success.

However, it is also true that teams are made up of individuals and that in order to develop a high performance team, it is essential to understand the importance of coaching individuals in the team environment.

This podcast looks at the issue of coaching individuals within a team environment and suggests ways that coaches can more effectively grow the I in team!

 

Coaching Individuals – Why Team Building Does Not Work.

I’ve been contracted to do many “team-building” activities over the past 25 years. This usually involves bringing a group of athletes, coaches and staff together and asking them to contribute to a collaborative exercise to develop “common-ground” – e.g. values, behaviours, attitudes and themes that everyone can commit to following which will produce a sense of team unity and togetherness.

I’ve delivered these exercises in many different ways.

Sometimes we talk about “values” – and teams will typically come up with words like “honesty” and “integrity” and “professionalism” and “commitment” as the “glue” in their team environment.

Sometimes we work together and create a team “trademark” – a set of behaviours, actions and attitudes that define who we are and also to send a message to other teams about what we stand for.

Over the years however, I’ve become less and less convinced that these traditional team-building activities work.

My reason for this is simple: 100% consensus in anything is a myth.

Believing that a room full of people of different ages, different developmental stages, from different families and cultures, with different motivations and different goals can all come together and completely agree to follow a single set of attitudes, actions and behaviours in preparation, practice and performance situations is unrealistic.

 

A Better Way – Coaching Individuals – Coaching the I by Understanding the Why!

Every team is made up of individuals.

Each individual has a unique motivation – a unique reason WHY they do what they do.

Coaching is the art of inspiring change through emotional connection: emotional connection which demands the development of genuine, authentic, trusting, caring, honest, meaningful relationships between coaches and individual athletes.

These relationships cannot be built in a classroom or in a meeting room or even on a weekend away in the mountains howling at the moon!

 

The Coach-Athlete Relationship: The Key to it All!

I’ve spoken to thousands of athletes around the world who have been coached by outstanding coaches.

I make it a habit to ask them “What is it about your coach that’s so wonderful? Why is she or he such a brilliant coach?”

And without fail, their response is something like “Because they really care about me” or “Because they really know me – they “get” me – they want me to succeed”.

If you want to build and grow a successful team, first get to know and understand each of the individuals in your team and make the relationship between you and your athletes the most important priority in your coaching.

 

Wayne Goldsmith