
Waistcoats, Words & A Winning Culture
(Reading Time – 3 minutes)“Great teams succeed because they are safer,not smarter” (Cameron Thomson)
How good has the World Cup been so far ?
Incredible finishes, end to end action, last minute goals, penalties scored, penalties missed, VAR catching out those who seek unfair advantage……. the list is almost endless (and there’s still more to come).But ……………
For me,one performance stands out, head and shoulders above others and is worthy of being singled out (though I doubt he’d thank me for that). I refer to the performance of the England Head Coach, Gareth Southgate – as a card carrying foot soldier in the Tartan Army this should be hard to write but I just can’t hide my respect and admiration for this guy.
A sound,well respected,professional,who, while being very experienced,hardly raised many eyebrows when he was appointed in 2016 – he was viewed as a “solid” (if unspectacular) appointment ………… but then,he went to work.
The English National Team was at a crossroads – the so called “golden generation” had come, gone and hardly performed along the way. Southgate was left to assemble a squad of largely workmanlike,honest, professionals (in his own image perhaps ?) with a couple of special talents to throw into the mix.
And mix them he has !
In 2 years he has built an incredible culture that goes beyond a mere team – he’s tapped into that most elusive of alchemy’s and created a “chemistry”.
But how ? ………. here’s how –
⁃ They touch – high ‘5’s, huddles and tribal (not ordinary) handshakes are common place. They know they “belong”.
⁃ They know the minimum expectations they have of one another’s behaviours (just watch EVERY player sing the National Anthem with passion and gusto).
⁃ They’ve taken time to get to know one another as people beyond football – they know the names of their wives, partners and other family members and know what’s going on in their lives.
⁃ They’ve developed a genuine affection for one another.
⁃ They eat together.
⁃ They know about one another’s vulnerabilities.
⁃ They can predict one another.
⁃ They see something needing done and just do it – they don’t wait for permission.In addition, Southgate uses hugely inclusive language – “we,us,our” ….. here are some direct quotes after the victory on penalties over Colombia on Tuesday –
“WE owned OUR own process”
“Credit to all OUR staff”
“WE all looked at OUR technique”
“WE looked at how WE needed to be as a team”
“WE lost OUR cool a little bit”
“ WE kept OUR nerve”
“OUR fans”
“WE’RE creating OUR history”Above all, everyone in this England team has created a culture where they are safe to express their talent (on the pitch and off it too).
How could you use these principles to leverage even stronger performance from your team ? If you’d like to know more drop me a note at cameron.thomson@footdown.com
Keep your eye on Gareth Southgate- whatever happens to England for the rest of this journey he will go down as one of the great coaches – he’s already a winner.
Have a great weekend ⚽️
cameronthomson 