What's Your Game Plan for Your Culture
What's your Game Plan for your Company Culture?
Every great leader needs a game plan, whether it's a football coach, a business owner, or a political leader. Let’s take a look at some successful football coaches’ philosophies for building strong teams:
Ohio State’s Ryan Day: ‘Tough Love’
Day describes his coaching philosophy in terms of traits (physical and emotional toughness) and drivers (love).
Day on ‘love’: “(As coaches) we have to create that love,” Day continued. “We talk about this all the time. You have to love your players. Motivating through fear is not the way we do it. I don’t think that’s really sustainable anymore. With this generation now it’s about love and if they know you love them, they’ll do anything for you. That’s the way our program is built.”
Alabama’s Nick Saban: ‘The Process’
Saban lays out detailed expectations for players on and off the field. He also preaches a relentless (borderline insane?) focus on what you can control, not past or future results (e.g. focus on doing the best in this drill rather than thinking about winning the SEC Championship).
Jacksonville Jaguars' Urban Meyer: ‘Toughness’
Urban Meyer is a guru at developing great leaders at the quarterback position. Meyer has frequently stated that he believes toughness is an underrated trait in quarterbacks. He understands the influence key leaders have on an organization. Leaders have a huge impact on culture, people can either feed off of their energy in a positive or negative way.
Cleveland Browns' Kevin Stefanski: ‘Smart, Tough, Accountable’ & ‘The 4 H’s’
The NFL’s Coach of the Year award winner, in lock-step with his GM, Andrew Berry, immediately implemented the ‘Smart, Tough, Accountable’ mantra upon being hired as the Brown’s new coach. This established guidelines not only for player acquisition but it also set expectations for coaches and players.
Stefanski then employed what’s come to be known as the ‘4 Hs’ to bring his team together. As part of the exercise players and coaches shared stories about their 4 Hs – History, Heartbreak, Heroes, and Hopes – enabling them to find common ground and establish a deeper, personal connection.
So what can business leaders learn from these coaching philosophies?
- Personality traits, characteristics, and personal drivers play a huge role in forming organizational culture. They are the large mass of ice beneath the surface.
- To achieve the desired behaviors and the culture they want, great leaders combine science and art – they apply principles based in science and research (personality models/traits, team effectiveness concepts, etc.) in a way that is compelling, in a way that resonates, and in a way that leads to meaningful change.
- Building a culture takes repetition, consistency, alignment, and commitment. It’s not a one-time event and it doesn’t exist within silos.
Great organizations turn their desired culture into a system by integrating it into their ongoing operations and routines.
What’s your game plan for building your desired culture? Do you have a vision for your culture, but your not sure how to implement it? Or are you not sure where to even begin?
Get in touch with us today. We can help!
