Written by Some teams have a great culture and some struggle with it. Ultimately, the leadership of a team comes from those at the top, the CEO, president, GM, head coach, and a few others. They set the tone of the team’s culture. If every single person contributes to a positive team culture, most people in the organization will jump on board.
There was this one time, I was about 14 years old, and I arrived at my first ever practice with a new team and everyone is smiling and in good spirits. The smiles started with the head coach and everyone that I encountered, coach and athlete, was smiling, had a positive attitude, and were quick to introduce themselves. While every athlete was not always smiling at all times every day, there definitely were signs of an extremely positive team culture. It genuinely seemed that everyone wanted to help each other become better athletes, people, and members of the community. Even at 5:15 AM practices, I always wanted to be there to practice with my team.
Did I catch on to the infectious and positive team culture? You bet I did! The inclusive nature of the team was extremely welcoming and accepting of whomever arrived.
Athletes may immediately appreciate and assimilate into the team’s culture. However, the same can be true for negative team cultures. What if I walked into a toxic team culture, where people did not want to be there? Would I have felt welcomed, had people who supported me, or would be open to ideas? Definitely not! Would athletes have been performing at peak levels in practices or competitions? While some athletes may have still performed at high levels, most likely the rest would not have.
As a leader of an organization or team, do not forget that you set the tone of the organization’s mission, goals, successes, failures, and culture. It is everyone’s responsibility to positively influence the team’s culture. With a positive team culture, a team will be successful in many areas, both on and off the field, mat, court, pool, or pitch.