A team’s culture shapes their common language. We outwork the competition. Always compete. Losing only happens when you give up. Team first. These statements are indicators of what a team values most, of what they hang their hat on. What does your team’s language say about the team?
Rebuilding a Champion
When rebuilding the culture of the Kansas City Royals, Dayton Moore developed a “Model Organizational Harmony.”
This model is comprised of small, yet powerful, reminders that reinforce the Royals culture, centered on family, integrity, and the Golden Rule.
- Settle disputes quickly
- Be responsible
- Give people more than they expect
- Stand up for your people
- Remain calm in the eye of the storm
- Share the glory
- Practice one-on-one communication
Through repeated messages like this, Moore’s coaches, staff, and team leaders continually reinforce who they are as a team and what they stand for – their team culture. This is one factor that helped the Royals turn a small market loser into World Series Champions in less than 10 years.
Why Should You Create a Team Language?
Your team’s vocabulary is a symptom of the culture. Is it supportive or demeaning? Is it focused on individuals or the collective? Language shapes expectations, norms, and the environment surrounding a team. It sets the tone for the level of motivation and effort.
Most teams have a common language. Often it is corrosive, limiting the team’s performance.
1. Words Matter
Athletes, like all of us, are shaped by their inner dialogues.
Is that dialogue positive or negative? Is it productive or counter productive? Is it based on lies or truth? Is it affirming or demeaning?
The answer to these questions shape the emotions, physiological responses, and ultimate performance of an athlete.
2. Beliefs Drive Behaviors
Based on scientific research, we know that athlete’s thoughts are shaped by their beliefs. Those beliefs are shaped by life experiences, relationships, and team culture.
It is true that every athlete joins the team with a personal set of beliefs and values. These impact how the athlete views themselves, their coaches and teammates, and the world around them. As a coach, you are responsible for creating a team culture that establishes and fosters a set of beliefs that allow your staff and players to thrive.
Or as author Jon Gordon puts it, “Culture drives expectations and beliefs. Expectations and beliefs drive behaviors. Behaviors drive habits and habits create the future.”
3. Language Reinforces Core Beliefs
Your mantras and repeated messages become part of the fabric of your team’s belief system.
This is why the military uses creeds, which are memorized and repeated hundreds of times until they cannot be forgotten. The intent is to instill a set of beliefs and values that will consistently shape each individual’s behavior.
What beliefs are you building in your team? That effort is paramount or that talent drives winning? That they have what it takes or that they aren’t good enough? That success relies on a few key players or that teamwork matters most?
Turn your team’s desired beliefs into an ethos or creed for your team.
4. Consistent Language Is Easily Repeated
Repetition is key. On average we are exposed to 5,000 advertising messages every day. As a coach, your message has to cut through the noise and resonate with your team. Centering on a few key principles streamlines your message for easy consumption.
For example, the Ohio State Buckeyes football team has a core value of relentless effort. To reinforce this belief they want players to, “Go as hard as you can, four to six seconds, point A to point B.” According to Urban Meyer, every practice is bombarded with guys shouting, “Four to six, A to B!” That is repetition in action.
Advertisers leverage a phenomenon called effective frequency, referring to how many times we have to hear a message before we respond to it. Historically, the magic number was seven, but it seems to be rising. No surprise.
With so many messages vying for your athletes’ attention, find creative ways to build in repetition on a weekly and daily basis.
Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos highlights the importance of a united vocabulary, “When an idea becomes part of a language, it becomes part of the default way of thinking.” The question is if you want those beliefs (ways of thinking) to develop by default or design.
Create a Language That Drives Results
“The Great Teams see the value of speaking a different language, setting them apart from competitors,” according to Don Yeager, author of Great Teams. Be intentional. Identify what core values are essential for your team. Then create a team language that repeatedly reinforces those values. That’s how beliefs drive behaviors, habits, and ultimately results.
Question: How does your team incorporate a common language that supports the team culture?
I’d love to hear from you in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.
- Book: More Than a Season: Building a Championship Culture by Dayton Moore
- Book: Above the Line: Lessons in Leadership and Life from a Championship Program by Urban Meyer
- Book: Great Teams: 16 Things High Performing Teams Do Differently by Don Yeager
- Post: Why Do Great Teams Focus on Culture First?
- Post: How to Master Your Thinking: Think on Purpose
- Post: Are You Allowing Your Team to be Just Good Enough?
- Post: What Do Champions Believe To Be True?
- Video: How to Improve an Athlete’s Performance: A Proven Model