As my career has progressed, I’ve frequently seen a common trait among business leaders: many of the most successful have participated in competitive sports. This is not an accident. Competitive sports and business have similarities, as do effective leadership teams and competitive sports teams.
I was shaped as a person and a leader by my participation in Division I college soccer. Importantly, I am aware that victory requires collaboration. And establishing amazing teams requires courage, imagination, and perseverance. These principles I learned in the field are assisting me in building a successful team at LogicMonitor, the firm I oversee.
A team’s success is frequently attributed to one or two superstars, according to sports fans. My experience has taught me that the reverse is true. Not every player is a striker or forward who scores goals. Yet in business, your team cannot succeed if it relies on a single standout performer. Good teams require solid players at every position, and these players must be in perfect harmony.
Strong teams also require tenacity. The author of a highly famous book on the subject, Angela Duckworth, describes grit as a combination of enthusiasm and perseverance. She stated in a TED Talk that grit is living life as if it were a marathon and not a sprint.
Winning takes an unrelenting devotion to your and your team’s goals, regardless matter how unattainable they may appear. That is the same in college soccer as it is in business.
FORMING AND KEEPING A WINNING TEAM
In our organization, we strive diligently to foster team chemistry and cohesion. My leadership team meets quarterly away from the office for serious discussions. We bring in a third-party facilitator to assist us in evaluating our collaboration. I would like to know how effectively we collaborate. Are we aligning?
In these kind of interactions, you should avoid assigning blame or pointing fingers. Your team must recognize that they are in this together, thus they must collaborate. Only once your organization’s leaders are unified can they return to lead their respective teams.
I believe it is the responsibility of leaders to convince others that they can do so much more as a group than individually. I consistently encourage team members to achieve their best. I push people to heights they didn’t realize they were capable of, but I do so with their best interests in mind and with complete transparency and fairness.
My coworkers refer to me as an advocate for equal opportunity. There is no discrimination.
HIRING FOR SUCCESS
If your organization takes a team-based approach, you must be very strategic while interviewing and employing candidates.
We perform a behavioral pattern-based interview and examine the candidate’s life in chronological order, frequently beginning in high school. We look for leadership patterns, fortitude, and the ability to operate with ambiguity. They served as team captain in high school. How did they spend their leisure time?
We ask them to describe their present supervisor and coworkers. We listen for personal and professional themes that give us a true feel of the applicants’ identities. Do they accept responsibility for the mishaps that occurred? Both tenacity and optimism are essential, especially at a startup firm when systems are continually being disrupted and pushed to their limits.
To determine if a job prospect will be a good colleague requires attentive listening.
I recall one applicant who was exceptionally qualified, and I was thrilled that he wanted to speak with us. In fact, I was quite awestruck. As I investigated his leadership style, though, I discovered that he wanted everything served to him. I had the impression he wasn’t going to battle through the obstacles or help consumers overcome the obstacles. He didn’t have grit. We did not employ him.
MY OWN BEHAVIORAL CHRONOLOGY
Leadership is a process, and each individual learns how to lead a team in their own way. The lessons I learned came from soccer.
In my freshman year in college, we won only three games. This got me angry, so throughout the off-season I trained like a madman. The best shape of my life was achieved. And by the time I stepped onto the field at the beginning of the season, I had aced the skills and fitness tests.
Nevertheless, rather than cheering me on, my teammates grumbled. They were contemptuous and referred to me as a “natural freak,” which irritated me. Why hadn’t they worked equally as hard to reach their peak physical condition?
Yet, we all stopped and stared at one another at that moment. We realized that this mentality could only harm the squad. I recognized that by not inviting the team along on that trip, I was not functioning as the leader I had assumed I was. They understood that they had not reached their full potential.
That squad got successful. I was elected team captain. Then during my junior season, we reached the last round of the NCAA tournament.
Everything relates to the narrative—the trip. Leaders must draw people along with them and demonstrate how they can do so much more together. This episode of “Freak of Nature” was an awe-inspiring moment that has influenced my whole career.
According to Duckworth, endurance and passion are characteristics of winners. I’ve witnessed it both on the football field and in the corporate world. Add ingenuity and perseverance, and you have the winning formula for soccer and business.