The real work of a leader is done when they create a team that is driven by a Winning Team Culture. When I received a phone call from NRL head coach of the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Michael Maguire, November 2013 to instill my Leadership Dynamics process into the South Sydney Rugby League teams culture, it was an opportunity I could not say “no” to. For 43 years, the South Sydney Rugby League Club and their supporters have waited to win their next NRL premiership.
My seven years with Des Hasler at Manly, 2005 – 2011, had equipped me to fully understand what was required to lead the culture.
Sunday 5 October 2014 9:30pm saw South Sydney win their 1st premiership.
Everyone in the organisation had grown and changed over the last 11 months as the culture changed. There is a lot that goes into developing a harmonious and unified team.
I have had the opportunity to be part of 3 NRL premierships, 2008, 2011 and now 2014 with South Sydney. Leadership ultimately will determine whether you win or lose in business and in professional sport. Culture is the same in business as it is in professional sport. There must be deliberate strategies and processes implemented on a daily basis.
One of those processes is utilising someone that is independent.
Do you have the right people with the right skills to effectively drive the vision?
Without the right people, you will have disharmony and division in your team, which will undermine your results and take you backwards.
Over the last 26 years I have had the leadership responsibility to not only lead people but also build teams by creating an effective Team Culture, which is unified and harmonious in both corporate and professional sporting organisations.
The right team will work together in harmony and focus on the right direction, taking ownership of their roles and driving the team to success.
Do you have the right team around you?
Do you invest in your team to grow them as people so they become more effective?
The No.1 asset of any business and any team is the people – what is your retention rate?
How good is your communication process? The real work is in creating the team.
The product is not the product – the real product is your people.
An effective leader is able to observe and discern the personality traits, both positive and negative, of the people they lead, and to navigate individuals to bind together as one.
As the leader, the more you understand the people you surround yourself with, the better your results will become to increase harmony. There can be no success with disunity and disharmony and it is a major problem that I address with my business, Leadership Dynamics, when I first go into a new team or a new business.
Part of the process is to analyse yourself and the team members you have around you, which opens communication and creates unity and harmony, which means you as the leader are connecting at a deeper level. This results in increased trust.
There are 5 different levels you need to focus on to develop a Winning Team Culture and I spend 50% of my life in Levels 1 and 2 with a deliberate process in both Corporate Business and Professional Sport.
The leader must at all times focus on creating the right environment for the team to excel – Culture. Process builds Culture.
