“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” (Winston Churchill)
The importance of team culture is highly underrated in many organizations whether we are discussing business or athletics, but it’s usually is the key ingredient to the repeat offenders that continuously find themselves at the top against their competitors.
Apple, INC is a company that overcame obstacles that others continuously believe they will fail at and revolutionized a whole generation to go digital.
Messiah College soccer programs have brought home more national championships than any other school, including division II and division I programs.
University North Carolina women’s soccer program has become the gold standard for women’s soccer programs across country because of their success within their conference, at the national level and with the amount of professional soccer stars they have produced annually.
Pat Summit, former head women’s basketball coach for Tennessee, holds the most all-time wins for a coach in the NCAA basketball history from either men or women’s team in all divisions.
Whether a company, an athletic team or an individual you will find one thing that is shared amongst all and that is, a team culture with a positive attitude. Attitude is one of the key foundations to creating a team culture that sustains success. As Winston Churchill stated, “attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”
I have worked with several different athletic programs and currently working with a soccer program that is defining their team culture. I have found that the first step in change is, ATTITUDE.
These are the 3 attitude adjustments I have invested in:
Positive vs Negative Reinforcement
Positive vs Negative reinforcement has been discussed over the past couple years and many find it is a split decision on what side you think is works best. I am not going to argue whether which is right or wrong, but show you my perspective on what I think works best. I understand in generations before it was called tough love or you shouldn’t have to be Mr. Positive all the time but the truth is just because it was tradition to point out all the wrong things before doesn’t mean that it was the best option. Don’t get me wrong there are definitely times when you need to reinforce a bad behavior with punishment but I recommend preventing those steps before it is needed.
The affects that negative reinforcement are sometimes positive yes, but usually in the long run it is pretty negative results. Have you heard a coach say “GET ON THE LINE” and what usually follows that is the player(s) correcting their mistake, but what you don’t see is the longevity that those reinforcing ways can have on the overall results. If this coaching tactic is used on a daily basis it can create a negative vibe for individuals. Players will sometimes going home hating their coach and what is worse is they may learn to hate the sport. Because of a habit to always recognize poor results with a negative reinforce (such as “get on the line”) player can develop an internal fear. Fear though it may be a projected vision of the future that may or may not happen it can have a dramatic effect on an individual’s performance. If a coach or someone in a leadership role always uses negative reinforcements they are teaching those that they speak to, to concentrate on the mistakes rather than the positive possibilities. So yes, negative reinforcements may get you instant results but are those results worth risking future success? I don’t believe they are which is why I recommend using positive reinforcement.
Positive reinforcement can do remarkable things for the longevity of all programs. The ability to recognize individuals on their success rather than their failures can open many doors along the way that develop individuals to be stronger competitors. Some of the doors you may open along your way of positively reinforcing those you work with can be their individual attitude to put the work in, creates trust and appreciation towards upper management. Positive reinforcement is not just cheering every little detail along the way but the ability to help individuals adjust in a positive environment where they don’t have to fear their mistakes. By recognizing success you allow those you work with to feel appreciated and concentrate on the positive things they have done rather than the mistakes they have made. There are many different ways to use positive reinforcement such as an acknowledgement chart, being more solution-focused (more about this later), or another way is using the 3:1 methodology (3 positives, 1 negative).
The way you reinforce a culture you want in your organization determines the overall attitude and atmosphere of your team.
Effort vs Error
Now that we have covered the effect that different reinforcement styles can have, I believe it is only fear to discuss the correct opportunities when you can use either or.
When players come to train every day for their practice I remind them that they have to define what they can control and what they can’t control. They can’t control the weather, but they sure can control the work ethic they put into each training session. So when it comes to effort I believe that you should always put 100% in because there is no reason for you to be there otherwise. I find that if a player is not putting the effort in this is a primary example of when you can use a negative reinforcement to emphasis your point. Though they still won’t be happy, there is no one other than themselves at fault which is why a negative reinforcement usually has the best result here.
An error or mistake cannot always be prevented. I personally don’t recruit for members that know it all nor do I claim to know it all, so I do not expect players to perform without mistakes. When it comes to making an error in the office, classroom or field you should recognize this as a learning experience and use positive reinforcement to make adjustments.
I have found that many coaches don’t always recognize the difference between effort and error’s. The way a leader or coach responds to these when they do not meet a certain standard is the start of how attitude affects a team.
Problem Focused vs Solution Focused
It seems that today’s generation and generations to come have been developed to be problem focused rather than solution focused, which to me is a huge problem.
When you are problem focused you are focused on the past, which can result in a lot of drama in an organization. Problem focused people recognize a problem and continue to review the problem rather than fixing what has happened. Our program ran into this a lot this previous season and though the incidents were small it, our problem-focused team made the incidents a lot larger than they should have been. For example a player goes out the night before a game, the team recognizes that the player should not do this but instead of going to get them from the evening’s event they just spread the word to other team members. The more the team focused on the problem (rule breaking) the more the team divided. The more the team divided the more those that broke the rules felt excluded. This is a common act amongst most, which is why I believe those that are solution-focused find the most success.
Solution-focused people are focused on the future; once they recognize a problem they find a way to solve the problem. This change in their attitude to focus on solutions, rather than problems, allows individuals to discover and change their ways. By learning how to fix their problem they individually change bad habits. For example if the members of the team that I previously spoke about had discovered a problem (a rule breaker) and instead of telling other the problem, they went and found a solution then the small incident would have been forgotten. A solution focused team member would have heard about the teammate that went out the night before a game & immediately went to pull them out of the evening events to correct the mistake that had occurred.
The ability to recognize and adjust problem focused and solution focused attitudes can make a huge difference within an organization. If you can put a high concentration on the way you as an individual views a problem, this will spread throughout your organization. If an organization can create a solution focused team then they can create an atmosphere that doesn’t have a fear of mistakes and is open to discovering and changing their ways for the better.
OVERVIEW
A change in attitude is the start of change in an organization. Though it is a small change, it is a change towards a bigger goal of creating a culture that invites talent, rather than fears new talent. Many organizations have created atmospheres that suffocate employees due to fear of making mistakes, or because of the negative atmosphere within a team/organization.
I truly believe that if you change your attitude and towards the three topics I covered:
Positive vs Negative Reinforcement
Effort vs Error
Problem-Focused vs Solution-Focused
You will begin the change in your culture. What you do as a leader trickles down into those that you lead. As a coach you will hear that those that you recruit into your program represent you as a person because they communicate the same way. With that being said if you can demonstrate these attitude changes or adjustments those that you inspire will most likely make the same changes which is why you are on your way to creating a positive culture within your team/organization.
UNTIL NEXT TIME WHEN WE DISCUSS MORE ON THE FOUNDATIONS OF CREATING A POSITIVE TEAM CULTURE!
"One with Heart & Mind" 