Tips for Managing a Professional Sports Team

One of the biggest transitions I’ve had to make as a leader is switching from building a family — to building a team. Yea, our team gets every other Friday off, access to a therapist/coach, an Oura ring to help track sleep, a monthly wellness stipend to help with gym/studio membership — and we are working on including access to therapeutic usages of psychedelics, like ketamine through Enthea. People correlate perks with a family-like team often — but despite what you might think, these offerings are inspired by professional sports teams… not Twitter/Google versions of work-life balance. How we use professional sports as inspiration for culture building: 1. Define the positions: Like a sports team, each person on our team has specific positions and goals. We use scorecards that are updated and reviewed bi-annually to align the team with a unified vision for collective success. 2. Watch the scoreboard: Like sports stats, we focus on KPIs and productivity with our own version of a stat sheet and scoreboard. We invested in building extensive looker dashboards on important KPIs, and track day to day scoreboards on leading indicators in spreadsheets. What gets measured matters, for the business, offense/defense (departments), and individuals. 3. Recruit, cultivate, and retain A-players: scouting and training in sports mirror strategic recruitment and development in business. We leverage external expertise to enhance team skills — our board members Scott Norton and Leigh Keith are an example of this pursuit. 4. Watch tape: Sports teams adjust to various challenges. Similarly, businesses must be agile in responding to market changes and customer needs. We have bi-weekly all hands to come together, review what’s going on, and build fluency over the above. 5. Strength in numbers: The importance of team culture in sports is equally critical in business. Doing this in a remote company is more challenging and so it’s all the more important to be proactive about it. We have bi-weekly gratitude calls where we shout out what we see across the company, give props, and speak to what is moving us. Yes we fly people in to work IRL, but we also do things together, even remotely, like meditation challenges, hackathons, and group experiences over zoom. 6. Recovery is key: As the best athletes and teams show, rest, recovery and mental resilience is key to performing at the highest level. We support physical and mental health, acknowledging that peak performance hinges on holistic well-being. We’re not working a fixed assembly line — productivity doesn’t equal hours worked. It’s more like productivity = hours worked X highest leveraged priorities X execution. Yes, putting in the time is a part of it, but how things are done, especially as a group, is much more important than it was in the past. Have we figured it all out? Nope. But, we’ve come a long way. What are your thoughts on work-life balance?

At NBA Summer League I was fortunate to observe behind the scenes shoot-arounds prior to a game and I noticed 2 very different pre-game routines that carried through to in-game execution, and ultimately drove overall team performance. One team did structured group stretches, organized drills, and ran through disciplined plays. The other went with random stretches, free shooting and a casual lay-up line. The two different approaches continued into the actual game – during critical time-outs one coach huddled with his assistants to prioritize messaging before communicating to the players while the other team’s head coach rushed in right away and scribbled feedback on a clipboard during the entire time-out leaving his players a bit dazed and confused. Small details? Maybe. But the overall effect had the first team consistently delivering better results than the second one throughout the game. In business, like in sports, what you do to prepare your team and how you communicate priorities can set the tone for your team's culture and performance. Here are a couple leadership lessons I took away from the sidelines: 🏀 Establishing consistent routines can help define your culture 🏀 Leadership alignment moments (like a coach’s timeout huddle) are critical to ensuring clarity of direction 🏀 What you do during “warm-ups” can define how your team performs under pressure later 🟨 How intentional are your “warm-up routines” and “leadership huddles” – it could be driving ultimate team performance. #Leadership #NBASummerLeague #LeadershipDevelopment #RiseAndShine #LeadershipWins

If you lead a team, please don’t miss this. Football season is one of my favorites. Honestly, I don’t follow schools. I follow coaches. Specifically, coaches who have the challenge of creating turnaround stories are my favorites. So, can we talk about Coach Prime for just a moment? If you’re a football fan, you witnessed the great upset this past Saturday as the Colorado Buffaloes won against TCU (ranked no 17). The Buffaloes, an underdog team, picked to rank 11 in the Pac 12 this season, with 87 NEW players, and a new coach scored their first road win against a top-20 team since 2002. 2002. There’s a lot to unpack in the story of this team and Coach Prime individually, but today, People-leaders, what I want you to takeaway is this… 1. There is hardly ever a team too far gone from being an excellent collective. The difference in what becomes achievable (vs. what does not) is what a coach believes his/her team can obtain and how he/she equips them to get there. 2. Your level of courage in leadership will dictate what others experience of you. Your creativity, advocacy, willingness to do and say challenging things actually matters- especially to those you lead. Winning teams march behind bold leaders (boldness as an attribute should not be confused with a personality type). 3. When a culture esteems roles vs titles, collaboration and contributions can look different (if you’re confused about this connection, google Colorado Buffaloes’ team captain). 4. High-performing team members shouldn’t be just a ‘gut’ feeling. When an individual is talented, there should be verifiable’receipts’ for their success. If your promotion of a team member is confusing to everyone but you, go back to the drawing board. Performance can always be measured. 5. Having a vision alone is not a sufficient path to team success. Creating systems that propel the vision is underrated, do it more and often. 6. Tradition is incredibly valuable for context and perspective but should not be a barrier for creating something new. While I’m incredibly excited for this team, the truth is- they will struggle, on and off of the field, as all teams do. They will win more games. They will lose games. What I do believe will remain impressive is how they will show up as they become more acquainted with their own abilities and connectedness, and the weight of their coach’s belief in them as a team.

Here are 8 rules for leading a winning team from Tara VanDerveer, Standord's woman's basketball coach, who will be the most winningest coach in college basketball history once her team clinches its 1,203rd win in the next few weeks. VanDerveer's rules for building and leading teams to greatness from her recent New York Times interview with Glenn Kramon: 1️⃣ Hire those who complement your abilities and fill in your caution areas. "As my dad said, “You can’t win the Kentucky Derby on a donkey.” And not just players but staff. Be sure they complement you more than compliment you." 2️⃣ Craft a clear vision for what your organization will become. "Have a vision for your players, and give them the tools. Maximize people’s strengths and minimize their weaknesses." 3️⃣ Listen to your team, delegate, and give your team credit and opportunities to shine. "Don’t be the center of attention. Don’t micromanage, and seek input." 4️⃣ Put your mask on before helping others. The care you put into yourself will increase the care and support you can put into others. "Outwork the players on your team. Take care of yourself — eat and sleep right, and exercise — so you can take care of one another. If you can’t swim, you can’t rescue the other swimmer, and you’ll both go down." 5️⃣ Take the time to know the behavioral needs of your team and understand what is driving them. "You can’t have 15 personalities, one for each player. But you can recognize everyone’s different, and get to know them and understand where they’re at." 6️⃣ Communication is so much more than words. You need to stay aware. "Every behavior is communication — not just words but also eye contact and body language." 7️⃣ If you sense any sign of dysfunction, all you have to do is look up. "Know that if your senior leaders are unhappy, your whole team will be." 8️⃣ How you respond to a critical situation says so much more about your ability to lead. Keep a lid on it. "Learn the art of the controlled meltdown." This stuff is not rocket science. Understanding how to be a good leader is easy. Being a good leader is hard. It takes consistency, focus, and determination. Examples of great leadership like this are all around us. Consistently reminding ourselves of what great leadership is is one way to maintain our own leadership consistency. Thank you, VanDerveer, for these gems. Which of these rules is the most important to you? ⚡ #leadership #transformation #performance #humanresourcs

The start of every new football season is such a special time. For most of my life (ten years as a player, 20 as a coach) the sport of football has been central to my personal and professional growth. Many, if not most, of the best things I've learned about being a leader and a teammate came from playing the game, the amazing coaches I've had in my life, and the outstanding coaches I get to work with.   Being on the field with athletes is a reminder of those lessons, an opportunity to practice them, and most importantly, an opportunity to give back. I often tell people that the same strategies I use to coach athletes on the field are the same strategies I used to coach companies, leaders, and teams. It's 100% true.   Here's how it works:   Teach - This is where coaches teach play design, strategy, roles, responsibilities, and technique. Coaches describe concepts, answer questions, and share knowledge. In companies, teaching is central to ensuring that individuals and teams understand the goal and their role. We must instruct. This is the who, what, where, when, and why of leadership.   Demonstrate - Coaches show players how the play works, usually via a walk-through or player-by-player instruction. We move from the whiteboard to the field. In companies, this is leading by example. Leaders need to show others how it works by exhibiting the action or behavior themselves.   Practice - On the field, coaches then let the players run the play. First against air, then defenders. Over and over and over. And then coaches do the most important piece - give feedback on how the team performs. In companies, we must do the same and give employees a chance to perform the action. Then we must correct the actions and adjust. Incrementally and repetitively.   Apply - Then the players have to play. Coaches are on the sideline and the team competes. But the coach is there to help in real-time, when plays don't go according to plan. The competition adjusts. Mistakes are made. But support is still needed. Companies should be no different. Leaders need to get out of the way enough to let their teams perform, but stay close enough to guide, support, and adjust. Different environment. Same strategies.   I can't say enough about the amazing coaches in all sports giving of themselves to athletes. You play a critical role in the lives of young people. I'm also fortunate to be a part of an incredible program run by some of the best coaches I've ever been around. I consider myself lucky to learn from them and coach with them to support the next generation of leaders. Positive Coaching Alliance #coaching #leadership #teambuilding