Should you have been a fly on the wall of my home over the past two weeks, you would have been met with a rather consistent scene: Me, on the couch, under a blanket, AC on blast, burning an Apple Pumpkin Yankee Candle. Depending on the evening, a puzzle or an episode of Gilmore Girls may or may not have been involved. I paint this picture so you know I am bringing the maximum level of enthusiasm when I say: Happy Fall Soccer Season!!! Setting aside my own rather strong partiality for the upcoming season, I hope you and yours have all found joy in getting back on the field over the past couple of weeks.
Whether sources of excitement or challenge, a new sport season brings its fair share of changes: Teams, coaches, positions, oh my! One word that I have found to be particularly pervasive at the start of a new season (of any sport or level) is culture. Every group wants to make sure to have a good culture in order to set the stage for the best possible season. This focus makes sense; it is widely accepted that individuals operating within quality cultures are more motivated, engaged, productive, and happier. They report higher levels of trust, effort, belonging, support, growth, and commitment. Teams with healthy cultures benefit from higher retention, better communication and collaboration, and improved surfacing of problems. All good stuff, right? But..what exactly are the mechanics of building this mysterious “good culture?” How, specifically, does a team create this key ingredient to a high caliber season? That fundamental question is what we’re tackling in today’s blog. And, spoiler alert: The formula is more straightforward than you might think.
Culture : Colere
Culture is a big word; it shows up in a wide variety of spaces and can be used in many different ways. In the sporting context, culture is often referenced as who we are and how we do things as a team. This rather slippery description, combined with my passion for etymology, led me to the word’s root: Culture was born from the Latin colere, meaning to tend, till, or cultivate. Originally, the word was used in reference to preparing the land in order to foster the growth of crops. Oddly enough, this brought the somewhat ambiguous nature of culture into far greater focus for me. At the end of the day, most of us seek to grow and produce in a specific way relevant to our own aspirations and environment. Moreover, that environment’s culture (its purpose, values, goals, behaviors, etc.) either actively promote or detract from our ability to maximally grow and produce. And thus, the question is begged: What specific actions do we have to take as members of a team in order to till our land; to create a culture in which we can all grow, thrive, and produce as best as we possibly can. Let’s find out.
Tilling the Land
Bear with me as I stick with this agriculture metaphor for another moment. If you’re looking to grow pumpkins for the beloved Fall, one option would be to simply plant the seeds and hope for the best. Unsurprisingly, though, this approach is unlikely to yield optimal results. Per Julie Pagel (AKA – my mother, AKA – gardener extraordinaire), if you’re hoping for a porch full of Fall spirit, it will do you well to consider the timing of your plant, quality of your seeds and soil, spacing of your hills, sowing of your seeds, watering schedule, and protection from surrounding wildlife, among other things. Notably, the ideal approach for one pumpkin varietal may not be equally effective with a different varietal (and don’t even get JP started on how it would transfer to onions).
All of this to say: While every team has the option of leaving their culture up to chance – to bank on it naturally developing in a healthy and useful way, it’s a dice roll that I would ardently advise against.* The key ingredient to culture is its deliberate creation. To paraphrase Daniel Coyle: Good culture is not about a mysterious chemistry. It’s about clarity. While the process of intentionally building and protecting your optimal team culture isn’t necessarily easy or quick, it is rather simple. The ongoing work of creating and maintaining a co-created team culture starts with a relatively straightforward series of discussions between team leaders and members.
Unlike the prompts themselves, what you will not find below are the specific characteristics that should be within your culture; I’m not highlighting the “best” team purpose, values, goals, etc. Rather, I’m providing you a framework to explore and discover that, yourself, alongside your athletes. My reasoning is simple: You’re the farmer (or the harvester, or even the crop!), and I don’t know enough about your unique garden to give you those answers. The only way to find them is to sit down with your athletes and talk it through, together.
7 Culture-Building To-Do’s for Teams
- Establish a Common Purpose: Every team needs to know, in the big picture, what they are coming together to do. Consider the question: What would make our season a success? The answers here can give valuable insight into the group’s overarching purpose, whether it be sheer enjoyment, relationship building, growth, team outcomes, or personal accomplishments.
- Identify Team Values: Once a team is on the same page about their 30,000 foot view purpose, it’s time to start zooming in. Team values answer the question “Who do we want to be on and off the field?”; they are more specific than purpose, unique to every team, and serve as core tenants of culture. They are characteristics that guide all individual and team behavior (think discipline, creativity, hard work, passion, positivity). Pro tip: When selecting team values, strive for five or less to maximize their functionality throughout the course of a season.
- Craft Team Goals: Team goals complement team values. Whereas values inform who a team wants to be, and sets a team on a certain course (think compass), team goals indicate specific accomplishments for which a group is striving (think destination). While a group will virtually never “check off” achieving a value (ok, we’ve achieved discipline, let’s move on!), goals can and should be checked off and replaced as needed throughout the course of a season.
- Outline Actions: A major faux pas I see teams make are selecting values and goals, writing them down, and then…that’s it. Values and goals are not magically enacted or progressed toward. In order to truly live your team’s culture, your group has to identify actions that align with (and are contrary to), competing through your values and achieving your goals. What does a value like ownership look like on the pitch? What specific actions does our team need to take to achieve our goal of improving our overall record from last season? This is also where specific codes of conduct (attendance, communication, game arrival time, etc.) can and should be addressed**. Without this key step, your team culture will be nothing more than a page in a notebook.
- Make it Personal: Though a culture is decided by the team, it is ultimately upheld or damaged by individuals. In order for a culture to be as strong as possible, each athlete and supporting cast member (coaches, trainers, parents, etc.) has to get on board. This is why culture co-creation, as opposed to imposed cultural standards from a coach, is so crucial. To further promote this personal ownership, take time to work with athletes on defining their specific role on the team, and highlight and celebrate how their unique individual strengths positively contribute to the greater team culture.
- Show it Off: I’ll reiterate once more: Culture that exists on a sign, alone, is not culture. It’s empty marketing. However: Once you have put in the deliberate effort to transfer the words on the page into action on the pitch, going back to the page can be helpful in further shoring up that culture. So: Craft the team mantra. Make the poster. Compile the playlist. Design the shirt. Connecting our culture to such elements that we engage with everyday will serve to promote further connection and accountability to that culture.
- Promote Accountability: Speaking of accountability…at the end of the day, in order for a team to reap the benefits of a quality culture, the people existing within that culture have to commit to it. They have to get on the train. And when they are on the train – when they are acting in alignment with the agreed upon cultural standards – they should be celebrated. Similarly, when they’ve jumped the tracks, they need to be made aware (in a timely and respectful manner) that their behavior is not acceptable, and will not be tolerated in the future. To construct the most effective accountability plan, consider explicitly tackling it as a group when you’re Outlining Action.
Remember: These conversations and actions are most impactful when input is sought and heard from all involved athletes and staff. Collaboration in the creation stage is the secret sauce of great culture. Without it, the all important commitment and group accountability to the culture will be incredibly hard to come by.
That’s All to Say
Team culture has a massive impact on every level of a team’s functioning; it determines and directs a team’s focus, establishes norms for acceptable behavior, lays the groundwork for managing conflict, and directly influences athlete growth, enjoyment, and performance. In most instances, though, the time that leaders and team members intentionally put into creating, reinforcing, protecting, and celebrating quality culture is disproportionate to its importance. While the work of culture is rather simple, it does take time and continued effort. Coaches: Your team will have a culture this season, whether it is sloppily left up to chance or thoughtfully co-created. I urge you to strive for the latter. Invite your athletes to do the work of culture with you early in your season. If my mom’s absolutely thriving pumpkin patch is anything to go by, consciously tending to the land on the front end (and from there addressing it in smaller ways day in and day out) will reap everyone involved massive rewards come harvest season.
Here’s to another great Rapids soccer season. Best of luck, and I look forward to seeing everyone back on the fields soon!
– Katie
*You do not have to look far in sport to see examples of the extremely dangerous consequences of a bad organizational culture. These instances are, at this point, so well known that I will not elaborate on them. But, suffice to say: They are not worth risking.
**A handful of standards of this nature are inherent in being a team within CRYSC. Be sure to review them prior to the start of your season!
