Worst to first: What it takes to build or remake a world-class team

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Building a team is hard; building a winning team is even harder. For every organization that manages to achieve the right mix of talent, culture, and performance expectations, many more find themselves lacking in one area or another.

What does it fix such gaps? What differentiates the teams that are operating at the pinnacle in their fields from those that are lagging behind? What skills, mindsets, and behaviors do high-performing teams have that others don’t? How do these high-performing teams stay in sync? And how do they sustain their collective focus over time, even when the work is hard?

The authors set out to answer these and other questions by turning to what some business leaders might consider an unconventional source: more than 25 of the most ambitious and successful administrators, coaches, and players at athletic programs across the United States, both at the professional and Division I college levels.  Only about 23 percent of head coaches in these leagues make it beyond their fourth season—well below the average tenure for S&P 500 CEOs of just under seven years.

Despite this nerve testing environment, however, many of the sports leaders the authors spoke with seem to have found a winning formula for building and, when needed, reinventing their teams. Four themes emerge from the interviews that underscore how these leaders significantly changed the trajectory of their programs:

Set a standard for the program that clearly establishes the team’s objectives. These leaders strongly emphasize creating a culture that everyone buys into, where each teammate “walks the talk” each day, even when no one is watching.

Build a team with a diverse set of leadership skills and functional capabilities. These sports leaders are not simply looking for the best players, but the right players who will help them win.

Create a playbook for optimizing team performance. These leaders clearly and purposefully codify how the work gets done and emphasize consistency in operations—from day-to-day routines (in the weight room and on the playing field) all the way to annual planning cycles.

Establish an edge and the confidence that sets the team apart. These leaders explore every possible angle to elevate the confidence and skills of everyone in the program—from the athletes and the coaching staff to the strength and conditioning team to the nutritionists to the groundskeepers.

The comparisons across domains aren’t perfect, and context certainly matters: Some of these themes may end up being more or less resonant for a football team, a rowing team, a golf team, or a financial-planning or software development team. But there are enough strong similarities to suggest that these four principles can help leaders in Fortune 500 organizations build successful teams, turn around low performers, and ultimately create more value for their companies over the long term.

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