I love both. The similarity between the two is uncanny
Let’s talk about culture. The ideal culture company is a high performing sports team. You have a culture of people wanting to team up and win, by any means necessary. The culture is inclusive, it often transcends race and culture. Can you do the job, are you willing to work hard. Yes, all aboard this bus. No, the next ones coming, that may be better suited for you. In this sports team, you create strong bonds with your team because of the hours you are putting to win the championship or in the case of business be number 1 in your industry. There’s the commitment to success that needs to be an integral part of the culture which the veteran team members ensure the rookies enforce. Teams are only as good as their weakest link so the relationship between vet and rookie is key. Even more so if the vet on your team is a Kobe, Shaq or Brady — with these become egos and so it’s important to manage these
The coach coaching staff aka the senior leadership team are equally as important as the players for there would be no 2004 invincible without Wenger, no treble in 1999 with no Sir Alex, no Patriots dynasty without Bill, no lakers dynasty without Phil Knight and no Alabama without Nick Saban. The nuance to coaching is deep, it deserves a series of articles — maybe in the future. The important thing is that coaches understand the game to a wider degree than the players, they see the whole chessboard. In the VC funded model when targets aren’t hit for 3 or more quarters it’s often time to change SLT personnel. Heavy is the head that wears the crown
There’s the competitive nature of sports and business that correlates. Both are battles and wars, they will be casualties sometimes over the most incremental increase, x amount of market share. My approach to competition was I wanted to win and take all of what my opponent had, their fans, their will to compete and their belief, belief that if we were to face again my victory would be
Since the initial topic, I touched upon was cultural. I’ll share a short story about how a leader and his cultural can positively / negatively affect a team and their results.
Scott vs Amundsen and the race to the South Pole
Amundsen reached it on 15 December 1911. Scott and his four men arrived at the Pole 33 days later, on 17 January 1912 but they all sadly perished. I won’t spoil the story for you as I am currently reading it after hearing of it on a book by Jim Collins. What I will say is this, Amundsen was described as an innovative individualist with a competitive focus and drive was unparalleled. The result of thing lead to unconventional training and planning for the expedition which ultimately led to his success
Talk to you soon ✌🏿
Bedroom 2 Boardroom 🚀 