If you’re planning on building a successful company then we need to build a successful business team.
I was reading a fantastic book about New Zealand Rugby whilst on holiday (“Legacy” – James Kerr), all about how the All Blacks rebuilt their team culture. It made me think about the importance of an effective business team.
The whole premise of the team has become that they see themselves only as guardians of the shirt for the time that they play for the team, and their sole purpose is to “leave the shirt in a better place” for the next generation player. It’s all about legacy, as they are building the strength, depth and quality of the team for future generations. They’ve written a black book, purely for internal use, which defines the rules of being an All Black, and they constantly reinforce the culture by the telling of anecdotal stories. The team themselves are the guardians and enforcers of the culture – they defined the culture, and therefore they feel true ownership of it.
If we are building towards a vision in our businesses, then our business team members are only ever really temporarily wearing our business team colours, so wouldn’t it build an amazing legacy for your business if they thought in the same way as the All Blacks? What if your team wrote their rule book about what it meant to wear your shirt?
What would be the impact on your business’ performance if your team thought about leaving your shirt in a better place?
