“If we start operating our business teams like a sports team, will that lead to positive changes?”

Introduction:

I love sports. Whenever I list my hobbies during an ice breaker, I always list sports. Just ‘sports’ in general. I love them all!! I enjoy the excitement of competition, the joy of accomplishment one feels while playing and the feeling of my body as it continues to move and perform. My body may not be as capable as it was in my late teens/early 20s when I was a college athlete; however, it still has some zest! It can still do some impressive box jumps!! 

I love playing sports and I love watching sports. I still play sports as an adult, and I have passed along my love of athletics to my kids.  

My favorite sport is ice hockey. I was born and raised in the state of Minnesota, so it’s not too surprising that I love hockey. For those who don’t know, we are THE STATE OF HOCKEY. Hockey is in our blood!! Go Wild and Minnesota PWHL!!! 

Recently I have been doing some soul searching and analyzing the purpose of my business. During this time, I realized that my two passions, 1) sports, and 2) helping people create a better work environment, run hand in hand.  

As I was analyzing my business, I was also coaching my daughter’s 8U hockey team. During this time, I realized that the culture that I am striving to create for my daughter and her teammates shares a striking resemblance to the cultures that so many business leaders want and desire.  

How funny is that?? Sports and Business have a striking resemblance. And I love both!!! 

Thank you, Universe, for connecting two of my biggest passions!!! 

Now my business isn’t a business culture or coaching business. I am a Process Ninja; I help organizations start and finish process improvement projects. However, inevitably, we end up talking about people and culture. It is the people who make or break a process improvement project, I always say. So, it is not surprising that we get into both during every engagement. 

When I’m doing my Process Ninja thing and gathering information for the process improvement project, I end up being a sounding board to various individuals throughout the organization.  

Very early on in my engagements, people start telling me things they haven’t told anyone else. I learn very quickly what is working and what isn’t for everyone, top and bottom. I quickly absorb this information and use it to accomplish my process improvement work.  

I then also use this information to help organizations understand what actions they can take to create a better culture.  

Not the reason I was hired, but the reason I started my process improvement business was to help organizations create long lasting positive changes from the ground up. So, it’s not surprising that I not only help them create fancy new processes on the technical side, but I also help them see where ‘people’ things might not be functioning optimally.  

What I have come to learn is that all employees, regardless of industry, regardless of age, regardless of gender, regardless of race, want the same things.  

They want: 

1. Stability 

2. Connection 

3. Trust & Influence 

4. Boundaries 

5. Fairness 

6. Innovation 

Pretty much everyone who I have ever talked to agrees with this. However, I have run into very few who know how to attain it.  

Many leaders think it’s offering more perks. Give them a better lunchroom. Pay for a team meal a few times a year. Throw a company party. Allow their employees to work from home. 

These are all great and shouldn’t be taken away; however, if we’re really going to get to the crux of the issue, we need to dig deeper and see our organization in a different way. We need to see how our interactions have a ripple effect.  

Which is not easy to see. And that’s the problem I’ve felt during many of my engagements.  

I feel as if that is the reason that after the process improvement project is completed, so too, is the “culture improvement project” that came along with it. 

It frustrates me. I like to win! Even though I wasn’t hired for a “culture improvement project”, I still want to see that succeed as well! It feels like a loss. 

It hurts to see so much lost potential. 

And I wonder why............ 

Is it because it’s so dang hard to see what is happening? Because it’s so dang hard to see how it could be better. It's hard to understand what can be done differently. It’s hard to understand how the changes can be sustainable. It’s too easy to fall back into the same ol’ same ‘ol’. 

The status quo is easier to fall back into than jumping into true lasting change. 

Circling back to sports and my love of sports. This is where I had an ah-ha moment. 

Sports. Coaching Sports. Great sports teams. Team dynamics. Team Cultures. Winning teams versus losing teams. Teaching 8-year-olds hockey, a sport with no set plays! 

These all have striking resemblances to Business. Great Businesses. Business Teams. Team Dynamics. Team Culture. Great places to work versus ‘they just give me a paycheck’. Adult employees. 

And I wonder. If we start operating our business teams like a sports team, will that make it easier to lead to longer lasting change? 

I think so, and for this reason I have created a Business and Sports Blog Series.  

Throughout this series we will explore the connections between coaching a winning hockey team and coaching a winning business team.  

Stay tuned....... It’s going to be a fun ride!!!