Culture Is Contagious

The culture we create – more than talent on hand – controls the successfulness of the vision we are trying to fulfill. So create a culture that is worth catching. It’s the deciding factor in a team’s success, not talent. #DailyMight

The one thing I hear most about successful teams is that they are the most talented. And while I do think it takes minimum amounts of talent to win, I think there is a much better predicator of success long term than talent – And that’s culture. Athletes will become the products of the environment and culture they are trained in (by the way, that’s true for coaches too). For that reason, it’s important that the culture that is created for a team or organization by the coaches is worthy of being bought in to.

Culture isn’t taught, it’s caught. I’m going to assume you have an idea of what you want your culture to be and have lined out the mission, vision, and standards that coaches and players will be accountable to. Culture is defined from the top down (the coaching staff), but is carried out from the bottom up (starting with the players). It’s important then to know how your culture gets traction. There are three basic ways in which your culture will be caught: observation, listening, and asking questions.

Culture is Observed.

What you permit, you promote. Players (kids really) are masters at emulation. They will observe how those around them act, behave, and talk and they will replicate it. Observation is a very basic skill that almost everyone uses to their advantage. You can use it for your advantage too when delivering your culture message. Players are actively observing what is going on around them, so make sure they are observing what the culture should be. Be the model of your culture, celebrate the other models of the culture in the locker room and otherwise.

Culture is Heard.

If watching is the best way a culture is caught, listening is not far behind. Connection is about communicating, and listening is a huge part of communicating. Actions matter, as I said above, but hearing matters more. Do your words match the culture you are trying to be accountable to? Are you vocally correcting and celebrating accordingly to those who are buying in? Cultural things are learned through the sounds that athletes hear, through listening to coaches and teammates talk, and hearing the contents of their interactions.

Culture is Examined.

My 5 year old son asks a lot of questions. He’s curious. What he really wants to know most of the time is what is ok? Him asking questions is a very basic way of catching on to the right thing to do. Not all culture catching happens in the moment. When it is properly delivered (what I really mean is written down), there will be questions on what is to come. That’s a sign that the athlete is wanting to know more, and that they have opened the door for culture buy in. Take that opportunity, always.

I’ve purposefully left out what good culture looks like in hopes that I can try and illustrate why and how culture is caught. By doing so, maybe it helps you refine your culture message to be more successful. Each athlete is responsible for their own conduct on a team. Your team culture sets the expectations, but ultimately it’s the athlete who chooses to buy in. Nonetheless, create a culture that is worth catching. It’s the real deciding factor in a team’s success, not talent alone.

Give everything your everything. And then some.

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