NB: this article was first posted in Summer 2022.
What’s the best way to coach and train teams?
I’m still in a state of wonderment at the achievements, against all odds, of the English Lionesses last weekend. They played seamlessly as a team. Their secret sauce was perfectly blended, nurtured and packaged by their genius coach, Sarina Wiegman. Brilliant!
Interesting then, that it isn’t always just so…
Like many of you, I have experienced the highs and lows of following team sport.
This year’s England versus India One Day International cricket series is a case in point. After being thrashed by 10 wickets in the first match, the English team came storming back to win the next by 100 runs. The third match was much closer. India cliched it to win the series 2:1. It seems almost as though the matches had been rigged which, of course, they weren’t.
Those English football supporters among you who dare remember back to the Summer of 2017 and the England men’s disastrous showing against Iceland might still smarting from that match! In the words of the pundits, the Icelandic team (and supporters, come to that), played a blinder! The English 11 were hopeless and; at times seemed unable to control or kick the ball.
The teams recent form, under a new manager and with a batch of young players, who seem to enjoy playing as a team, has been much better, though.
To an outsider, like me, it seems that teams are so heavily drilled, that individual players are incapable of thinking and doing for themselves. As a result, a Collective Negativity descends when; either they perform badly, or the other team put on a stellar performance.
Would it not be an idea to always select a few Swashbuckling Mavericks who can pick a performance up by the scruff of its neck and turn things around?
And one final question: “does this Collective Negativity also extend to teams in business.
Would they be ready for one or two Swashbuckling Mavericks?”
I suspect it does and they would.
Thank you for reading.
