Teambuilding Best Practices from the National Football League

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2024 NFL football season kicked off this past week. The NFL is a big business. It is more popular than ever and creates many of the most watched shows in the United States each year. And each of those games provides team building lessons, if we look for them. 

If you are a football fan, you are going love this post. But even if you aren’t a fan, read on, because the Team Building Best Practices from NFL football that I am about to share might be more revealing to you.

For the fan, there are plenty of intricacies in the game that could lead to leadership lessons, but I want to make this piece interesting and accessible even if you don’t know much about that game.

Here are five important lessons for leaders and organizations who want to improve – all available to you from watching even a little NFL football. 

1. Practice 

Football teams at all levels practice – a lot. They study their opponents, study their past performances, and practice both the details and the fundamentals. None of this is done in a haphazard or unplanned way. The best teams are the best prepared to perform when it matters most.

If an NFL team practiced the way your teams do, how successful would they be? 

 2. Positive Pressure to Perform

Simply stated, there are 24 positions on a football team. NFL rosters have 53 players (and some even more on a practice squad). This means that there are backups ready to step in, an obvious succession plan in place, and that every person playing has someone else wanting and working hard for their job. This raises the level of everyone’s performance, every day.

A friend made this observation to me in a text message. “If there’s someone sitting on the bench wanting to take your job, how would you change your work habits? (or would you maintain your position?)

3. Player Selection and Development

NFL teams take the development of their players seriously. They work harder and spend more time and money on selecting players (i.e. employees) than most any industry and provide resources and set expectations so that players can continue to grow into starting positions.

How much do you focus on and invest in selecting and developing your team members? 

4. Clear Measures of Performance 

It’s true of every sport. There are clear measures of performance and success. I believe it is one reason we collectively like watching sports – that we can see what success looks like. NFL teams and coaches have many ways to measure the performance of their players. As important is that those players know those measure themselves. These measures provide clarity, motivation and much more.

Do you have the right measure to help your people know what to focus on and perform at their best? 

5. Coaching and Feedback

There are 53 players on the active roster and up to 17 on the practice squad. Most NFL teams have 12 coaches – coaching 70 players. That is a ratio of just short of 6 players per leader. But beyond the numbers, you don’t have to watch a game for very long to see how much real-time feedback is happening (and you know the same is happening during every part of practice).

How many team members do your leaders have on their teams? And how much of their time is spent in actual coaching and feedback activities? 

What About Your Team?

I asked you a reflective question related to each of the five team building best practices shared. How do you feel about your answers? I know the work of your teams isn’t the same as that of an NFL team. But don’t miss the lessons or justify your answers because your business is different. Take the time to think about these questions I’ve asked. Share them with other leaders in your company . Then look for ways to apply those ideas in your organization.

You might not win the Super Bowl, but your team will get better. Maybe faster than you think.

To your greater success and fulfillment,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT

Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning how to develop your organization's leadership capability, culture, and employee engagement ? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees or a SMART Development consultant please 

contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, energy storage and facilities management, distribution centers, food production facilities, wealth management services, real estate services, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth.

 

Take a More Strategic Approach to Work...Every Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being strategic — that is, making a coherent set of choices to help you pursue an ambition or goal — is a nonnegotiable skill for leaders. But it can be hard to practice, and strategies are notoriously hard to design and deliver. Sometimes we blame organizational obstacles. For example, micromanagement dampens enthusiasm for trying something new. Incentives encourage us to stick to the status quo. Poor communication makes it hard to know where to focus.

But often it’s our mindsets and behaviors that are the most limiting. At the extreme, burnout inhibits our ability to make decisions. Anxiety limits our field of vision. Overwhelm makes it harder to figure out where to start. Lack of confidence encourages us to focus on the near term. As a result, we switch on autopilot as we default to habits that help us focus on the familiar. But this is often not what the strategy requires or what we want for ourselves. It’s no wonder we get frustrated by the lack of progress toward our goals.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Even when it feels like the odds are stacked against you (especially in the most bureaucratic organizations), you have more choices than you may realize. Small decisions about where to focus and what to do throughout your day may feel inconsequential, but their impacts accumulate. Master those small decisions and before you know it, you’ll overcome the obstacles as you pursue your strategy with greater clarity, determination, and ultimately success.

Here are five ways to incorporate strategy into your daily practices.

1.       Identify the actions that matter

Every day there are opportunities to focus more attention on events, situations, or activities that make a disproportionately positive contribution to a strategy.

To do this, first first write down your team’s strategy, including how it contributes to the organization’s strategy. Second, select a window of time to focus on, such as the week ahead. Third, write down the best actions you could take (or encourage others to take) in critical moments to increase the chances of your strategy succeeding. As you put your ideal schedule together, set aside time to focus on these impactful actions:

• Making critical decisions, such as where to focus, how to win, where to deploy resources, and how to incentivize people.
•  Identifying and interpreting signals from customers and employees, then figuring out how to respond.
• Convincing colleagues to think and act in new ways — for example, anticipating the needs of future customers.
• Tackling difficult behaviors that impede progress, such as complacency or overconfidence, and rewarding exemplary behaviors.

Next, add in time for being visible with employees and stakeholders as well as for the management tasks you can’t get out of, such as making approvals and attending meetings. Include a buffer for emergencies, and whenever possible, learn to tactfully say no (Or not yet) to anything that could be an unhelpful distraction.

Finally, prioritize important work, not just urgent work.

Use the powerful Eisenhower Matrix popularized by Stephen Covey to map your team’s workload and define a course of action. This framework will help you neutralize an “always-urgent” culture, eliminate time-wasters, and make more space for deep/ strategic work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once you’ve captured all of your work in the respective quadrants, use this as your guide:

·        High Urgency & High Importance: These are your highest priorities. They demand that you act quickly.

·        Low Urgency & High Importance: These tasks have a much greater impact on helping you achieve your long-term goals. This is the sweet spot – you’re proactive, decreasing the number of pressing problems and making time for meaningful work.

·        High Urgency & Low Importance: These are everyday distractions – daily fires that suck your team’s focus, energy, and time. Delegate to others or deprioritize – especially when someone else has imposed the urgency.

·          Low Urgency & Not Important: These tasks shouldn’t be on your team’s to-do list right now. Get rid of them!

     This activity is a wake-up call for managers. It provides a clear picture of the actual workload, promoting a conversation about what’s rewarded: Being busy and running from one fire to another, or doing impactful work that matters?

Focusing on what’s important minimizes emergencies, allowing them to be treated with the proper importance before they become a fire.

Pro Tip: If most of your projects fall in quadrant 1 (e.g., High Urgency/ High Importance), try using the Action Priority Matrix. Click here to learn about it.

2.     Focus on the most important problem

Focus on the biggest problem that needs to be addressed, then consider how overcoming the problem will make a positive contribution to the strategic outcomes you want to enable.

To do this, ask these types of questions:

• ·        What’s the real challenge here for me/us now?
  
• What is the biggest opportunity we have to address? (Notice how this question frames problems as opportunities.)
• Why does it matter? In other words, how does addressing this help us achieve our strategy?
• What do we need to do to address this opportunity?

3.     Explore the choices you face

In any moment — a task, conversation, email exchange, or meeting — there are more choices about what you can do and how you can show up than you might realize, all of which can contribute positively to the strategy. These choices relate to your:

• Role: What does the moment and problem most need from you, such as an idea, challenge, insight, or experience, in addition to any formal role you play? For example, while you lead on the growth agenda because of your chief marketing and sales officer role, you might also want to wear a risk “hat” as you consider a new business opportunity.
• Distinctiveness: What can you bring to the moment that others can’t?
• Impact: What do you want people to feel, think, and do because of your intervention? What impression do you want to leave through what you wear, how you hold yourself, and what you say?
• Learning: What do you want to learn more about, whether in relation to the topic, situation, or the people involved? What should you be looking out for in the interaction?

4.     Master the capabilities required

In each of these moments, consider what you need to master to make the best possible contribution. It could be a new way of thinking or a skill you need to demonstrate, such as presenting, decision-making, or negotiating. Apply a good attitude and plenty of grit and focus on the specific improvements you can make. This could involve:

• Learning lessons from previous efforts.
• Asking people who know you well for advice on what you should do better.
• Observing people (or even better, working with people) who operate at a higher level of proficiency.

5.     Assemble the resources you need

It’s hard, if not impossible, to make smart choices about where to focus and what to do day in and day out if you’re depleted. But many people are, as they run from meeting to meeting, chase deadlines, and pursue a never-ending list of goals.

Use two types of resources wisely. First, develop the foundational resources you need to perform at your best, which include healthy nutrition, good exercise, enough sleep, personal interests, and strong relationships with your spouse, family, and friends. Second, develop these additional resources to help you make wise choices in the moment:

• Mental: Use visualization, memories of past successes, and your sense of purpose to encourage positive thinking.
• Relational: Surround yourself with people who amplify and complement your contribution.
• Environmental: Create the best possible place to get your work done, whether in an office or at home or elsewhere.

While we often focus on organizational obstacles, our personal limitations and practices also prevent us from translating intent into strategic actions. The good news is that there are plenty of opportunities to make systematic choices throughout the day that increase your chances of making your strategy a success.

To your greater success and fulfillment,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT

Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning how to develop your organization's leadership capability, culture, and employee engagement ? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees or a SMART Development consultant please 

contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, energy storage and facilities management, distribution centers, food production facilities, wealth management services, real estate services, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

 

 

Want to Be a Better Leader? Ask Better Questions

 

 

You don't have to be a professional coach like me to ask compelling questions to connect, clarify, focus, discover, activate, facilitate insight, and build commitment.

Conversations are the lifeblood of a healthy organization. They fuel ideas, collaboration, and innovation. When these vital exchanges dry up, your team's heartbeat flattens.

Avoiding discomfort is a silent killer. When leaders avoid tough questions, teams become complacent, leading to groupthink and superficial analysis.

Powerful questions are the antidote to stagnation. They help teams address root causes instead of just symptoms.

Leaders should master the art of asking compelling questions, not just any questions. The good news? You don't need to be an expert coach to ask powerful questions.

What Makes a Powerful Question Powerful?

"I went for the jugular question." 

                    – Arno Penzias, Nobel Laureate

Powerful questions are open-ended questions that encourage different perspectives. Examples include: "What is possible?" or "If we are saying 'yes' to this, what will we say 'no' to?" These questions provoke thought and are open-ended, allowing team members to shape them as needed.

Powerful questions significantly and positively impact everyone's thinking. They position team members, not just leaders, as the experts.

Leaders should avoid "gotcha" questions to test their teams. Powerful questions invite reflection – there are no perfect answers.

Why are powerful questions important for your team?

• They move conversations beyond yes or no answers

• They are short and simple
• They support personal discovery
• They promote creativity and curiosity
• They unlock individual and collective potential

Experiment with a few and see what happens. Use these powerful questions as a system rather than in isolation.

For example, start with a personal question like, "What elements of your job do you find the most fulfilling?" Then ask everyone to collectively reflect on, "What does great work mean for our team?" or "How can we encourage people to disagree or think differently?"

1. Powerful Questions to Drive Alignment

What's preventing us from fully aligning on our purpose?

We often think of alignment as convincing team members to get on the same page – to get all ducks in a row. But alignment is more than just compliance. Instead of persuading people to align on the 'what,' wise leaders emphasize the 'why.'

Purpose alignment is more impactful than people alignment, as I explain here. Use this question to address what's getting in the way of achieving your purpose rather than focusing on who's not aligned.

What are we not aligned on?

Ask your team if they're aligned with your strategy and vision, and I guarantee everyone will say yes. It's a natural response. First, people want to please their bosses. Most importantly, alignment is a generic term – people often share an overall assessment.

However, focusing on what they're not aligned on is more specific. It forces team members to address the gap – that's where real conversations about alignment should focus.

 How can you support every decision and fully commit, even when you disagree with it?

Arriving at a good decision isn't the hardest part – getting buy-in is. It's impossible to get all team members to agree all the time. Instead of seeking consensus, look for commitment. There's a time for debate and a time to go all in and support what's best for the team, even if you disagree.

What are the top three things we should be focusing on right now?

If you think this isn't a powerful question, think again. Most senior managers can't name their company's top priorities.

A survey of 11,000 senior managers from more than 400 companies found that only one-third of senior managers remembered their company's top three goals. Moreover, only about 50% agreed on the top priority. Even worse, half of the senior managers who actually defined the company objectives couldn't recall them.

Where do our department's goals conflict most with the company's broader objectives?

Conflicting priorities pull people in different directions, especially when organizations reward individual goals over collective ones. Identifying misalignments is just the first step. Leaders must tackle the norms and systems behind conflicting priorities.

2. Questions to Increase a Sense of Belonging

What makes you feel most connected to this team?

The strength of a team lies in the strength of team members’ relationships. Exploring what binds us opens the conversation to what we can do to make them stronger, too.

What does great work mean for our team?

Doing fulfilling work is the new engagement. 76% of executives who completed our culture survey believe that doing amazing work sets the best cultures apart. This question will help you pin down what drives your team – what awesome work means for everyone.

What's getting you frustrated?

Frustration is often a signal that something important is being overlooked or ignored. It could also indicate a gap between reality and expectations. This question makes it okay to feel frustrated. It also sparks a conversation about recalibrating expectations or being more realistic.

What's a deal breaker in our team?

Every team has a code – a set of norms that defines what is or isn’t okay. These written or unwritten norms set clear expectations but also draw a line. They help create a consistent environment while clarifying what's not acceptable.

How can we encourage people to disagree or think differently?

Visionary leaders tap into collective wisdom. They not only encourage but also expect people to speak up and share their unique views. Creativity results from divergent ideas, requiring team members to have high intellectual humility scores. They must be open to different perspectives and willing to change their minds when receiving new evidence.

3. Powerful Questions to Address Conflict

What's the cost of avoiding conflict, and are we willing to pay the price?

Conflict doesn't vanish as an act of magic. On the contrary, the more you avoid it, the more conflict debt accumulates. 

Just like financial debt piles up, unresolved issues compound over time, leading to more costly problems. Encourage your team to address this before the emotional and financial cost goes through the roof.

What perspective are we missing that will help us solve this conflict?

Sometimes, the key to resolving a conflict is hidden in the blind spots. Finding that hidden angle can be the breakthrough needed to shift the entire conversation. For instance, the Drama Triangle can help your team see problems from the perspective of a victim, hero, or villain – or as a challenger, facilitator, or creator.

How can we find common ground without compromising?

Solving conflict doesn't mean colleagues have to agree on everything. It's about finding common ground – a common problem they face. Teams should focus on the best outcome rather than getting bogged down in the details.

Finding common ground doesn't mean compromise or settling for the lowest common denominator. It's not about winning an argument, either. The goal is to open people's minds and recognize that multiple opinions can coexist, shifting the discussion from an "either-or" to a "yes, and" mindset.

What's emerging underneath the different opinions?

Opposing opinions often mask a deeper, shared concern. This question helps uncover the common thread, guiding the team toward a unified understanding and a more effective solution.

What is this issue telling us about our team?

Most teams I’ve worked with suffer from recurring issues. The discussion might look different, but the underlying cause tends to repeat itself. Asking this question can help you understand the real issue and why the team can't resolve it.

4. Questions that Promote Ownership

What elements of your work do you find the most fulfilling, and why?

The secret of a successful organizational culture lies not in just meeting goals but in allowing employees to do meaningful work. Research consistently shows that ownership skyrockets when employees love what they do.

How much freedom do you feel you have to make decisions in your current role?

Organizations often want people to take more responsibility without giving them the power to make decisions. Wise leaders let those closest to the work call the shots. They know those on the ground have the drive and knowledge to solve things faster.

What's holding us back from owning our mistakes?

Blame is a natural human reflex. When things go wrong, colleagues feel the impulse to defend themselves and default to blame or scapegoating. This question is a vital first step to building a blameless culture.

How does our culture support or discourage going above and beyond?

Showing appreciation to team members who have initiative builds a sense of ownership. Give a shoutout and reward those who step up – and pick up the trash. This question also addresses how organizations, on purpose or not, allow those who slack off to get away with it.

What does true ownership look like in our team, and how can we embody it?

Accountability, like innovation or agility, has become a cliché – it fails to motivate people because it lacks meaning. This question invites people to figure out what ownership means to the team. Nothing drives ownership more than when people define, by themselves, what ownership is all about.

5. Use These Questions to Overcome Obstacles

What assumptions or beliefs might be making this problem seem bigger than it actually is?

Reality is perception, and perception is reality. Sometimes, the biggest obstacles lie within our imagination. Ask this question and see what happens.

What would you love doing if you knew you wouldn't fail?

Fear is both a powerful emotion and a significant barrier if you don't address it. By (temporarily) removing the fear of failure, you can help your team reconnect with their dreams and potential.

What would you do if you had infinite resources?

Not having enough resources – such as budget, time, or employees – is a common excuse for not doing one's job. This question removes the limitation – and the excuses. It helps people realize they need fewer resources than initially thought, reducing the gap between ideal and reality.

How can we succeed despite [a constraint your team has]?

Limitations can stop us from winning – but only if we let them. Use this question to invite creativity, just like Audi did. Instead of trying to build a faster engine, engineers asked, "How can we win without having the fastest car?" The rest is history.

What's the biggest obstacle standing in our way, and why does it persist?

The issue isn’t with the obstacle but rather how we respond to it. Reflect on why your team has allowed it to become an excuse – an easy way out from addressing a challenge.

6. Questions to Improve Decision Making

What is everyone seeing that I'm missing?

Most leaders are too detached or too far from the frontlines to understand what's happening. The Iceberg of Ignorance shows that while staff see 100% of problems, team managers see only 9%. Even worse, senior executives see just 4% of the issues affecting their organization. I don't need to explain what makes this a powerful question.

What question(s) are we not asking?

Decisions love a good challenge, so take a look at them from different angles. Instead of judging a decision, try seeing it from another perspective by asking the question nobody else thinks to ask.

What perspectives do we need to consider before making this decision?

This is not about pleasing everyone but understanding critical views before making a call. Subject matter experts, outsiders, people affected by the decision, or devil's advocates (to name a few) can better inform and improve decisions.

How can we speed up decision-making?

Speed is a competitive advantage. Explore ways to act faster – from replacing consensus with consent to decentralizing decision-making.

How can we avoid groupthink and make the right decision instead of just the popular one?

Being too nice can hold your team back. The role of a leader is not to win a popularity contest but to drive teams to do what's best for the organization. This question reminds people of exactly that.

7. Powerful Questions to Unlock Potential

What self-limiting mindsets are holding us back?

Whatever we believe can block our potential. Our mindsets filter our reality: We see what we believe. It's vital that the team can identify – and overcome – ingrained, limiting mindsets before it's too late.

How can we sink our own ship?

I've used this question for years to help teams identify their weak spots, where disruption can come from. Recently, I started using it to spot harmful habits that could damage the team. When I then ask team members to link real behaviors with those that could sink the ship, the answers are eye-opening.

Where do you fear we'll end up if nothing changes?

Teams complain about what's wrong but then do nothing to improve their situation. They get fixed on the worst things that can happen. Inaction is more harmful than imperfect action. This powerful question will help your team overcome procrastination.

Are we solving the right problem?

Often, organizations get stuck solving the wrong problem, fixing symptoms or the most obvious problem instead of the right one. For instance, if you think an elevator is too slow, your team will try to make it faster. However, reframing the problem will help you uncover more relevant solutions,  If you instead address that "the wait is too annoying," then new solutions will make the wait feel shorter.

What am I doing to build other leaders?

The role of leaders is not to fix all the problems but to grow new leaders. This seems obvious, but reality shows otherwise. Most leaders are addicted to being the hero, constantly fighting fires.

That's why I saved this question for last. Of all the powerful questions leaders can ask, the most important one to ask themselves is: Are you helping others become leaders or just trying to be the hero?

Check out a related post: Leaders Who Ask More Leverage the Power of the Brain to Ignite Employee Ownership  (5 min read)

To your greater success and well-being,

 

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT

Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning how to develop your organization's leadership capability, culture, and employee engagement ? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. 

To request an interview with Peter Mclees please 

contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, energy storage, facility services & maintenance, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, wealth management services, real estate services, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.