The Unexpected Lesson USA Basketball Learnt From The Military

In this edition of Elite Team Tactics:

• One quick win: MLB coach Joe Maddon's method for building a winning culture

• One proven system: The Pygmalion Effect for high-performance

• One to watch: How the military helped USA basketball win Olympic Gold

• One for you: Jerry Seinfeld’s 30-for-30 method to build habits

• One million-dollar question: How to deliver amazing feedback without getting the ick

• Ones we recommend: Mark Zuckerberg’s 2005 video on the 2x things he looks for when hiring out of University

• One quote: Eleanor Roosevelt

Welcome to all the new subscribers this week 🫡 

Every week, we share the strategies and blueprints behind the world's most successful teams so you can become the best leader in your industry 🏆

1. CREATING A CULTURE WITH MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL MANAGER OF THE YEAR JOE MADDON

Moments of negativity are when cultures can fall apart or become even stronger.

One of the best baseball managers has an interesting method to bring his team members together after moments of negativity.

He is an avid wine connoisseur and keeps a wine rack in his Tropicana Field office, alongside a glass bowl filled with slips of paper.

Each one has the name of a very expensive wine.

When a player violates a team rule, Maddon asks them to draw a slip of paper out of the bowl, purchase that wine and share it with their manager.

He links acts of discipline to the act of reconnection.

In this interview, you can see the importance he puts on creating a relationship with the players.

If you’re managing a team that is not winning then refocus on creating chemistry within the team.

If you don’t have trust, you can’t build the foundation.

Once trust has been built, the team can be constructively critical of each other without taking it personally. This enables an exchange of thoughts and ideas of how to improve both individually and collectively; an essential component to every winning team Joe has ever managed.

2. THE PYGMALION EFFECT THAT GENERATES WORLD-CLASS PERFORMANCE FROM YOUR TEAM

Expectations of performance have historically created pressure that has crippled people when it comes to deliver under the bright lights.

So how can you create a high-performance culture without putting your team in jeopardy?

Take advantage of the Pygmalion Effect.

It is a behavioural phenomenon in which the level of expectations placed on a person, can impact their level of performance in a given area.

As a business leader or manager, understanding the impact of expectations can be a difference maker. A simple message about the high expectations you have for each member of the team can provide a free push in the right direction.

The natural human response to receiving this communication from your manager is to internalise these expectations and make changes to your behaviour such as:

• Double checking the quality of work

• Spending more focused hours on the project

• Proactively making improvements throughout each stage

But “high expectations” are not enough by themself.

“High support” is the an essential ingredient.

This is the ability and willingness to provide the love, support, and engagement to help the person meet those high expectations. It can come in many forms:

• Giving recognition for hitting key milestones

• 1on1 sessions to brainstorm solutions to their road blocks

• Removing unnecessary workload to allow them to focus on the project at hand

Expectations create reality.

But support enables peak performance.

Be the boss that delivers both.

3. HOW THE MILITARY’S “SELFLESS SERVICE” HELPED USA BASKETBALL GET BACK TO WINNING WAYS

The USA basketball team with NBA players lost for the first time ever in the Olympics.

🗣️ “We had to figure out how to become a team.” (NBA Superstar, Lebron James)

Some of the players from that losing group were not known as great team players.

So the coaching staff had a tough job on their hands ahead of the next Olympic cycle.

One of the methods they successfully implemented to get this group of superstars back to winning ways was to widen them perspective.

How?

Coach K brought in senior members from the military to share what it meant to represent their country.

Colonel Brown, Captain DJ Skelton, Sergeant Steele and Captain Smiley had all played basketball with the US coach at the military base West Point years prior.

That clip still gives us goosebumps every time it gets played.

Perspective brings humility.

Manufacture opportunities for your team to gain perspective and feel the emotions of what it means to be part of the mission you’re on as a group.

4. JERRY SEINFELD’S 30-FOR-30 HABIT BUILDER

Legendary comedy icon Jerry Seinfeld created one of history’s most successful television shows.

His secret? This habit building technique which enabled him to become an incredibly prolific writer.

He hangs a calendar on his wall every month and then uses a red marker to cross off every day that he completes his daily writing.

Consistency > quality

To become elite in any field, focus on the fundamentals:

• 30 days

• 30 min per day

Build the habit.

Give it a go.

Reply to this email with the 1x habit that you want to build for the rest of 2024 and we can become your accountability partner for the next 30 days 🤝

5. QUESTION OF THE WEEK 🤔

Giving feedback can be one of the hardest things to do as a manager.

There are numerous “leadership” models:

• STAR

• The SH*T sandwich

• R2C2

But the most effective method we’ve seen work is when you flip the conversation on its head.

Instead of giving feedback, ask these two reflective questions:

1. What do you think you should do more of next time?

2. What do you think you might do differently next time?

They work like great coaching because they:

• Spotlight the positive

• Avoid judgement

• Generate autonomy

• Inspire personal growth

No longer is this a sticky conversation.

You can now work together to unlock their full potential.

6. LINKS OF THE WEEK 🔗

HIRING:

• Fascinating to see this Mark Zuckerberg video on the 2x things he looked for when hiring back in 2005 (Link)

HIGH-PERFORMANCE:

• HBR’s guide to get your motivation back if you are feeling low (Link)

CULTURE:

• Manchester City's Kyle Walker gave a motivational team talk that went viral before the Brighton game (Link)

LEADERSHIP:

• Beware of the 3x most common styles of toxic leadership (Link)

QUOTE OF THE WEEK 🗣️

Thanks for tuning in this week! If you would like us to cover any specific topics or challenges you are facing then please reply to this email and we’ll get to work.

See you next week 👋