The Soviet team had reigned over Olympic hockey for nearly two decades, going back to 1964. For all intents and purposes, they were unbeatable. In their last 12 face-offs with the Americans, the Soviets had outscored the USA 117 to 26. So when Coach Herb Brooks’ fresh, young, college-aged team playing for the United States met them in the rink at Lake Placid, New York, in February 1980, their loss seemed all but assured. In fact, the Soviets had just walloped the USA 10-3 a week before the Olympics in an exhibition game in New York. The U.S. team had an average age of 21, all plucked from obscurity. The United States as a whole at that moment was also floundering, in a period of time that then-President Jimmy Carter referred to as a “malaise.”
But the American team had a few secrets. First, they had trained unlike any other U.S. hockey team before them. They spent exhausting hours on the ice for months so that they had the stamina to go up against the world’s toughest competitors. And they had something else: teamwork. They entered the 1980 Winter Olympics with a passion, purpose and shared determination that Coach Brooks had tirelessly drilled into their collective psyche. Win or lose, they would engage in the competition physically and mentally prepared and with a shared system of values. Brooks believed in his team as men who were more than players.
“My recruiting key is that I looked for people first, athletes second,” Coach Brooks said, looking back on his 1980 team. “I wanted people with a sound value system as you cannot buy values. You’re only as good as your values. I learned early on that you do not put greatness into people... but somehow try to pull it out. Success is won by those who believe in winning and then prepare for that moment. Many want to win, but how many prepare? That is the big difference. A sound value system held water then, holds water today, and will hold water in the future.”
When you consider teamwork in your organization, remember this: A group of talented people working on the same project does not make a team. For a team to really work, there must be a shared purpose and a structure that is conducive to a team. An old leadership meme with respect to teams is that there is no “i” in the word “team”, which means that a team by definition does not focus on the individual. The reality is that there are a number of “i”s in teamwork. These “i”s are actually five specific actions for team leaders that can help build a group of people into a true team to achieve something very challenging. When your team has these important shared values, they may indeed accomplish miracles.
Identify roles and responsibilities. Every golf ball has a point called its “sweet spot”. Hit the ball on that spot, and it will fly on its straightest path. To find the sweet spot, you place the golf ball on a spinning platform. As it spins it turns to reach its optimum point of balance. You can then mark the top of the ball as the sweet spot.
People, too, have sweet spots. Each person has a role and responsibility where they can function at their optimum. To find this, a team leader must know his or her team. Any number of tools can help a leader build a profile for team members to identify their strengths—coach, organizer, experimenter, worker, etc. There are also the relationships the leader has with their individual team members. Over time, the leader can understand what makes teach team member tick, and place them in a role that gets their best work.
Misplaced roles and responsibilities impacts the entire team. One or more people doing the wrong thing or for the wrong reason can drag the entire enterprise away from the goal. Team leaders initially must focus not on the goal, but on the team itself. Ensuring from the outset that each team member is in a place to do their best work, and understands their specific role for this moment, is key to the team getting a good start.
Ignite passion for a shared goal. Coach Brooks said to his hockey teams, “You must have goals in your life, or otherwise be prepared to be used by those who do have them.” Effective teamwork requires a goal to work toward. But not just any goal. A team must have a shared goal that cannot possibly be accomplished by any single one of them. The team must have a “why” to push toward that makes sense to them and is also bigger than them. This kind of goal ignites the fire of the team—they will find a way to make it happen.
Passion begins with the leader. If the leader of the team isn’t passionate it is unlikely he or she can build that passion in their team. Take time to ask yourself why you are doing what you are doing. Determine whether or not you really believe in your organization and your responsibilities. Understand what is motivating you as a leader. Then share those motivations with your team. Consider, too, organizing your project in such a way as to build on the individual passions of team members. If you have a team member that really enjoys working with numbers, perhaps give them charge over team accounting or budgeting. And push your people toward the goal. Coach Brooks said, “Let me issue you a challenge: Be better than you are. Set a goal that seems unattainable, and when you reach that goal, set another one even higher.”
Passion also builds when you genuinely appreciate your team. People are naturally wired to do more when they are appreciated. Many leaders have an “appreciation blind spot”, thinking that they appreciate their team members much more than they actually do. A swift “thank you” in passing or “THX” via text is not appreciation. When you observe a team member doing something great, appreciate their effort immediately. Acknowledge efforts among the team. Be specific about your appreciation and do it often.
Individualize talents and skills. Coach Herb Brooks said of his hockey teams, “You don’t have enough talent to win on talent alone.” The truth is that talent without understanding and direction is ineffective. A team leader must assign various responsibilities to team members—their “sweet spots”. In addition, team members must also be aware of their individual strengths. The team leader must help them to see the unique qualities in the people around them. Not only is having a variety of strengths and talents necessary for a successful team, but don’t miss that teamwork itself is a paramount skill. That is, the team members must develop the strength of wanting to be a part of a team, utilizing their specific talents, and also knowing that others who possess different talents will be putting theirs to use as well. In recent years, individualism has been clouded somewhat by a call to diversity. That has come to mean a variety of viewpoints and ethnicities, when in reality the team needs individualization, or a variety of people with different skill sets who understand their place on the team.
This may sound like it’s simply understood—after all, doesn’t any team member know they are supposed to work together with others? With individualization, however, comes a tendency for team members to want to set their own agenda, or gain a perceived role regardless of their qualification. Someone who is a great technician, for instance, may see a team opportunity as a chance to instead volunteer to be a planner or presenter. Though their best skill set is working through and troubleshooting project details, instead they would rather call the shots or be on stage. Who is the person who determines what each person’s role should be, and how is that to be determined? The team leader, then, must be keenly aware of not only the individual strengths of the team members, but also how to help motivate them toward their ideal role. And too, the leader must be able to properly redirect a team member who would rather choose their own role or usurp the leader’s authority in their role.
Further, the team members must understand what it means to be a part of a team. Can you teach characteristics like flexibility, reliability, responsibility, active listening and a desire to respect, support and help others? These traits in individual team members lift the entire team and make their execution all the more valuable.
Insist on clear communication. A common fail point for teams is lack of clarity. An essential element to good teamwork is trust. We all want to feel safe and secure. We like to know what we commit to and whom we are loyal to. What is the magic link in that chain that attracts potential new hires and retains existing ones, while keeping them motivated and loyal? In other words, where does trust come from? Most readily it comes from transparency. Before and during the project, is the leader communicating openly, honestly, regularly and clearly to the team?
When communicating, think of all of the means by which you can connect with team members—open meetings, emails, one-to-ones, presentations, listening sessions. When you talk to team members, be serious and confident. Think ahead of time about what you will say so that you are concise and articulate. Further, create a communications environment where people feel free to respond and ask questions. Be known in communication not just for what you say, but for your listening.
Include team members in decisions. Finally, realize that a team wants to be included in the process of determining the best solution or best direction for the group. There’s a reason all the seats in a car face forward—people want to have a sense of where they are going.
In a survey by management consulting firm McKinsey, only 28 percent of executives touted the quality of their company’s strategic decisions, while 60 percent reported that bad decisions are about as frequent as good ones. Research shows that diversity leads to better decision-making. By bringing people into the conversation with different disciplinary and cultural backgrounds, you can enhance creativity and gain a fresh perspective on the task or problem at hand. “Map out the technical, political, and cultural underpinnings of the decision that needs to be made and then build your group accordingly,” says Harvard Business School Professor Len Schlesinger, who’s featured in the online course Management Essentials. “You’re looking for a broad array of experience. You want some newcomers who are going to provide a different point of view, as well as people who have profound knowledge and deep experience with the problem.”
Back to Herb Brooks and his 1980 US Hockey team. You know the story. Finishing the first period tied at 2–2, and the Soviets leading 3–2 following the second, the U.S. team scored two more goals to take their first lead midway in the third and final period, then held on and won 4–3. They defeated the Soviet team in a massive upset. As the game clock ticked down to zero, ABC announcer Al Michaels uttered those now famous words, “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” They won the gold by beating Finland a few days later. The win was not only life-changing for the young men on the team, it was a turning point in the national psyche. In 1999, Sports Illustrated named the “Miracle on Ice” the top sports moment of the twentieth century. As part of its centennial celebration in 2008, the International Ice Hockey Federation named the “Miracle on Ice” as the best international ice hockey story of the past 100 years. Now 40 years later, the myth that this was a ragtag bunch of hockey enthusiasts out of nowhere persists. But the reality is that they were an incredible group of very talented players. Herb hand-selected each man. Many went on to long and storied NHL careers.
And yet you likely don’t know any of them. In fact, though it’s widely regarded as the greatest sports event of the twentieth century, most people couldn’t name one player. Of the 20 players on Team USA, 13 eventually played in the NHL. Five of them played over 500 NHL games, and three of them played over 1,000 NHL games. It seems odd today when names like Kobe, Jordan, Tiger, Manning, Brady, Gretzky rise to the forefront of their chosen games.
On a different path to success than embracing today’s outstanding sports superstars, Herb Brooks said, “I don’t want the ‘best’ players… I need the ‘right’ players. You’re looking for players whose team name on the front matters more than their own name on the back. I look for these players to play hard, to play smart and to represent their country. I want speed and excitement, and I want our players to go out there and have the times of their lives. We’re not going to be hanging around waiting for something to happen. This sport is not for the biggest, strongest, or most talented; it is for the most committed, hardest working little guy who at times is the only one believing that what shouldn’t happen will happen.”
