Excellence in teamwork is achieved when your athletes see the need to be the best person for the team rather than be the best person on the team. Usually, in the selection process, athletes compete against each other to stand the chance of being selected. Nevertheless, once on the team, they are required to put the team first. This is quite a shift in thinking; and athletes must change their paradigm, else, what is created is a non-united front. As a matter of fact, you may just have a group of individuals rather than a unified team of goal like-minded individuals.
In this kind of team, there would be failures experienced in trying to produce their best when it matters most. Although, Coaches may or may not be privileged to select their team; nonetheless, it is expedient that Coaches understand the interplay of the different behavioral styles of different athletes on their team. It is this interplay that I choose to tag: “Team Spirit.”
How you can understand your Sports’ Team Spirit
To fully and accurately understand their team’s chemistry, coaches can turn to the Athlete DISC profiling System (DISC is a theory that probes into the reasons and conditions which affect the behavioral conduct of individuals). Once an individual athlete within a team has been profiled, one can then generate a Team Dynamics Report which shows how well the individuals combine as a team, the pattern of different styles of athletes, and key coaching strategies for the dynamic of the team. This tool is invaluable for you to understand your team’s dynamics.
Most teams lack morale because of clashes that may occur between team members which are really just the differences in behavioral patterns. Many people have their ways of doing things; and they believe it is the best way to do things. As a result, they tend to feel disappointed that someone does something contrary to the way they would have done it; and judge that other person as wrong.
Coaches can do a lot to prevent and control clashes among team members. Therefore, it is better to start a season with a good understanding of the behavioral pattern so that there can be a foresight of clashes that may likely occur during the season. Where this is practiced, everyone tends to start the season on the same page and is also well informed that other behavioral styles exist in the team which potentially can cause conflict.
Creating Great Team Spirit
Many a Coach assumes that any group can automatically become a team. This is not always the case. One of the biggest reasons team members misbehave towards one another is because of the personality differences which are ignored.
Being dexterous and having a definite understanding of your athletes, their behavioral conducts, and the likely outcomes of these behavioral conducts in their interaction will help to give your team the greatest chance at success. With this in view, Coaches can begin to spot likely team behaviors and learn an effective way to coach the overall team. Coaches can also see where separations are in the team’s diversity and can, where necessary, recruit athletes of particular profiles to fill those gaps.
When Coaches create a sport team and employ their knowledge of the Athlete DISC styles, they can greatly and gradually improve the team’s chances for success. Coaches take into account, the natural allies and antagonists in the styles; and also, how each style functions at each stage of team development. As I have earlier mentioned, the DISC model provides a useful way to understand the different styles of athletes and how they contribute to the team. Where D, I, S and C represent: Dominant, Influence, Steady team members, and Conscientious respectively.
It is observed that: Influence styles, I’s, often see Conscientious Styles, C’s, as overly-analytical and rule governed. Dominant styles, D’s, are quite impatient and may soon have problems with their counterparts – steady team members, S’s, who are rather slow paced. Conscientious styles, though, usually attracted to Steady styles, have difficulty in understanding the Influence style’s lack of focus as well as the Dominant style’s impatience. Also, Steady styles only wish everyone was as amiable and tolerant as they are. So while the potential for conflict is always there, it can be managed. In creating a team, think about the athletes you are adding and monitor how they function during the group’s evolution. That way you’ll not only make the best possible use of the strengths of each team member, you can help create a whole that’s much larger than the sum of the parts.
Example Sports Team Spirit
Discovering what behavioral styles you have on your team is easy. When each member of your team completes an athlete DISC Profile, a report can then be generated from the data. Through this report, a representation of the team is seen in how each person behaves on a model showing the DISC styles.
From the analysis as above, a Coach can see two groups of varying percentage measures in each Behavioral Style – a group which is a measure of the percentages of team members that theoretically form a healthy amount of a certain behavioral style (Norm Group); and the other group which is the actual percentage of the behavioral styles that exists in your team (Your Group).
The first aspect to consider in this analysis is the “Norm group” versus “Your Group” percentage. Ideally, these percentages should map relatively similar to the theoretical percentages. They will not be identical; however, successful teams tend to have healthy diversity within the behavioral profiles. If one behavioral style is heavily oversupplied, then you may have difficulty in assigning roles to your athletes, as they will all want to do the same thing.
Dominant Style Example
The first team challenge to notice is the lack of D’s. In teams, D’s usually provide a sense of urgency, a pace-setting style of leadership, a love for challenge, a strong focus channeled towards obtaining results and a “must-win” style of play. What do you think may be the outcome if your team lacks these qualities? If you have very few D’s, you need to be aware that your team may lack that terror instinct, that “win win” desire. Think about those team members who have flair to naturally want to assume a leadership role; can you already guess the profile they most likely are?
In the same manner, if you were to have too many D’s in your team, it may be like a situation where there are all captains in a team and no normal player. Can you relate with that? A team with too many or too few D’s can still be successful; but, the team and the Coach have to learn how to handle the issues that may arise from having this dynamism in their team.
Influence Style Example
If in another case, it is observed that there are lots of I’s. Then, it is pertinent to note that Influence style behaviors are fast paced, people oriented, motivated by change and fun, impulsive with their choices, interested in the social perspective of sport and the need for individual recognition. Furthermore, I’s are more of the talkative type than any other style.
With roughly two times as many I’s as the theory suggests is required, a team will likely struggle at times to switch on and be focused. However, there may be a lot of off-topic communication; and peradventure their Coach does not provide excitement and fun elements during the training period, then the Influence style athletes will start to lose heart. But if on the other hand, the team lacks I’s, then, the team would be missing the athletes who provide the natural enthusiasm, energy and atmosphere for optimum performance.
Steadiness Style Example
The other factor in any team is the Steady style, S. Steady styles are described as the best team players; because they don’t play selfishly. They are keen to listen, observe the others attentively, portray a high level of tolerance, are highly amiable and will naturally put the team before themselves. Best description for them is “Selfless” players. In fact, some others describe them as the glue that binds the team together. Can you already perceive what may happen in a team given that there are not enough of the S’s? If S’s are underrepresented you will be missing the supportive athletes who really provide support for everyone else on the team to do a great job. Examples of such people are Lionel Messi and Iniesta – team members of Barcelona FC.
Conscientious Style Example
Finally, the Conscientious styles (C’s) are rule guided, motivated by structure, order and systems. They are stubborn and inflexible to change unless there are adequate reasons – facts and figures to support the change. They also tend to be more conscious of quality than all others. In addition, they are interested in the appropriate process before the result and are more thinkers than feelers who will be reticent to express themselves. Though, it is fantastic to have them on a team, they actually prefer to work alone. So, knowing this would help the coach structure his team strategically – whether they should be of low percentage or a high percentage.
A lack of C’s would result in much struggle in a team because of their penchant for order. They are very detailed in their game play. A shortage of them in a team would also be bad for the team because other styles would soon get carried away by their own tendencies and forget the actual plan.
