9 Keys to Success in Business, Sport, and Beyond By Dr. Saul L. Miller --------- Why do some teams manage to accomplish far more together than they could individually, while other teams don't? In a world that increasingly emphasizes winning, many of the characteristics that contribute to team success in sport are also applicable in business - and in life. In this execuBook, author Saul Miller identifies nine keys that characterize winning teams and successful organizations. He describes why each of these keys is important, and how winning teams use them to achieve success. He also lists the four stages of team development and the different leadership styles that are required to be maximally effective for each one. This summary explains how teams work well together. It will be of interest to anyone who wants to lead a team to success.

1. Why Teams Win
9 Keys to Success in Business, Sport, and Beyond
By Dr. Saul L. Miller
Business Plus, 2009
ISBN 9780470160435
Introduction
When a group of people dedicate themselves towards a common goal, incredible things are
possible. A team requires a dynamic, shared commitment that embodies the principle that the
whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Winning involves a co-operative synergistic process,
where team members learn they can accomplish more by working together rather than
individually.
In a world that increasingly emphasizes winning, many of the characteristics that contribute to
team success in sport are also applicable in business - and in life. There are nine keys that
characterize winning teams and successful organizations:
 A meaningful goal
 Talent
 Leadership
 Strategy
 Commitment
 Feedback
 Confidence
 Chemistry
 Identity
A Meaningful Goal
People who have a meaningful goal are willing to work harder, persist longer and endure more.
Whether driven by an internal force or sparked by the team's leadership, people motivated by a
meaningful goal will invest more of themselves in achieving it.
Ken Dryden - goalie of the most successful team in professional sport in the 1970s, hockey's
Montreal Canadiens - recalled that the team's leadership made winning the championship the top
priority from the first days of training camp, unlike other teams, which didn't focus on winning
until much later in the season. Having a dream and a clear sense of purpose can help individuals
and teams weather the inevitable challenges, obstacles and disappointments while remaining
positive and productive.
In business it's often more difficult to define one's contribution to the company's overall success.
To help people feel relevant and involved, it's imperative that management create separate and
relevant mission statements for smaller function-based teams that integrate into the larger
corporate goal.
Talent

2. Talent is vital to a winning team, which often possesses a combination of maturity (bringing
experience and know-how) and youth (bringing enthusiasm and energy). Along with practical
skills, winning talent also incorporates psychological qualities such as functional intelligence, a
positive mindset and willingness to work together.
A perfect team involves players assuming different roles, including monitor-evaluator,
implementer, co-ordinator and specialist. All these aspects must be developed and shaped into a
focused, integrated unit to become a high-performance team.
Although talent is a significant factor in team success, it can't ensure success on its own.
Examples abound of teams with superior talent that were unsuccessful because of ego, lack of
cohesion or lack of leadership. Conversely, we've all seen groups of individuals without
extraordinary talent who have achieved success as a team through their intense work ethic, by
following a game plan that everyone understands and supports, and the philosophy of a "we not
me" mentality. Talent may win games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.
Leadership
An effective leader knows the heart and mind of the team and can direct the team's talent to
make their vision a reality. Effective leaders have focus and an ability to prioritize. They
communicate clearly, pay close attention to detail, and motivate by demanding and modeling a
commitment to excellence.
Leaders in business and sport must be tough-minded visionaries. But leadership on winning
teams must come from within as well as from the top down. Successful teams have a core of
leaders among team members who model winning behavior and ensure that others follow.
Personality plays a significant role in leader-team communication, and the interaction of
personality styles can affect how messages are transmitted, translated and played out by both
leaders and team members. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator can help identify different
personality types and lead to a greater understanding and respect for individual differences,
ultimately improving team performance.
Strategy
Focus is key to superior performance, and a well-laid-out plan is a blueprint for focus. The plan
should define what has to be done, how and when it will be done and who will do it. Even
Pellerud, a World Cup-winning soccer coach, suggests two key steps: a clearly established
"philosophy" on how to play the game, and clear individual roles within it that players
understand, accept and respect. It works the same in the business world.
A clear plan of action must be continually assessed, refined and adjusted as new challenges
arise. Leaders should avoid using phrases like "work harder" or "raise the bar" when under
pressure, but should instead be specific about what they want from each player. The pressure
engendered by simply demanding "more" will often only produce stress and anxiety.
Commitment
While many people set goals, few are willing to do what it takes to actually achieve them.
Commitment involves the willingness to pay whatever price is necessary and surrendering
individual egos for the sake of the whole.

3. Commitment is typically ranked as the most important key to successful teams by both business
leaders and sports managers. Even teams with average skills have attained greatness because
they've been willing to make the necessary sacrifices to achieve their goals. Persistence and
determination are omnipotent.
Any leader must get team members to "buy in," and as business and sports teams have become
more diverse, this has become increasingly challenging. The coach must communicate a vision
and gain the players' trust and commitment to execute the plan. Often this means shaping team
commitment by rewarding gradual approximations of the desired end behavior and working
hard to avoid egocentric behaviors by key players.
Feedback
Effective feedback involves two elements: that players have an objective, accurate way to
measure their own performance, and that they benefit from regular acknowledgement and
criticism of their performance. The ability to assess and adjust performance is critical to
continuous improvement.
How players are measured depends on the task, but clear performance indicators should be
understood and agreed upon in advance. Only factors that truly represent team success should be
measured, whether it's profitability, earnings/expenses, points scored or wins/losses.
Winning teams must establish a standard of excellence, for which good performance is
acknowledged and reinforced, and substandard performance receives feedback that's clear and
focused on the behavior rather than the individual.
Most people are very responsive to honest, relevant feedback. When the feedback is excessively
negative and critical, performance can suffer as confidence is undermined. Team members
should be actively involved in their assessment in order to gain a deeper understanding of their
specific role in the game plan.
Confidence
Success builds confidence. Winning builds a winning expectation. But if you're not experiencing
success or haven't previously been successful at a certain level, then preparation is vital.
Confidence-building preparation involves knowing the specifics of what has to be done in your
job to succeed, and improving the required physical and technical skills through practice. The
road to excellent execution is paved with repetition, which breeds preparedness, consistency and
strength.
People tend to perform under pressure as they've performed under pressure in the past. Having
the right mental skills and emotional control to deal with the intense pressure of competition is
paramount. People who embrace challenge and competition with confidence are energized,
creating a context for excellence.
Chemistry
In the mix of personalities and talent within an organization, good chemistry is the positive
energy and support that flows between team members. Chemistry is a feeling that evolves from
the shared commitment people have when performing and competing alongside each other in

4. meaningful pursuits. Winning chemistry is about selflessness, sacrifice and support.
The respect among players at all levels on a team and the belief that each player has something
to contribute are vital to build a winning team. Strong leadership can help nurture good
chemistry, encourage bonding and a surrendering of ego among team members.
Increasingly, corporate teams are operating in a virtual reality, spread across the globe and
making it harder to stay in touch in basic ways. Without eye contact and real proximity, it's still
possible to build trust and chemistry - it just takes more time, patience and conscious effort.
Identity
Identity is self-image. It's who you think you are and is critical to how you perform individually
or in a team. Winning teams, like successful individuals, have a winning identity that drives
them to excel. When a team performs poorly, they should think: "That's not who we are. We
are ? " (fill in the blank with a positive thought or image).
Everyone experiences doubt and negative thoughts. What differentiates successful people in all
fields is that they don't focus on the negatives, but instead on the positive - what they're trying to
create. Winning teams are composed of individuals who consistently contribute to an identity
that's positive, powerful and enabling.
Creating a power statement, a list of positive affirmations that describe them performing
confidently and effectively, can help individuals or teams strengthen their self-image. Positive-
mindedness is fundamental to success. The mind leads and the body follows. Positive thoughts
of belief, confidence and desire release neurochemicals in the brain that stimulate the body to
respond with greater energy and power. Negative thoughts have the opposite effect.
Different Teams, Different Demands
Different sports and businesses require different kinds of coaching. Football, like manufacturing,
is a game of the plan - where authority flows vertically and top-down. A small group of
individuals (coaches or executives) create a game plan that's passed down to the team, who
practice its execution until, on game day, they're challenged to perform according to the plan.
Operating the plan efficiently produces a win.
Hockey, basketball and soccer - like marketing - are horizontal, flow games where working
together and using each other effectively is key to success. The synergy of team players creates
scoring opportunities or produces new business ideas that make things happen.
Baseball and sales are "I" games, or individual team sports. The key to winning here is selecting
the right players, sharpening their skills, building their confidence and placing them in situations
where they can perform and excel.
Just as the different kinds of business and sport challenges demand different coaching emphases
for success, individuals and teams at different stages of development require different leadership
styles to be maximally effective.
 In the forming stage, where team members come together, there's a high dependence on

5. the leader to define team purpose, objectives and processes while individual roles are
still unclear.
 During the storming stage, there may be power struggles as team-mates vie for position.
Although there's some clarity of purpose, the team needs to stay focused on its goals to
avoid becoming distracted by relationship and emotional issues.
 The norming stage sees growing consensus among the group as roles and responsibilities
are understood and accepted, and major decisions are made with group agreement. The
leader takes a facilitating role and shares some leadership with the group as commitment
and unity grow.
 In the final performing stage, the team has considerable autonomy and focuses on
achieving goals. Team members make decisions using criteria agreed upon with the
leader, who simply delegates and oversees.
Team-Building Exercises
A number of exercises that help develop awareness and relate directly to the work a team does
can be helpful to build the nine keys of team success. These include:
 Reflection-action
 What we appreciate/need more of
 Logo "identity"
 Overcoming inertia
 Leadership for all
 Team identity
 Personal identity and personal power
 The power of the circle
Conclusion
The nine keys aren't independent entities, but rather interactive, interwoven threads that
comprise the fabric of a winning team. The overwhelming majority of us live, work and perform
in teams. It's important that we learn to use our team experiences as a way to evolve into better
players and leaders as well as healthier, happier individuals.
- End -
About the author: Dr. Saul L. Miller is a performance specialist consulting in sport, business,
health care and the arts.
Related Reading
Any of these books can be ordered directly from Amazon (A), Barnes & Noble (B) or Chapters
(C) or may be summarized in our execuBook library (E).
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, by Daniel H. Pink, Riverhead, 2009,

6. ISBN 9781594488849. A B C E
The Right Fight: How Great Leaders Use Healthy Conflict to Drive Performance, Innovation,
and Value, by Saj-nicole Joni and Damon Beyer, HarperBusiness, 2010, ISBN 9780061717161.
ABCE
Coach Wooden's Leadership Game Plan for Success: 12 Lessons for Extraordinary
Performance and Personal Excellence, by John Wooden and Steve Jamison, McGraw-Hill,
2009, ISBN 9780071626149. A B C E