It is finally time for one of the most exciting months in all of sports: March Madness! With surprising upsets, multiple buzzer beaters, and endless excitement, 68 basketball teams battle it out to win the ultimate goal of a National Championship. Not only does talent matter, but arguably more importantly so does the team's cohesiveness. Group cohesiveness is the extent to which forces push group members closer together, such as through feelings of intimacy, unity, and commitment to group goals (Kassin 2016). Every coach, player, and team wonders how to achieve this in order to have a championship team.
In order to strive for cohesiveness and eventually a National Championship, there are many ingredients that need to be obtained. They might sound easy, but are very hard to actually get the right way. The following recipe describes the ingredients that are essential to have if you ever want to reach your end goal.
1. A clear and compelling vision
Why would you work hard if you are not working towards anything?
This ingredient is vital to establish first because nothing can start to build without everyone on the same page. This also can take a group of people with nothing in common and all of sudden unify them as one. There cannot be cohesiveness without a concise direction where the team is headed. Not only does this vision include the final destination, but it sets a plan in action. This simple task is what group cohesiveness is centered around.
In order for this goal to mean anything, every person has to buy into this goal and make it their number one priority. Without full commitment, there is no chance of getting the desired outcome.
2. A bond that cannot be broken
Teamwork makes the dream work.
The next step of cohesiveness revolves around an inseparable bond experienced between players. They are committed to each other and feel unified as one. This bond includes off the court as well. Everyone truly enjoys being around each other and find ways to hang out outside of practice or games. There is mutual respect and trust formed between every player and coach on the team. Once this bond is created, nothing can destroy it. Your teammates are now your family and you have each other's backs.
In this video, UCLA men's basketball point guard Jaylen Hands displayed this type of love in a game.
After Moses Brown made a bad pass in the end of a close game, he started to hang his head, but then Hands was right there to pick him up. UCLA ended up coming back from a 9-point deficit to win the game. Bonds like these are essential for success.
3. Selflessness and sacrifice
There is no "I" in team.
Going along with the bond created, every person needs to put the needs of the team over themselves. They need to be willing to give up their own success in order to have more team success. This concept is also related to something called process gain. Kassin describes process gain as the increase in group performance so that the group out performs the individuals who make up the group (2016). When people care about their team more than themselves, their team becomes better because of that. You could have a team of all-stars, but if they do not sacrifice for each other then they will not be as successful as a team who does.
4. Equality
Everybody is important for success.
Understanding each person's role and executing those roles are key for a successful team. Every single person has an impact on the team. The main challenge of this ingredient is getting people to accept their role. For the people who do not get as much playing time or are struggling, it is so important to stress to them their value to the team. Every role needs to be appreciated the same. When everyone embodies their role, the team runs as one unit. This idea is very closely related to the collective effort model. The collective effort model is the theory that individuals will exert effort on a collective task to the degree that they think their individual efforts will be important, relevant, and meaningful for achieving outcomes that they value (Kassin 2016). When people feel valued and believe they can make a difference, then they will give it their all. This can take a good team to a GREAT team.
References:
Lisle, M. (2019, January 16). Ucla basketball player lifts teammate’s chin up after he slumped in disappointment great leadership [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQJ-5MWAKf4
http://team.fastmodelsports.com/2018/04/03/the-wright-way-villanova-2018-national-championship/
1. A clear and compelling vision
Why would you work hard if you are not working towards anything?
This ingredient is vital to establish first because nothing can start to build without everyone on the same page. This also can take a group of people with nothing in common and all of sudden unify them as one. There cannot be cohesiveness without a concise direction where the team is headed. Not only does this vision include the final destination, but it sets a plan in action. This simple task is what group cohesiveness is centered around.
"The most important key to achieving great success is to decide upon your goal and launch, get started, take action, move." - John Wooden
In order for this goal to mean anything, every person has to buy into this goal and make it their number one priority. Without full commitment, there is no chance of getting the desired outcome.
2. A bond that cannot be broken
Teamwork makes the dream work.
The next step of cohesiveness revolves around an inseparable bond experienced between players. They are committed to each other and feel unified as one. This bond includes off the court as well. Everyone truly enjoys being around each other and find ways to hang out outside of practice or games. There is mutual respect and trust formed between every player and coach on the team. Once this bond is created, nothing can destroy it. Your teammates are now your family and you have each other's backs.
In this video, UCLA men's basketball point guard Jaylen Hands displayed this type of love in a game.
3. Selflessness and sacrifice
There is no "I" in team.
Going along with the bond created, every person needs to put the needs of the team over themselves. They need to be willing to give up their own success in order to have more team success. This concept is also related to something called process gain. Kassin describes process gain as the increase in group performance so that the group out performs the individuals who make up the group (2016). When people care about their team more than themselves, their team becomes better because of that. You could have a team of all-stars, but if they do not sacrifice for each other then they will not be as successful as a team who does.
"It's not just about working hard, it's about working together. You have to care more about the team than you do about yourself." - John Calipari
https://www.nba.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1201/topphotos3/content.7.html
4. Equality
Everybody is important for success.
Understanding each person's role and executing those roles are key for a successful team. Every single person has an impact on the team. The main challenge of this ingredient is getting people to accept their role. For the people who do not get as much playing time or are struggling, it is so important to stress to them their value to the team. Every role needs to be appreciated the same. When everyone embodies their role, the team runs as one unit. This idea is very closely related to the collective effort model. The collective effort model is the theory that individuals will exert effort on a collective task to the degree that they think their individual efforts will be important, relevant, and meaningful for achieving outcomes that they value (Kassin 2016). When people feel valued and believe they can make a difference, then they will give it their all. This can take a good team to a GREAT team.
"I long ago learned that publicly acknowledging the people who don't get a lot of the of the limelight does wonders for team morale. You must make these people know you not only are aware of their efforts, you appreciate them." - Rick Pitino
All the ingredients come together in the end to make a National Championship. Becoming a championship team or being successful is a complex process that is hard to figure out. The main emphasis is trying to achieve group cohesiveness by unifying a group of people around a common goal. This sounds a lot easier than it actually is and takes hard work. This recipe can also be used for any group project or group effort.
Has anybody been part of a successful team? Do you agree that these are important for group success? Do you think there are any other important factors that are not mentioned? And just for fun...Who do you think will win the National Championship this year? Let me know!
References:
6 Key Components of a Championship Culture. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.janssensportsleadership.com/resources/janssen-blog/6-key-components-of-a-championship-culture/
501 Awesome basketballQuotes. (2018, February 28). Retrieved from https://www.basketballforcoaches.com/basketball-quotes/
ChampionshipCoachesNetwork.com. (2007, July 13). The Seven "C's" of Championship Team Building. Retrieved from https://www.championshipcoachesnetwork.com/public/333.cfm
Janssen, Jeff. (2014). The team captain’s leadership manual. Cary, NC: Winning The Mental Game.
Kassin, S., Fein, S., & Markus, H. (2016). Social psychology. Boston. MA: Cengage Learning.
Lisle, M. (2019, January 16). Ucla basketball player lifts teammate’s chin up after he slumped in disappointment great leadership [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQJ-5MWAKf4
I agree with a majority of the ingredients to cultivate a championship team. Personally, I think the most important thing to a great team is cohesiveness. As an athlete myself, the best teams I have been on our teams that get along on and of the field/court/ice. Specifically in the NCAA March Madness tournament, a team that sticks together through thick and thin will create their own luck and will be successful. In sports, luck can be that final touch to win a championship, and I'm a firm believer in creating that luck through cohesiveness.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your response! I think it is interesting to hear from different athletes in different sports. It is also interesting that the same attributes for a successful team are universal throughout all sports. I agree with you that the best teams I have been apart of have got along and we were all best friends. I also agree that luck is also part of the "recipe". You can definitely see this luck aspect play out in this year's tournament with all the overtime games and games decided in the last minute.
DeleteBeing an athlete here at Tech, this reading was very enjoyable for me and you hit the nail right on the head with the recipe for a winning team. Group cohesiveness is so important. If we as athletes know that the man or woman next to you will do anything for you and they know you would do the same for them, amazing things happen. Aside from group cohesiveness, I think one of the more difficult tasks is getting everyone to "buy in." What I mean by that is for me being a part of a football team, it is hard to get 120 males to all have the same vision and understanding. So getting the majority of my guys to have the same goal and mindset as each other is crucial in building a successful culture and it honestly what we are working toward for this upcoming season. Great article and congratulations on your most recent season! By the way, I choose Duke to win the National Championship. It is just too hard to bet against those guys!
ReplyDeleteI would agree with you Ben. The "buy in" to start and maintain group cohesiveness seems to be the most difficult part. Do you fell that sometimes this is the case because #1. (the clear and compelling vison) is either not clear or established?
DeleteThank you for your response Ben! I agree that getting everyone to "buy in" can be a difficult task. It is a little different for my sport since we only have about 15 people, but I can imagine how hard it would be to get everyone on the same page. Also since you have so many people, do you have any issues with people knowing and accepting their role? It is cool to see how each sport works with these rules, but each have their own struggles with them as well. Good guess on Duke, but looks like they could not quite pull it off!
DeleteI think you made a really great point there--the importance of valuing each member of the team equally. It's true that in football people typically look to the Quarterback or some other key position as the "most important" one, but the fact of the matter is that without the entire team working together, nothing they do would get anywhere.
ReplyDeleteIf any member doesn't perform their best, the team will suffer as a result. However, for some members, failure is more detrimental to the team effort. How do you propose we, given this, help each team member to feel that they're as important as any other, while still accepting the reality of the situation?