Wooden's Wisdom | Leadership Resource Center

Issue 228 - Character and Values Create Team Culture


Wooden's Wisdom - Volume 5	Issue 228
Craig Impelman Speaking \| Championship Coaches \| Champion's Leadership Library Login
CHARACTER AND VALUES CREATE TEAM CULTURE Team culture in a business or on an athletic team is simply the habits, attitudes and language that members of the group have and use on a consistent basis. For example, there is a culture in the United States that we take our hat off when the national anthem is played. Each culture has subcultures within it. A business will have a culture with regard to the way employees treat each other, it will also have a culture with regard to the way employees treat customers and yet another culture with regard to the way employees treat their merchandise. An athletic team will have a culture with regard to the way team members treat each other, it will also have a culture with regard to the way they treat their fans and yet another culture with regard to the way they treat their equipment. A leader can design a culture but it will be the character and values of the frontline supervisor and team members that determine if the culture lives or is just a piece of paper. The team culture at every Safeway Supermarket is not the same. There can even be a different culture in the produce department than there is within the cashiers as a group. It depends on the character and values of each individual within that department. Bill Marriott was once asked what the great secret was to the excellent customer services at Marriott Hotels. He replied: We hire really nice people. John Wooden would only recruit individuals who he thought had the character to be good team players. A great training program which includes a written team culture document, which specifies the expectations of an employee or a team member, is absolutely necessary. But the only hope for actually building a great team culture is to hire individuals who already possess the character and values needed to execute it. They in turn must hire individuals who meet the same standards. This quote can be applied to an athletic team or a business. Sports don't build character. They reveal it. Be careful of the character and values of the team members you choose. Your culture is at stake. Yours in Coaching, Craig Impelman www.woodenswisdom.com Twitter: @woodenswisdom	COACH'S Favorite Poetry AND PROSE Some Favorite Thoughts from Coach Wooden’s Library Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant! Let the dead Past bury its dead! Act, — act in the living Present! Heart within, and God o’erhead! Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Tomorrow's fate, though thou be wise, Thou canst not tell nor yet surmise; Pass, therefore, not today in vain, For it will never come again. Omar Khayyam The secret of contentment is knowing how to enjoy what you have, and to be able to lose all desire for things beyond your reach. Lin Yo-t’ang My crown is in my heart, not on my head; Not decked with diamonds and Indian stones, Nor to be seen: my crown is called content: A crown it is that seldom kings enjoy. William Shakespeare
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