Leadership and Systems that Win
Not too long ago I wrote a blog about my home team, the Vancouver Canucks hockey club. In that blog, I was celebrating the role of leaders in creating an environment where their team members feel supported. The Canucks had just hired a new coach at the time and had a winning streak. Alas, their success was short-lived. They were able to lift their spirits but could not sustain their performance. And the following season, they were again close to the bottom of the league standings.
Last year, they replaced the coach again. There was some uproar in the city, because the previous coach was a nice, positive guy and had a warm demeanor. But the reality was, his team kept losing. The team then hired new head coach Rick Tocchet. Now I am of the impression that Coach Tocchet is also a nice, positive guy. What he brought that was new though is a commitment to systems and what he calls “team staples”. I think his approach offers valuable insights that extend beyond hockey and sports in general, providing leadership lessons that can yield real results.
Tocchet’s dedication to systems is a cornerstone of his coaching philosophy. In hockey, systems refer to structured strategies and tactics employed by teams to achieve their goals effectively. It can be about employing specific offensive strategies tailored to the team’s strengths or implementing a defensive strategy that follows a consistent structure that makes them a harder team to play against.
In his early coaching days with the Canucks, he would very patiently work with his team to galvanize specific plays. They would do drills and scenarios and every few minutes he would blow his whistle and say, “Is everyone in the correct position?” and start again. They did this over and over until their plays were fully understood and executable by everyone on the team. As a leadership team, Tocchet and his coaching staff identified areas where implementing systems and processes can drive greater success, and lay the groundwork for consistency, efficiency, and ultimately, winning more games. They also identified “team staples” – principles and practices the team members commit to that help them respond consistently in games that can have multiple scenarios at play.
With these systems and “staples” in place, what has been the impact on their results? The Canucks now sit at the top of the NHL standings and are expected to make the playoffs – which they have missed in 7 of the last 8 seasons.
As I watch this team thrive and succeed now, I’m learning that it’s not enough to be effective in motivating our teams towards success – as leaders, we also can examine our current systems of functioning and create guiding principles that can help our team members respond to the many scenarios and situations that they face – including how they collaborate with each other. In our teams, what’s working? What’s not working? How might we bridge those gaps, and what commitments can we make to each other that help us operate more effectively and successfully?
Along with improving the quality of our relationships, examining and improving our team systems can lead to higher performance and engagement. We can win more games and potentially find ourselves at the top of the league.
Kwela’s Team Optimization workshop engages intact teams in a series of powerful activities to take teamwork to the next level, and lay the groundwork for consistency and high performance.
Laura Villacrusis, Partner
laurav@kwelaleadership.com
