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Title: TEAM BOND - Fostering A Strong Bond
Written & Narrated by: JB Kellogg
Music by: Dear Gravity (A New Deep)

★★TEAM BOND★★

What sets the great teams apart from the rest? It isn’t their talent or their strategy because the teams they compete with are often equally strong in those areas. What sets them apart is a bond that fosters a willingness to do whatever it takes for the team to succeed. A bond that fosters tremendous trust and confidence in one another. A bond that supplies the team with the passion and energy needed to achieve things that, to others, seem impossible.

But how are these types of bonds created? Through shared sacrifice. The greater the shared sacrifice, the greater the bond. Sacrifice is the glue that strengthens the team’s bond over time.

That’s why the great coach Bo Schembechler intentionally conducted such grueling preseason practices. While doing so, he would confidently declare to his team, “those who stay will be champions.” He knew that to be true because he knew that through the pain, through the suffering, through the sacrifice, the weak would fade and for those that endured, the bond of champions would be born.

Bo’s strategy for his team aligned well with what Gordon B Hinckley once said, “You will come to know that what appears today to be a sacrifice will prove instead to be the greatest investment that you will ever make.”

No question, building a strong team bond means you must instill a collective mindset where everyone on the team is willing to put the team ahead of themself. One must create a culture that is willing to sacrifice for the betterment of others, for the betterment of the team. This dynamic is what gives the team strength to see no mountain as unclimbable and no challenge as unconquerable.

Remember what Mia Hamm once said: “I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and I sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion.”

It’s important to understand that in the simplest form, if you sacrifice for someone, that shows you love them. So a team that sacrifices for one another is a team that loves one another. And at the core, that’s what makes the heart of a champion.

So as the leader, how do you achieve this?

It starts with your standards. In the world of business, you may not be able to stretch your team’s muscles, but you can stretch their mindset. You do this by setting a standard of excellence. The higher the standard you set, the stronger the bond you’ll create. In doing this, remember that people will rise to the standard you set, or fall to the standard that you allow. So the key is, what will you allow? That bar needs to be raised to a level where those that live above it cannot help but respect one another for doing so. And for those that consistently live below it, they must not be allowed to remain on the team. For they are like kryptonite to the strength of your bond. Nick Saban said it best when he said, “mediocre people don’t like high achievers and high achievers don’t like mediocre people. So if everyone in the organization does not buy into the same high standard, you’re never going to be successful.”

And it’s important to note that standards must be set far beyond just performance and goals. They must extend into the details — how you treat customers and teammates, how early you are to meetings, the cleanliness of your workplace, from your discipline to your processes, and everything in between, your standards must be set and they must be non-negotiable.

You must build a culture of trust. It’s impossible to have a strong bond without trust. As Simon Sinek said, “A team is not a group of people who work together. A team is a group of people who trust each other.” Trust starts with the leader. You must say what you do and do what you say. Be transparent. Be authentic. Tell it like it is. This will permeate into your team and create an environment of open and honest communication where your word is your word and that is your bond.

You must set high goals and everyone must buy into the mission. Teams that understand their ‘why’ and work together to achieve a common goal that they could never achieve on their own have a stronger bond.

You must cultivate comradery. Have fun together. Spend time outside of work together. Make it a point to show the team praise and appreciation often. Have the team share personal and professional achievements with one another. Hold all-hands meetings where you shout in unison your company fight song or company motto. And celebrate your victories. A team that plays together stays together.

And if you do these things consistently over time, a cohesive bond will be created among your team that allows you to accomplish more than the sum of your parts.

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