{"id":8349,"date":"2022-02-08T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-08T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?post_type=article&#038;p=8349"},"modified":"2025-12-15T05:11:41","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T05:11:41","slug":"leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaders Virtual Roundtable: Developing Team Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"<!-- blocks\/hero-editorial -->\n<!-- inc\/hero-editorial -->\n<div class=\"hero es-hero__editorial hero--var-1\" role=\"banner\">\n\t<div class=\"hero__image\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1341216771.jpg);\">\n\n\t\t<div class=\"hero__overlay grad-overlay content-bottom\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"container\">\n\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"hero__content\">\n                    \n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"hero__content__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t                            <p class=\"es-label es-label--md\">\n                                8 Feb 2022                            <\/p>\n                        \t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\" class=\"theme-dark hero__back-link back-link es-label es-label--sm\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"icon icon--md icon--arrow-left\"><\/span>Articles<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"hero__title\">Leaders Virtual Roundtable: Developing Team Culture<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n        \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n    <section class=\"es-section theme-light hero__sidebar-wrapper container\">\n        <div class=\"hero__sidebar\">\n                            <div class=\"category-list\">\n                  <div class=\"es-label es-label--sm\">Category <\/div>\n                  <a href=\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/category\/leadership-culture-performance\/\" rel=\"tag\">Leadership &amp; Culture<\/a>                <\/div>\n                            <div class=\"share-list\">\n                  <div class=\"es-label es-label--sm\">Share<\/div>\n                  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/\">Facebook<\/a>\n                  <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/&#038;text=Leaders Virtual Roundtable: Developing Team Culture\">Twitter<\/a>\n                  <a href=\"mailto:?subject=Here's a Leaders In Sport article for you &amp;body=Check out this article: Leaders Virtual Roundtable: Developing Team Culture. https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/\">Email<\/a>\n                  <a href=\"#copyLink\" id=\"copyButton\" class=\"copy-link-clipboard\">Copy Link<\/a>\n                  <div id=\"textToCopy\" class=\"font-hidden\">https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/<\/div>\n                <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n\n\n<!-- blocks\/section -->\n<section\n  class=\"es-section flexible-section  text-only theme-light\"\n    >\n                <div class=\"container\">\n                                    <div class=\"bg-striped-pattern__inner section-padding-top section-padding-bottom\">\n                <div class=\"es-section__inner col-parent col-parent--stack-sm\">\n                                            <div class=\"es-section__sidebar es-section__sidebar--sticky col col--12 \">\n                            \n                            \n                            \n                                                            <div class=\"es-section__text content-area\">\n                                    <p><p><strong>Recommended reading <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance\/session-video-belonging-the-ancient-code-of-togetherness\/\">Belonging: The Ancient Code of Togetherness<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance\/summit-session-lessons-in-the-power-of-storytelling-world-class-communication-on-team-performance\/\">Lessons in The Power of Storytelling &amp; World-Class Communication On Team Performance<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance\/leadership-skills-series-leading-behavioural-change\/\">Leadership Skills Series: Leading Behavioural Change<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance\/leaders-meet-high-performance-environments-what-the-research-is-telling-us\/\">High Performance Environments \u2013 What the Research is Telling Us<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Framing the topic<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On our most recent Leadership Skills Series session looking at Leading Behavioural Change, there was some stimulus shared which was apt considering the topic of this particular roundtable: \u2018Most efforts to change culture don\u2019t work. We often see a gap between what we want the culture to be and aspire towards versus what people have as a lived experience. Organisations who have sustained high levels of performance over a prolonged period of time take this very seriously.\u2019 The purpose of this virtual roundtable was to explore how we are looking to positively influence our respective cultures.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Discussion points<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>What are some of the things you are prioritising in relation to your current culture and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A priority has been to gather the expectations of staff first and foremost \u2013 what we want the environment to be like, look like, and the behaviours within that before we started working with the players around this. The reason for this approach was because we want a more professional and elite culture within our environment \u2013 if we are asking players for certain values, if the staff aren\u2019t doing it, will the players mirror that? That\u2019s why we wanted to set staff expectations as a starting point, but when it came to the players it was more about collaboration and getting their ideas.<\/li>\n<li>We are going through a renovation and a reset of our values at the minute \u2013 previously, we had the same value-set that resonated with players, to coaches and to administrative staff. We realised it didn\u2019t work how we wanted it to work \u2013 the way we behaved was a bit different.<\/li>\n<li>We focus a lot of time talking about values and whether they resonate with everybody. What we\u2019ve found to be most positive in how we use values is when you really dig into the operationalised behaviours that sit behind them \u2013 they can be really different from group to group. When we allow people to personalise those behaviours on a daily basis, they become the guiding light to the north star rather than everything people cling onto.<\/li>\n<li>We used to have a model where we looked to align the staff before the players and it was a disastrous model for us. It was coach-led, dictated and the issue was that it meant nothing because of how dictated it was. We ended up with a player-led value system, which was how we operate as individuals each day \u2013 this directly correlated to performance on the field, but also a wider club basis. What does one of your values mean to someone in the ticketing office or marketing team? There was a focus on DNA, behaviour off the field and how that effected on the field.<\/li>\n<li>The players really feel like they needed to be involved in the process of setting the values and thus the culture \u2013 we let them have a say in how and when we trained, how often we trained, when we travel to games. We turned the organisation upside down and it was really important in the players taking ownership of those values.<\/li>\n<li>We have gone through some change in our environment, and we\u2019ve looked to storytelling to generate some connection around the benefit of people sharing what the values mean to them.<\/li>\n<li>In terms of storytelling, one thing we are looking at with our athletes and talking to them about is the stories they tell about the athletes and people that came before them. What are the things you grasped about them? From here, you can talk to the current crop of athletes about what stories do you want people in 15 years to be telling about you? What stories are you creating? To really understand culture, you are looking at how people tell stories, what traditions are created from one group to the next.<\/li>\n<li>A consideration is that the values need to really align to the type of culture you are trying to get to. Bringing them to life and operationalising them remains a huge space for development, as a lot of organisations do just end up with those words being on a wall as opposed to what they really mean and embedding them in practice.<\/li>\n<li>Storytelling dovetails nicely with the rules of belonging. We can uncover the values, but until we link from a reward perspective the behaviours you want to see more, you can see sub-cultures emerging. It\u2019s important to reward and recognise what we want to see repeated.<\/li>\n<li>The biggest part of our culture and getting that onto the field to influence results was around relationship building and the language you build. We have \u2018Tea Time\u2019 on a Tuesday where people are expected to come for an hour and be present. You find yourself talking a lot about the game and solving problems \u2013 it\u2019s even more than just building relationships.<\/li>\n<li>We are a national governing body in which we have five key values which stretch across the organisation and their respective teams. What was interesting after visiting the teams, we looked at their terminology; and their five cultural values had become more than 35. The values had expanded across different teams with a different focus, they meant different things to different people and teams. Instead, we moved more towards behaviours to simplify it: culture is behaviours and actions on a daily basis.<\/li>\n<li>Consideration: Change. What is good practice to embed staff in the values that have been set?<\/li>\n<li>We looked to senior players to help with the communicating of values and behaviours to those transitioning into the environment from the pathway and also educating down the pathway. This is a good way of having your talent readymade for when making those transitions.<\/li>\n<li>There is a really interesting difference between team and individual sports. From a team sport perspective, if you are serious about the cultural fit of people, that\u2019s how you recruit \u2013 do they fit the existing culture? Does the quality of person you bring in outweigh the culture?<\/li>\n<li>Culture is often about consistent embedding and reinforcement of those values. We have weekly staff meetings where you can cite people who have lived a value or those values \u2013 these are what we want to see and be repeated around here.<\/li>\n<li>We recently hired a head coach \u2013 the main reason the individual was hired was that they fully understood and were able to articulate back to us the values we have and what they meant to that person. We want to recruit the person who is already naturally aligned to the values we have got, as best we can.<\/li>\n<li>We have a pretty heavy induction programme where even the families are involved, so they understand the values as well. It\u2019s important that everyone understands what it means to become part of that wider club family.<\/li>\n<li>Consideration: renovation vs. transformation. Do you ever really transform a culture or do you just progress or nudge in a certain direction?<\/li>\n<li>If you think about the word \u2018transformation\u2019, it can sometimes align to something not coming back, that is why the language is important depending on your contexts. In terms of renovation, it\u2019s more about working to shift and improve the culture \u2013 words like \u2018transformation\u2019 can sometimes come across as disrespectful. We want to keep positive influence within the environment.<\/li>\n<li>So many organisations put a lot of work and energy into building a culture but by the time it comes to live these values, there\u2019s no energy to embed them in practice.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Download the latest Performance Special Report &#8211; Enhance Your Environment<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Brought to you by our Main Partners <strong>Keiser<\/strong>, take a step inside the cultural reset that led <strong>Harlequins<\/strong> to the <strong>Premiership<\/strong> title with scrum-half <strong>Danny Care<\/strong> and Head of Rugby Performance <strong>Billy Millard<\/strong>, then explore how the team worked with performance coach <strong>Owen Eastwood<\/strong> to place wellbeing at the centre of their performance equation and why this approach is also shared by <strong>Google<\/strong> and the <strong>Toronto Blue Jays<\/strong>. Finally, discover why equality, diversity and inclusion can be a competitive advantage through the admirable work being done at <strong>English Premier League<\/strong> club <strong>Brentford FC<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/info.leadersinsport.com\/l\/856843\/2022-01-13\/v6w2p\"><button>Download Report<\/button><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n                                <\/div>\n                            \n                            \n                            \n                                                    <\/div>\n                                        <div class=\"col visibly-hidden col--flex-align-right\">\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n        <\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":8350,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[20],"pathway":[295],"topic":[296],"sport":[],"class_list":["post-8349","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership-culture-performance","pathway-leadership-development","topic-culture"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Leaders Virtual Roundtable: Developing Team Culture - Performance Institute<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Leaders Virtual Roundtable: Developing Team Culture - Performance Institute\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Performance Institute\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-15T05:11:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1341216771.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2040\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1093\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/\",\"name\":\"Leaders Virtual Roundtable: Developing Team Culture - Performance Institute\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1341216771.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-08T10:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-15T05:11:41+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1341216771.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1341216771.jpg\",\"width\":2040,\"height\":1093,\"caption\":\"QUEENSTOWN, NEW ZEALAND - SEPTEMBER 19: (L-R) Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, Margaux Hackett, Alice Robinson, Finn Bilous, and Nico Porteous look on after receiving their silver fern during the New Zealand Olympic Committee Athlete Selection Announcement for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games at Cardrona Alpine Resort on September 19, 2021 in Queenstown, New Zealand. (Photo by Joe Allison\/Getty Images for NZOC)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Leaders Virtual Roundtable: Developing Team Culture\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/\",\"name\":\"Performance Institute\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Leaders Virtual Roundtable: Developing Team Culture - Performance Institute","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Leaders Virtual Roundtable: Developing Team Culture - Performance Institute","og_url":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/","og_site_name":"Performance Institute","article_modified_time":"2025-12-15T05:11:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2040,"height":1093,"url":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1341216771.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/","url":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/","name":"Leaders Virtual Roundtable: Developing Team Culture - Performance Institute","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1341216771.jpg","datePublished":"2022-02-08T10:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-15T05:11:41+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1341216771.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1341216771.jpg","width":2040,"height":1093,"caption":"QUEENSTOWN, NEW ZEALAND - SEPTEMBER 19: (L-R) Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, Margaux Hackett, Alice Robinson, Finn Bilous, and Nico Porteous look on after receiving their silver fern during the New Zealand Olympic Committee Athlete Selection Announcement for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games at Cardrona Alpine Resort on September 19, 2021 in Queenstown, New Zealand. (Photo by Joe Allison\/Getty Images for NZOC)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leaders-virtual-roundtable-developing-team-culture\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Leaders Virtual Roundtable: Developing Team Culture"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/#website","url":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/","name":"Performance Institute","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/8349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/8349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8353,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/8349\/revisions\/8353"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8349"},{"taxonomy":"pathway","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pathway?post=8349"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=8349"},{"taxonomy":"sport","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sport?post=8349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}