Why Teams Win

Winning isn't easy. The world is becoming more and more competitive, with a greater need than ever for people to work together effectively in teams to make organizations successful. There is no better model for success in business than the world of sport, with its bottom-line performance culture and its relentless focus on creating winning teams. In Why Teams Win, renowned sports psychologist Dr. Saul L. Miller-the man who teaches elite athletes and top sports teams how to be successful-uses sport as a powerful metaphor for the world of business. Why Teams Win distills Dr. Miller's work with hundreds of high-performance teams-in the worlds of sport, business, healthcare, and the arts-into lessons to help business teams perform. Why Teams Win: Identified the 9 key characteristics of successful teams. Describes how to improve personal, organizational, and team performance in each of these 9 areas. Explains how and why to apply different strategies to different types of teams. Outlines how to balance the needs of the individual with the needs of the team. Helps people work together and perform to the best of their abilities. Shows how to get the maximum potential out of a group of individuals. Features advice, quotes, and interviews from high-profile athletes and coaches, as well as from business leaders. Includes self-evaluation and team-building exercises. Why Teams Win offers anyone wanting to improve their personal and team performance a proven and accessible formula for success.

WINNING TEAMS is for managers and team leaders who to lead a dynamic, high performing team. There are many books about building teams. But this book offers a fresh new approach that identifies eight characteristics of high performing teams. Most team problems can be traced back to a simple misunderstanding, communication breakdown, or relationship malfunction. It's the people-dimension-not the task-dimension-that challenges team leaders. WINNING TEAMS offers leaders practical and easy-to-implement tools to profile and build a high performing team. Drawing upon the world's most successful team, this book provides insights into why the New Zealand All Blacks team has an 83% winning ratio. This book promises to show leaders how to apply this team's success formula in the world of sport to the world of work.

Practical and accessible with workbook activities and exercises for readers to do, this book shares the eight essential elements of teamwork, using Benincasa's exciting, challenging, and life-affirming experiences as an extreme world class adventure racer.

Winning isn't easy. The world is becoming more and more competitive, with a greater need than ever for people to work together effectively in teams to make organizations successful. There is no better model for success in business than the world of sport, with its bottom-line performance culture and its relentless focus on creating winning teams. In Why Teams Win, renowned sports psychologist Dr. Saul L. Miller-the man who teaches elite athletes and top sports teams how to be successful-uses sport as a powerful metaphor for the world of business. Why Teams Win distills Dr. Miller's work with hundreds of high-performance teams-in the worlds of sport, business, healthcare, and the arts-into lessons to help business teams perform. Why Teams Win: Identified the 9 key characteristics of successful teams. Describes how to improve personal, organizational, and team performance in each of these 9 areas. Explains how and why to apply different strategies to different types of teams. Outlines how to balance the needs of the individual with the needs of the team. Helps people work together and perform to the best of their abilities. Shows how to get the maximum potential out of a group of individuals. Features advice, quotes, and interviews from high-profile athletes and coaches, as well as from business leaders. Includes self-evaluation and team-building exercises. Why Teams Win offers anyone wanting to improve their personal and team performance a proven and accessible formula for success.

The world's elite athletes and coaches achieve high performance through inspiring leadership, mental toughness, and direction-setting strategic choices. Harvard Business Review has talked to many of these high performers throughout the years to learn how their success translates to the world of business. If you read nothing else on management lessons from the world of sports, read these 10 articles by athletes, coaches, and leadership experts. We've combed through our archive and selected the articles that will best help you drive performance. This book will inspire you to: Improve on your weaknesses, not just your strengths Take care of your body for sustained mental performance Increase your confidence and manage your energy before an important event Turn a struggling team around Understand the limits of performance metrics Focus on long-term goals to overcome setbacks Understand where the analogy of sports and business doesn't work This collection of articles includes "Ferguson's Formula," by Anita Elberse with Sir Alex Ferguson; "Life's Work: An Interview with Greg Louganis"; "The Making of a Corporate Athlete," by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz; "The Tough Work of Turning a Team Around," by Bill Parcells; "How an Olympic Gold Medalist Learned to Perform Under Pressure: An Interview with Alex Gregory"; "Mental Preparation Secrets of Top Athletes, Entertainers, and Surgeons," an interview with Daniel McGinn by Sarah Green Carmichael; "SoulCycle's CEO on Sustaining Growth in a Faddish Industry," by Melanie Whelan; "Life's Work: An Interview with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar"; "Major League Innovation," by Scott D. Anthony; "Looking Past Performance in Your Star Talent," by Mark de Rond, Adrian Moorhouse, and Matt Rogan; "Life's Work: An Interview with Mikhail Baryshnikov"; "How the Best of the Best Get Better and Better," by Graham Jones; "Life's Work: An Interview with Joe Girardi"; "Why There Is an I in Team," by Mark de Rond; "Life's Work: An Interview with Andre Agassi"; and "Why Sports Are a Terrible Metaphor for Business," by Bill Taylor.

"I know that I'll be evaluated in Seattle with wins and losses, as that is the nature of my profession for the last thirty-five years. But our record will not be what motivates me. Years ago I was asked, 'Pete, which is better: winning or competing?' My response was instantaneous: 'Competing. . . because it lasts longer.'" Pete Carroll is one of the most successful coaches in football today. As the head coach at USC, he brought the Trojans back to national prominence, amassing a 97-19 record over nine seasons. Now he shares the championship-winning philosophy that led USC to seven straight Pac-10 titles. This same mind-set and culture will shape his program as he returns to the NFL to coach the Seattle Seahawks. Carroll developed his unique coaching style by trial and error over his career. He learned that you get better results by teaching instead of screaming, and by helping players grow as people, not just on the field. He learned that an upbeat, energetic atmosphere in the locker room can coexist with an unstoppable competitive drive. He learned why you should stop worrying about your opponents, why you should always act as if the whole world is watching, and many other contrarian insights. Carroll shows us how the Win Forever philosophy really works, both in NCAA Division I competition and in the NFL. He reveals how his recruiting strategies, training routines, and game-day rituals preserve a team's culture year after year, during championship seasons and disappointing seasons alike. Win Forever is about more than winning football games; it's about maximizing your potential in every aspect of your life. Carroll has taught business leaders facing tough challenges. He has helped troubled kids on the streets of Los Angeles through his foundation A Better LA. His words are true in any situation: "If you want to win forever, always compete."