What makes one team of 11 men superior to another team
of 11 in the field of play? Many ardent football watchers have always wondered.
Is the coach a differentiating factor on the field of play considering he or
she is stuck on the sidelines when the game starts? What makes a team like
Barcelona or Real Mardrid able to exhibit superior performance from year to
year?
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| Source: Daily News |
Football is a team game where at the beginning of
every game, each team seems to be equally matched. Each side has 11 men with a
referee in the middle. The referee’s job is to ensure fair play and make sure no
team has an unfair edge or even cheats.
Despite the equal platform given to all teams, some
teams have consistently over the years excelled, while other teams haven't. This has raised the question of what makes a team perform better than the other.
A good example is the German team that won the last World Cup in Brazil. To
emerge champions, they won all its matches though, none of the players in the German team
won the golden ball or golden boot they went home with the most important trophy in the competition-The
World Cup.
Also, Germany’s winning coach, Joachim Löw was not the
highest paid coach in Brazil in 2014. The honour went to Russian Coach, Fabio
Capello; who earns $11,235,210 (763 times more than an average wage in
Russia). Fabio's team however exited the World Cup in the group stages despite
his huge salary.
The word “team” is always associated with the slogan
“Together Everyone Achieves More”. This is true if the team does more than
having it as a slogan. It is the level of collaboration in a team that makes it
successful.
Every business or non-business establishment is a
team, though with sub-teams. Every team has a leader who is not necessarily the
highest ranked officer in the team. Some studies have revealed some of the
characteristics that can make any team excel. These characteristics include:
Team Leadership: A leader in a team is someone
who fixes his eyes on the team’s objective or goals. He or she is someone who is
driven by the achievement of the team’s goals and steers the team towards those
goals. The appointed leader must therefore be a coach who understands the
individual team members. The ultimate leader must be emotionally intelligent to
lead and maximize the potentials of the team.
Communication: A team must have seamless communication within the team. There must not be information gap within the
team, to reduce friction and confusion. One important aspect of communication
within the team is giving credit and reward to the team members.
Connection: Team connection is both at the personal and professional levels. A team
lead must connect with his team- he or she is better off if he touches the
heart before asking for the hands. Touching the heart is often a product of
mutual respect and treatment of the team members. Team members must also
connect with each other, understand each other’s needs and move in to fill it
when a gap is noticed.
Value Contributions: Every team has different parts. For a football team, there is the defence,
midfield and attack. For a team to perform optimally, the linkages between all
the parts must be smooth. It is the
ability of the team lead and members to see the need to be timely contributors
into the next phase of the process that determines the outcome. An attack must
move smoothly from defence. Every team member must play his or her role
effectively to make the team excel.
Emotional
intelligence: The ability of the team members to be aware of their
emotions, manage their emotions and use their emotions in the best interest of
the team is essential. Most often, lack of emotional intelligence in a team leads
to indiscipline and disruption of the cohesion in the team. The level of the
team’s emotional intelligence is a key factor in setting priorities and
reacting to any changes in the external environment.
By Ola Babs-Olugbemi
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