Supporting your team to be brilliant at the basics
Being brilliant at the basics is valuable simply because it is so rare. Photo by You X Ventures on Unsplash
As a 9-year old in 1989, I was a member of the Magpies Under 11C cricket team. We'd had a pretty good season and were undefeated heading into the grand final. As we approached that match, the message from our coaches resonates with me more than three decades later. To win, we needed to do this:
Be brilliant at the basics.
It's such a powerful idea. So often, it is appealing to try and find new ways of working, new strategies and revolutionary practices. It's great to be chasing these things. For these to be effective, they build on a solid foundation of consistently good work.
In the context of work, being brilliant at the basics is valuable simply because it is so rare. In leaders, I have experienced this. In fact, I remember saying as much to a great leader (let's call her Jane - because that is her name!). Nothing that Jane did was particularly remarkable, and yet she was a remarkable leader. She did it by consistently doing all of the things that are asked of leaders - consistently and at a high standard. The sum of those actions made her an exceptional leader.
It is worth noting that the message was not simply to execute the basics, it was to be brilliant at them. There is a pride and freedom that can come from this sort of approach. We see this in all parts of high performance - without being the strongest or fastest player on tour, Roger Federer has incredible fundamentals; airline pilots have standard processes that allow them to operate with safety and confidence; world class surgeons have mastered techniques that are taught to undergraduate medical students.
Being brilliant at the basics takes more courage than is initially obvious. It takes the courage to not get distracted by the shiny new ideas. It requires the courage to have confidence in the long game over short term sugar hits. That's also why the lesson that helped us win a grand final as a 9-year old remains relevant to me and others to this long in the future - and one that I need to remind myself of regularly.
Some questions for you to consider in your teams this week:
What are the fundamentals for success in your team's context?
How can you help those be executed at a consistently high level?
What gets in the way of being brilliant at the basics for your teams?