Winning starts on Monday
Acknowledging that winning starts on Monday helps teams to take a more proactive approach and take more responsibility for their performance. Photo by Jazmin Quaynor on Unsplash
Jack Gibson was the best rugby league coach of his time and is the first famous coach I can remember. As a five-year old, I idolised the teams that he coached and tried to imitate some of the way they played in the backyard or playground. In more recent years, I have discovered that he was also a great source of quotes and one liners. This is one that has stuck:
Winning starts on Monday.
It's part of a longer quote, but the essence is in those four words. The matches were on the weekend, but the path to victory started long before the game kicked off. Success was built on the back of the work done throughout that week, which built on work throughout the whole season and so on.
Whatever winning (or success) means in your team's context, it is the outcome of work that has started long before the end results become known. Success is rarely the product of a single moment of brilliance. It is most often the accumulation of a lot of good work, by a lot of people over a long period of time. For sustained success, this is always true. Winning starts on Monday, but it also doesn't stop there. Consistent high quality work doesn't always feel exciting or guarantee immediate results, but it is what the best teams do in all contexts.
The inverse is also true. How many projects miss deadlines or run over budget as a result of being set up poorly? How many teams don't work together well because they haven't taken the time to be clear about what they stand for and expect from each other?
One of the more common frustrations I hear from teams and leaders is that they are constantly reactive and team members are missing accountability. Acknowledging that winning starts on Monday helps teams to take a more proactive approach and take more responsibility for their performance. With such an approach, our teams can identify what needs to be done now to improve the chances of future success. Individually and collectively, they can also take the actions that help keep them on that path.
Here are a few questions to consider this week:
What are the foundations for success in your teams?
What can you do now to set your team up for future success