Team Culture: Drain the Putt...and Sweep the Sheds

A New Zealander won the Open on Sunday. Let’s talk about rugby instead.

On Sunday at Royal Birkdale, Ryan Fox stood on the eighteenth tee tied for the lead. He drove the ball down the middle, hit his approach to twelve feet, and made the putt. At thirty-nine, in his hundred-something start at a major, he became Champion Golfer of the Year. Earlier in the week, he barely made the cut, then matched the lowest round ever at the Open with a third-round sixty-two. It was a remarkable end to a remarkable week.

I realize this is the third time in a few weeks that I’ve started a leadership piece with a golf story. It might seem like this website is turning into a golf blog by someone who isn’t great at golf. So, let’s shift focus, because the most important thing about Ryan Fox isn’t his golf. It’s his family, and what their sport can teach anyone building a team.

Fox's father, Grant Fox, wore the number ten jersey for the New Zealand All Blacks rugby club and was the goal-kicker on the team that won the first Rugby World Cup in 1987.  Ryan's grandfather, Merv Wallace, captained New Zealand's cricket team. That’s a lot of sporting history for one family.

But I want to focus on the All Blacks, because they are likely the most consistently successful team in professional sports history. Their success is less about talent than most people think. New Zealand has about five million people, so it shouldn’t be able to dominate a global sport for over a century. What sets them apart is a culture the team shapes on purpose, and a set of standards that make that culture real, not just a goal.

The most famous of these standards is a small one, and that’s why it matters. After a match, when the stadium is empty and fans are watching replays, some of the team’s biggest stars pick up brooms and clean the changing room. They call this sweeping the sheds. The idea is that no one is too important to do the small jobs that need to be done. It’s not a task for the youngest player. Instead, the most senior players do it on purpose, because a standard only matters when those who could ignore it are the ones who follow it.

Another standard shapes how they select and develop players, and this one should interest coaches the most. The All Blacks decided that better people make better players. It’s not about being a good person as an extra, but as the way to become a better player. Character development stopped being something extra and became the main work. This is a real choice with real costs, because sometimes it means passing up talent that could help win the next game.

The third standard is about stewardship. The jersey is something you hold for a while before passing it on, and you’re expected to leave it better than you found it. You don’t own it. You’re just a caretaker of something bigger and older than your own career, and your job is to pass it on in better shape.

Here’s what I want you to notice about all three standards: none of them are just slogans about winning. They are actions, they are specific, and they are simple enough to do any day of the week. That’s the difference between a culture a team talks about and a culture a team really has. Most organizations have a values statement, but most people can’t say what it is. The All Blacks did the harder work. They chose the kind of team they wanted to be, figured out the daily actions that would make it real, and stuck to those actions even when it was hard, boring, or no one was watching.

So, if you lead a program, the real question isn’t whether you have a culture . . . you already do. The real question is whether your culture is the one you chose. Decide what kind of team you want to be. Then pick a few specific actions that would make that true, including at least one that asks something extra from your senior people. Then stick to them. That’s the whole method, and it’s much easier to explain than to keep going.

If you want a real-life example of how to define culture through standards, look at the New Zealand All Blacks. The best explanation I know is James Kerr’s book Legacy, which shares fifteen leadership lessons from inside the team. It’s a short and valuable read, and I recommend it to any coach who wants to build something that will endure beyond their own time.