Lessons in elevating team performance from a retired pro rugby player

There are many parallels we can make between the world of sports and the financial services industry. I recently had the opportunity to see many of them in action when I took a road trip with Will Fraser, an executive coach and retired professional rugby player for Saracens RFC in England.

Will applies the lessons he learned on the rugby field in all sorts of ways to drive high performance in the workplace as an executive coach. He does this through a company he launched and aptly named 100 and First.

The company name comes from a quote by Jacob Riis, who said:

Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before.

This quote perfectly captures how high performance is not accomplished in one fell swoop, but rather when intentionality is applied over time. High-performing advisory teams build up a bank of social capital, which is the value that develops through personal relationships within a team that helps build trust and respect among its members.

We don’t see a lot of rugby being played in the United States (yet), but the lessons learned from Will transcend sports and industries. I happen to live in Denver, and it was incredible to see the Denver Nuggets win a championship – the franchise’s first – during the last NBA season.

One thing about the Nuggets that stands out to me is that, before the players part ways after games, whether they’ve won or lost, they chant, “On three: 1, 2, 3 – family!” You can see the authenticity of this family environment shine through. These players “grew up” together on the team, and having that structural cohesion in place allowed them to build social capital. But what does that mean exactly, and how can you apply it elevate your own teams?

An enlightening road trip

I was literally in the driver’s seat on a quest to learn more about this concept of social cohesion. As Will and I drove across Florida, Eastern Pennsylvania, and New Jersey to meet with advisors and their teams, Will was able to illustrate how these cohesion elements play out through the lens of his experience playing rugby, and he shared data that support his experiences.

Before becoming an executive coach, Will experienced structural cohesion firsthand when he became a member of Saracens RFC team at the young age of 14. Structure brought the team together when their professional rugby careers were budding, and building up strong social connections together over the years gave them a competitive advantage that helped them win the historic 2015-16 European and Premiership Double. (To put that in perspective, it’s like winning the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes during one horse racing season.)

4 keys to building social capital on your team

Putting in the time and effort to build social capital can be a game-changer, yet few take the steps to get there. As Will says, “People don’t put in the work because work gets in the way, but it’s the most important thing to do for elevating performance.”

If you’d like to build social capital on your team by implementing the lessons learned from Will, here are a few ideas to get you started.

1. Reflect on yourself first

To build connections with others, we need to understand ourselves first. For example, what are your strengths, weaknesses, fears, passions, and motivations? And if we have biases, we need to be willing to open ourselves up to what those biases are. Knowing yourself is the key to being able to show empathy for others, which should lead to higher-quality interactions where you are able to understand someone else’s thoughts, feelings, and actions on a deeper level. On the flip side, a lack of quality interactions can create stress and may get in the way of achieving team goals.

2. Building team social connections should be a priority

Teams frequently place an emphasis on team-building activities, but these activities often take place after working hours. This sends the message to employees that building social connections isn’t a priority, and that work comes first.

Ironically, as Will stated, work often gets in the way of the one thing that elevates teams. Ideally, team-building opportunities are incorporated into the workday. Yes, it’s okay to have team off-sites from time to time, but if teams can make time every week to get to know one another, it will go a long way toward optimizing team performance. As these connections are made, it’s important to get to know your teammates for who they are as individuals, not just in their roles at work.

Maybe it’s building social cohesion through team coffee talks or dedicating the first 10 minutes of weekly team meetings to getting to know each another better. Regardless of what you choose, the time you dedicate to creating these social connections will be instrumental in creating an extraordinary team in the long run.

3. Allow sufficient time for the team to grow together

According to Margaret Heffernan, CEO, entrepreneur, author, and professor of Practice at the University of Bath School of Management in the UK, mission statements aren’t what motivate people. What motivates people are the bonds, loyalty, and trust they develop with one another.

To borrow Margaret’s analogy, it’s the mortar and not just the bricks that creates social capital and makes organizations creative and resilient. In other words, when we invest time in growing together as a team, it becomes the glue that fosters an environment where social capital can compound.

Another thing Will found in the world of rugby was that if a team wasn’t winning, the immediate reaction was to replace the players or the coaching staff. But the data from Will’s firm tells us that this approach doesn’t work. For winning teams, what does seem to work is the amount of time they spend together as a unit.

In today’s world, we’re used to instant gratification – we want results today, not tomorrow. But to achieve results that are meaningful and sustainable, we must put in the time and effort – the mortar, not just the bricks – over a much longer time horizon. Whether it’s a rugby squad or a team of financial professionals, social capital can be the key to winning – not just for a season, but for the life of the business.

4. Foster an environment of trust so that the team feels comfortable with being vulnerable

As we just discussed, changing teams frequently is very disruptive, and the other challenge with this is that trust never has the opportunity to develop. It takes time to develop trust, and we need to have trust on our teams so that team members feel safe sharing their thoughts, with no judgement, and be willing to risk potential conflict. When we can express ourselves freely, it provides an opportunity for those around us to lift us up, provide constructive feedback, and grow not only individually, but as a team. In effect, it builds a sense of shared commitment.

Will talks about how, when he and the other rugby players were still growing within the team, they would provide the types of shallow responses to questions they thought their support system (coaches, nutritionists, family, friends) wanted to hear instead of answering in a manner that would have led to growth. When they were eventually able to feel comfortable being vulnerable, a tremendous amount of growth occurred and helped elevate the team.

Margaret Heffernan got it right when she said that bringing out the best in other people is how people can bring out the best in themselves. Doing so creates an environment where everyone matters and knows that they matter. And when team members fill their bank of social capital, it unleashes the ability to become the best beyond measure – much like Will’s team, Saracens RFC in England, did.