You Win in the Locker Room First explores the 9C, the nine principles that any business, school, organisation, or sports team can adopt to revitalise their organisation. The book draws on the extraordinary experiences of Coach Mike Smith and Jon Gordon, a consultant to numerous college and professional teams.

The authors lay out a plan for creating a successful organisation step by step and offer a helpful framework that equips leaders with the skills they need to foster a positive workplace culture, lead with the proper mindset, build solid relationships, enhance teamwork, execute at a higher level, and stay clear of the pitfalls that sabotage far too many leaders and organisations.

In addition to discussing the positive aspects of his time with the Falcons, Mike Smith is open about the negative parts of his last two seasons. He offers insightful advice that leaders may use in their own situations.

Successful leaders coach their teams and develop, mentor, support, and guide them, whether it’s an executive leadership team of a Fortune 500 business, a sports team, an emergency room team, a military team, or a school team. This enhances the team and the leaders’ connections, relationships, and organisation.

Success happens by focusing on the process, not the outcome. You win by cultivating the right culture, leadership, expectations, belief, mindset, relationships & habits before your play the game.

Mike Smith & Jon Gordon – You Win in the Locker Room First

You Win in the Locker Room First provides a rare insider’s perspective on one of the most demanding leadership positions on earth and what managers can take away from these experiences to create a successful team.

The You Win in the Locker Room First 9C

1. Build your Culture Up and Down

Cultivate your Culture in the locker room and the boardroom. Since everyone contributes to your organisation’s Culture, ensure to incorporate and promote participation from every employee.

Ensure that your activities are consistent with your vision, mission, and principles by letting everyone know what they are. Decide what your team and you stand for. Decisions are simple to make if you are clear about your values.

Focus on the root, not the fruit.

Jon Gordon – You Win in the Locker Room First

Remember that to create a strong culture, you must make, live, appreciate, support, and fight for it.

2. Be positively Contagious

Have your team develop a vision, goal, and purpose together when possible. This increases buy-in even further.

Lead with enthusiasm so everyone in the organisation can see and feel it. Positivity and optimism should be contagious. Transferring beliefs and attitudes is what leadership is. Make it a point to have as many infectiously optimistic team members as possible. You will witness productivity and collaboration when you surround your team with genuinely infectious individuals. Trust and teamwork expand rapidly.

Eliminate negativity from your team. Enforce a no-complaining rule. Energy vampires must be confronted, transformed, or eliminated.

3. Communicate

Keep in constant interactions with the team as a group and as individuals. Keep in mind that negativity will fill any gaps in communication. Ask questions and give your team sincere attention. Along with learning a lot, you’ll build trustworthy relationships. It could also inspire fresh concepts and more effective ways to operate.

By asking questions, listening, and observing, getting daily outside and inside temperatures (Support staff, team, management) can provide crucial information to guide your team.

Important information should be repeated and reinforced frequently to your staff. Say that so often that your team will almost certainly find it irritating. Ensure that everyone in your organisation, including the leaders, communicates the same ideas. Ensure they are modelling the message as well.

Do not hesitate to use external speakers to help your team remember key points and messaging.

4. Connect

Be aware that one of the most crucial things you can do is to build a connected team. Keep in mind that strategy is often overrated. Spend some time slowing down and getting to know your team members. Over time, connections and Culture are what prevail.

Instead of utilising technology, encourage real team communication. Employ technology when it allows increasing communication and collaboration.
Utilise team buildings that encourage team members to communicate poignant experiences and emotions. Walls start to fall, hearts begin to open, and vulnerability transforms into connection and strength. When you have developed trust within the team based on vulnerability, you have a solid foundation to build a high-performing team.

When team members connect and build strong relationships, they don’t just work with each other, they work for each other.

Mike Smith & Jon Gordon
You Win in the Locker Room First

Likewise, establish a personal connection. To be more connected within the building and on the field, find opportunities to connect outside of it. Never presume the strength of your relationships. Maintaining relationships with your team and fellow leaders is essential.

5. Commit

You must be actively involved in being a successful team player, coach, and leader. You have to be dedicated. Before your team commits to you, they need to know that you are devoted to them. Your dedication must surpass everyone else’s in the organisation. Show your commitment to your team through your activities.

Set aside time for your team, and utilise it to improve them. Seek ways to help your team and prioritise the needs of the group.

You don’t have to be great to serve, but you have to serve to be great.

Mike Smith & Jon Gordon
You Win in the Locker Room First

Give up your ego and take responsibility for issues rather than placing the blame on others.

6. Be Consistent

Whether you win or lose, continue to act as the same leader. Through difficulties and trials, hold fast to your values and beliefs. As you work to advance and develop, behave consistently.
With your team, combat the cancer of complacency, let go of the past, and begin each year as new.

Enjoying the journey rather than the destination

Mike Smith & Jon Gordon – You Win in the Locker Room First

Don’t let your team rely too much on their prior success. Put your attention on constant and ongoing progress. Remain hungry and modest. Focus on your Circle of Influence.

7. Care

You can not Win in the Locker Room First without building a caring culture. They will work considerably more complicated when you show your team members that you care about them. Respect each team member for who they are, not just a number.

Decide to be a transformational leader instead of a transactional leader.

Mike Smith – You Win in the Locker Room First

Focus on the why more than the what. Demonstrate your concern for your team. Show a genuine interest in their positions and support their development. Be surrounded by compassionate individuals. Build a team that cares about each other. Find your own caring brand and spread it.

8. Coaching

Recognise that today’s executives must coach the team they guide. By coaching the individuals, you lead, concentrate on creating more leaders.

Ask the individuals you are in charge of to share their objectives and vision with you, and then inquire how you can assist them in achieving them. Reed Hoffman (co-founder of LinkedIn), Ben Kasnoha (entrepreneur), and Chris Yeh (investor) develop this concept very well in their book “Alliance: Talent Management in the Network Age“.

9. Character

Recognising that character is essential to creating a winning team. Create a squad that combines talent and personality. Develop your team’s character as you go.

Team beats talent when talent isn’t a team.

Mike Smith – You Win in the Locker Room First

You Win in the Locker Room First Conclusion

The 9C’s of You Win in the Locker Room First are not just buzzwords. They cannot just be put in writing, presented to your team, and made to function. But once you put them into action, you’ll see that your team is more cohesive and effective at reaching its objectives than you imagined. It is discipline and hard work.

Talent might win you a game, but a team would definitely win you a championship.

You Win in the Locker Room First

You should read this post and share it with your team. This will help them to understand what you are trying to build, how they can be a part of it and how You Win in the Locker Room First. David Gousset.

If you have questions you want to discuss, please comment or write to me. Interesting in leadership read:

• The New One Minute Manager
• Extreme Ownership: 12 Leadership principles to learn from the Navy SEAL and Jocko Willink Quotes.