One of the UK’s red-top newspapers recently published an article that claimed they had got their hands on a “secret document” which revealed how Arsene Wenger has instilled a new and unshakeable team spirit in his football squad by getting powerful messages into the minds of his players. The thoughts of sports psychologists used to be dismissed as mumbo-jumbo by old school managers but many in the English premiership now employ such consultants in a bid to give them the edge.
This is what the document is alleged to have included:
“The Team”
“A team is as strong as the relationships within it.
The driving force of a team is its member’s ability to create and maintain excellent relationships within the team that can add an extra dimension and robustness to the team dynamic.
This attitude can be sued by our team to focus on the gratitude and vitality important benefits that the team brings to our own lives. It can be used to strengthen and deepen the relationships within it and maximise the opportunities that await a strong and united team.
Our team becomes stronger by:
Displaying a positive attitude on and off the pitch
• Everyone making the right decisions for the team
• Have an unshakeable belief that we can achieve our target
• Believe in the strength of the team
• Always want more – always give more
• Focus on our communication
• Be demanding with yourself
• Be fresh and well prepared to win
• Focus on being mentally stronger and always keep going to the end
• When we play away from home, believe in our identity and play the football we love to play at home
• Stick together
• Stay grounded and humble as a player and as a person
• Show the desire to win in all that you do
Enjoy and contribute to all that is special about being in a team- don’t take it for granted.”
Even if this isn’t true and taken from Arsenal’s training manual, the messages are still very powerful and applicable to a business environment. It is well established that the strength of relationships creates either a strong or a weak team spirit. It is also the team dynamic which makes everyone work together which is important – they don’t see each other as rivals and there is no worry about a team mate out shining them.
At Call of the Wild we understand very clearly the link between business and sport. For years we have worked with facilitators like Alan Chambers who inspired the England Rugby and Ashes Cricket team. John Neal is a psycho-physiologist who has worked with the MCC and Welsh Rugby Union. We have also identified that the skills taken from the training ground can be applied to business and that is why sports people like Phil Davies, Welsh captain and British Lion and Jo Lydon Sporting Rugby League star and England Rugby coach are key speakers and facilitators with Call of the Wild.
For more information on our Team Building and Leadership Courses, visit the Call of the Wild Website: http://www.callofthewild.co.uk
