“I am constantly being asked about individuals. The only way to win is as a team. Football is not about one or two or three star players.” – Pele
One of today’s most important characteristics of top ranked workplaces is an engaged workforce. Engagement within team members is critical for team success not only in the office, but also on the pitch. All the talent and skills in the World Cup could be a complete waste if the team is not engaged and focused on set goals and a plan of attack. Today’s’ leaders need to create an engaging atmosphere for their team members!
A recent Dale Carnegie Training Research Study identified the specific behaviors you need to employ to create an engaged workforce. Why should you care? Because engaged teams outperform the competition by as much as 202% (Gallup).
Apply the Dale Carnegie Training Employee Engagement Tips to Build a Winning Team!
1. Create an Engaging Atmosphere
Focus on interpersonal relationships with your team members. Trust and respect are the stepping stones of good communication between coach and team members. “Caring” leaders take an interest in their team members wants and needs, and their overall career success. Get to know each player’s personality and interests.
2. Build Pride in the Team’s Name
When team members associate themselves with the company’s values, achievements, missions and visions, they are proud to be part of that company. Taking pride in your organization is one of the 3 engagement drivers that Dale Carnegie’s research identified. Achieving goals will create a good reputation and can make the whole team and country proud.
3. The Importance of Positive Emotions
People like to say they make rational decisions, but in reality they are driven by emotions. Dale Carnegie Training & MSW Research Study found 4 positive emotions that lead to team member engagement. The research showed leaders that have a team that feel enthusiastic, inspired, confident, and empowered are highly likely to be fully engaged in their work.
4. Praise the Slightest Improvement and Praise Every Improvement
Engaging leaders should praise and acknowledge team member’s achievements. Soccer players are acknowledged for their overall performance. Coaches and captains of international teams’ vote and FIFA presents a Golden Ball award to the best player from the World Cup. Interesting is the fact that, most of the time, the winner of the Golden Ball does not play for the team that won the World Cup. This shows that having the best player does not always guarantee victory of the team. It takes more than 1 or 2 star players, to win a game. And it takes an engaged, empowered, and confident team to win the Cup!
5. Engage Team Members and They Will Go the Extra Mile
Great leaders makes people feel valued. This leads to enthusiastic and engaged employees who will go outside their comfort zone and will go the extra mile to drive the organization to excellence. Engaged players will run to the last second, trying to score for their teams, as we’ve seen on this throughout this Word Cup.
6. Ignite Workplace Enthusiasm
Football legend, Pele has referred to the importance of emotion in soccer “Enthusiasm is everything”. Common values get people closer together. Working towards mutual goals, discussing common interests or cheering for the same team, creates workplace enthusiasm. The World Cup is a good way to ignite team enthusiasm and improve the communication between diverse team members in a global company.