I love teams!
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve played soccer — and I still play today at age 53. On a soccer field I feel ‘fully alive’, and that’s such an amazing feeling.
Feeling alive means experiencing many emotions: anticipation, excitement, joy, camaraderie, frustration, fear, persistence, exhaustion — and so many more. On a soccer field, we can allow ourselves all these emotions. Even better, we share them with our teammates. The emotions come out! I don’t know another place where emotions are allowed to flow so naturally.
I never saw a “leave your emotions at the door” sign at our clubhouse.
But I have seen a “Respect for everyone” sign, which guides how we treat teammates, opponents, and match officials.
My soccer club has loads of teams. It’s one of the biggest sports clubs in the Netherlands, with over 7,000 members — and it’s entirely run by volunteers. These teams and volunteers form the basis of the organization, which is a real place of community. Kids from 4 years old play on Saturday mornings, and the veteran “Only Fun” team (average age 70+) plays on Wednesday evenings. Teams of every age in between are spread throughout the week.
I became a team coach, in corporate organizations and later a leadership coach because I feel most alive being in and working with teams.
I believe in the power of teams.
I believe teams can change the world.
The 1970s Dutch soccer team fundamentally changed how the game was played forever. Of course, Cruyff was the genius and leader in the team, but what we remember is Total Football — not just Cruyff’s brilliance. They didn’t even win the World Cup (twice they came second), but they changed the game forever… the 1978 Dutch shirt that I got from my soccer mates is still one of my favourite gifts of all time. :-))
I’ve worked in corporate teams that changed their organizations too:
- Product development teams who delivered solutions with the best quality and customer feedback ever.
- Corporate Academy teams that created engineering competence programs which accelerated learning from years to months.
- Engineering management teams who put in place systems and processes that drove both behavioral change and quality excellence.
In these corporate teams I also felt the many emotions of being fully alive. And a similar sense of community that I feel in my soccer teams.
What’s the best team you ever worked in?
What did you deliver that delighted your customers?
How did you improve your organization over time?
What did you learn as you worked on that project or in that department?
I love teams. That’s why I focus on them in this Skillful Collaboration initiative.
Teams are about togetherness. As individuals, we can never deliver what we can together. We can never improve our processes with the same impact. And when teams learn together, they don’t just learn — they create change.
What makes you feel fully alive in your current team?
