The Power of a Positive Team: Proven Principles and Practices that Make Great Teams Great (Jon Gordon)

by Jon Gordon

No one creates success alone. We all need a team to be successful. We are better together, and together we accomplish great things.

I've discovered over the years that a positive, united team is a powerful team. It doesn't happen by accident. A positive team is created by a group of individuals who come together with vision, purpose, passion, optimism, grit, excellence, communication, connection, love, care, and commitment to do something amazing and create something incredible together.

I also wrote The Hard Hat, which is about how to be a great teammate, but that was meant more for the individual.

Positivity is more than a state of mind. It's a power that gives teams a competitive advantage in business, sports, creativity, and life.

positive teams are also more engaged and more likely to overcome all the forces against them and make a greater impact.

There will be times when it seems as if everything in the world is conspiring against you and your team. There will be moments you want to give up. There will be days when your vision seems more like fantasy than reality.

Positive teams are not about fake positivity. They are about real optimism, vision, purpose, and unity that make great teams great. Positive teams confront the reality of challenging situations and work together to overcome them.

Pessimistic teams don't become legendary. Negative teams talk about and create problems but they don't solve them.

Relationship expert John Gottman's pioneering research found that marriages are much more likely to succeed when the couple experiences a five-to-one ratio of positive to negative interactions; when the ratio approaches a one-to-one ratio, marriages are more likely to end in divorce.

“the more you energize people in your workplace, the higher your work performance.” Baker says that this occurs because people want to be around you. You attract talent and people are more likely to devote discretionary time to your projects. They'll offer new ideas, information, and opportunities to you before others.”

Positive teams don't happen by accident. They happen when team members invest their time and energy to create a positive culture; work toward a shared vision with a greater purpose; work together with optimism and belief and overcome the negativity that too often sabotages teams and organizations. Positive teams take on the battle, overcome the negativity, face the adversity, and keep moving forward. They communicate, connect, commit, and encourage each other. They build relationships and trust that makes them stronger. Positive teams commit to the mission and to each other. Instead of serving themselves, they serve one another. They care more about their effort, work, and teammates than they do about all the distractions vying for their attention. People on positive teams have a lot of belief in each other, a lot of love for each other, and a lot of desire to accomplish something great together. They pursue excellence and always strive to get better and make their team better. They lose their ego in the service of their team and find an uncommon collective greatness in the process. Because they care more, they do more, invest more, commit more, and accomplish more.

culture is the living and breathing essence of what a team believes, values, and does. Team culture is the written and unwritten rules that say how a team communicates, connects, thinks, works, and acts. Culture isn't just one thing. It's everything. Culture drives expectations and beliefs. Expectations and beliefs drive behaviors. Behaviors drive habits. And habits create the future.

“Culture beats strategy.” You have to have the right strategy, of course, but it is your culture that will determine whether your strategy is successful.

“Your culture is not just your tradition. It's the people in the locker room who carry it on.” Unfortunately, my fellow teammates and I didn't create or carry on the culture of our older teammates before us.

I didn't know you could lose your culture. I didn't know that culture and performance could change so quickly.

Culture is not static; it's dynamic. You can change it by what you say. You can elevate it by what you think. You can improve it by what you share. You can transform it by what you do. You can be a positive team that creates a positive culture right now.

You may not be driving the big bus but you can make your own bus great. Create the culture of your team and show the rest of the organization what a positive team looks

I'm not going to lie and say that talent isn't important to be a successful team. No matter what kind of team you have, it helps to have talent. But culture drives your talent toward greatness.

Research from the Heart Math Institute (HeartMath.org) shows that when you have a feeling in your heart, it goes to every cell in the body, then outward—and people up to 10 feet away can sense these feelings. This means that each day you are broadcasting to your team how you feel. You are broadcasting negative energy or positive energy, apathy or passion, indifference or purpose. Research from Harvard University also supports the idea that the emotions you feel are contagious and affect the people around you.

make. Are you going to be a germ to your team or a big dose of Vitamin C?

To create your culture you must identify what you stand for and what you want to be known for.

“What do we want to be?” They asked what kind of culture they wanted to create. What kind of team did they want to be? What did they want to accomplish together?

The key words here are “shared vision.” It's a vision that the entire team shares. It's one vision that unites and inspires the team members individually and collectively.

Research shows people are most energized when they are using their strengths for a bigger purpose, one that goes beyond themselves as individuals. It's a purpose beyond oneself that truly drives and energizes people and teams. It's not just about having a shared vision. It's also having a greater purpose that drives you toward your shared vision.

One of the most powerful ways to be a powerful team is to have purpose-driven goals rather than numerical goals.

I told them that every person in every NFL meeting room has the same goals. It's not the goals that will make you successful, otherwise everyone and every team would be successful after writing down their goals. Instead, it's your commitment to the process, your growth and your purpose that drives you to reach these goals, that will determine what you accomplish.

The truth is that numbers and goals don't drive people. People with a purpose drive the numbers and achieve goals.

Numbers are to your purpose what a scale and measuring tape are to a diet. It's an indicator of how you are doing.

As a team you will want to carry a metaphorical telescope and microscope with you on your journey. The telescope helps you and your team keep your eyes on the vision and North Star to remind you of the big picture and your greater purpose. The microscope helps you zoom in to focus on the things you must do in the short term to realize the vision in your telescope. If you have only a telescope, then you'll be thinking about your vision all the time and dreaming about the future, but not taking necessary steps to realize it. If you have only a microscope, then you'll be working hard every day, but setbacks and challenges will likely frustrate and discourage you because you'll lose sight of the big picture and forget your purpose.

You need to frequently pull out your telescope to remind yourself and your team where you are going and why you are going there, and you'll need to look through the microscope daily in order to focus on what matters most and follow through on your commitments. Together they will help take your team where you want to go and keep you energized for the journey. Creating Billions and Winning

shared vision and a greater purpose to become one of Hollywood's most successful writing teams.

their job was to work together to serve the purpose of making it the best it could be. They believed that if they focused on making something great, that would allow them to tell more stories together. The movie or show was the vision they were working toward, and the purpose was to make it great.

Egos didn't surface because everything they did together was to serve their vision and mission. I've learned from them that egos don't get in the way when you have a team that is driven by a shared vision and a greater purpose. A team with a vision on a mission doesn't let division stop them.

We came up with a family vision and mission together, and each week we sat around the kitchen table and talked about how we were doing living the vision and mission. We talked about the challenges we were facing and possible solutions going forward.

I want to encourage you to write down your vision and purpose and find ways to keep them alive. If you don't keep them alive they will fade away. You have to be intentional as a team. Talk about the vision and purpose often. Envision the future together. Create tangible reminders and pictures.

It's powerful to have each team member identify and share what the vision and mission means to them and how they can contribute to it.

It's an idea that has taken off, and now thousands of teams pick a word each year to inspire them at work and home.

One-Word T-shirts and create One-Word walls, and businesses and hospitals post their words in meeting rooms and offices.

Make Sure Everyone Is on the Bus When I think of a team, I envision them on a bus together moving toward their destination with a shared vision and greater purpose. If a team isn't on the bus together, then you know they aren't moving powerfully in the same direction.

It's important to stop and ask, “Are we all on the bus?” If some team members are not on the bus, then you can discuss why and address the situation, as we will discuss later in the book.

Parents can greatly influence the culture of their team through the beliefs and words they share with their children. Getting parents to understand and buy into the vision and purpose is a great way to make the culture and team stronger.

A team that believes together achieves together.

There will be days you want to give up. There will be times your obstacles seem insurmountable. There will be moments when it seems like your competition has you beat. Too often, I see teams give up because of the struggle, the circumstance, the frustration, the fear, the negativity, the rejection, and the adversity. They give up because the obstacle seems more powerful than them and they don't have the faith to keep moving forward. But you don't have to give up. You don't have to let fear win. You can know that all things are possible to a team that believes. You can trust that your obstacles are no match for a team that has faith, love, and hope. You can keep your shared vision and purpose alive and work with optimism, positivity, and belief to create it.

A lot of teams start out positive. At the beginning of the season, project, campaign, or initiative, everyone is fired up and ready to go. But as time goes on and challenges emerge, the team loses its positive attitude and energy. I've found that great teams are not only positive in the beginning but throughout the journey. They stay positive together through all the adversity, challenges, setbacks, and issues.

adopted our Energy Bus for Schools program. She told me that before they adopted our program, they were a school that focused on what was going wrong and what the students were doing wrong. But now her team of teachers is focused on what is going right. This positive approach has made an impact. While many teachers and school environments become increasingly negative throughout the school year, Windy and her team have stayed positive and made a greater difference as a result.

To be a positive team, all of your team members must cultivate optimism within themselves and share it with each other.

He says that we all have two dogs inside of us, “We have a negative dog and a positive dog, and they fight all the time, but the one who wins the fight is the one you feed the most, so feed the positive dog.” I based this story on an ancient fable about two wolves, but whether we are talking about wolves, dogs, or humans, we all have a positive-versus-negative battle going on each day. Every moment and every situation presents an opportunity to your team to see and experience the positive or the negative. Each day, you can feed the positive dog or the negative dog inside yourselves, and whichever one you feed, grows.

When asked how he did it, he gave the best advice I've ever heard. He said, “I've learned to talk to myself instead of listen to myself.” He memorized scripture and would recite it to himself when he needed a boost. Gills continued, “If I listen to myself, I hear all the reasons why I should give up. I hear that I'm too tired, too old, too weak to make it. But if I talk to myself, I can give myself the encouragement and words I need to hear to keep running and finish the race.” It's the same way with life. Too often we listen to ourselves and hear all the complaints, self-doubt, fear, and negativity that lead to unhappiness, failure, and unfulfilled goals. But just because you have a negative thought doesn't mean you have to believe it. Many of your negative thoughts come from fear, and the truth is that fear is a liar. I've learned that instead of listening to the negative lies, we can choose to feed ourselves with the positive truth. We can speak truth to the lies and fuel up with words, thoughts, phrases, and beliefs that give us the strength and power to overcome our challenges and create an extraordinary life and team.

A lot of times, as individuals and teams, we stop appreciating the opportunity we have to do the work we do and the people we do it with. For some, work becomes an obligation. For others entitlement sets in and they stop appreciating the opportunity and journey. A simple shift of a few words has the power to change the way you and your team approach everything. Instead of talking about what you have to do, start acknowledging what you get to do.

You get the opportunity to live this life. You get to work with a team that is making a difference. You get to learn and grow each day. You get to go to work, while so many others wish they had a job. You even get to drive in traffic, whereas many people can't afford to buy a car. You get to wake up, while so many others have passed on too early.