THE IMPORTANCE OF TEAM/INDIVIDUAL STANDARDS

There are some great books that I think can help coaches and teams, and as I've mentioned before, one of the best I've read in recent years is "How to Build & Sustain a Championship Culture" by Jeff Janssen.  One of the areas that Jeff gives great detail to is the standards you set for your team -- your non-negotiables.  Do you have a set that you have developed with your team?  Have they been discussed what they are and more importantly why they are significant to the success of your team?  How do you evaluate these standards?  How you holding each other accountable?

Here are just a few thoughts on standards from Jeff's book: 

“A major part of becoming a team, then, is the establishment and collective acceptance of your standards, based on your team’s makeup and centered on your unique goal. Once a group of individuals formulates and agrees to their standards, they become united, single-minded in purpose. Standards are not the things that we ought to do, they are the things that we already do- they compromise who we are.”
-Mike Krzyzewski

“There’s probably not enough attention paid to this issue. I learned a number of valuable lessons from Parcells and Belichick when they came to the Jets. Everyone was under evaluation. The doctors, trainers, equipment men, travel department, security, public relations and groundskeepers all were under the microscope. Too often, people who are in contact with the players have little or nothing at stake professionally breed a losing culture in the building.”
–Pat Kirwan, Former NFL Assistant Coach

“Ideally you want your standard of performance, your philosophy and methodology, to be so strong and solidly ingrained that in your absence the team performs as if you were present, on site. They’ve become so proficient, highly mobilized, and well prepared that in a sense you’re extraneous; everything you’ve preached and personified has been integrated and absorbed; roles have been established and people are able to function at a high level because they understand and believe in what you’ve taught them, that is, the most effective and productive way of doing things accompanied by the most productive attitude while doing them.”
–Bill Walsh