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We live in an age that makes it more difficult than ever to be a team player.

Think about it: 15-20 years ago there was no such thing as a virtual team, we were not as sedentary in our lifestyle, we knew our neighbours, were more socially engaged and didn’t constantly have our heads in a phone, tablet or laptop.

These lifestyle changes are now transforming the way teams work; however, there are still several consistencies across the board that every strong and collaborative team possess.

To develop a great team regardless of its size, each member must buy into the bigger picture and the goal they are aiming for. There is no precise recipe for success; however, there are several values that when instilled into a team environment will increase the potential for a successful outcome and improved performance. Executives and senior management are realising the benefits of improving accountability in teams, especially when it leads to increased productivity and improves a company’s bottom line.

Australian workplace analysis experts WorkplaceInfo have discovered that high staff turnover and poor staff engagement are costing Australian businesses billions of dollars each year.Once the calculations are completed, they are shocked to discover the true cost of employee turnover. Some sources estimate that the cost of replacing a salaried and professionally qualified employee is equivalent to a year’s salary or more. Other studies suggest that a typical rate of voluntary turnover (resignations) for organisations is about 10% per year (i.e. excluding dismissals and redundancies). Consider the following sample calculation: a business with 500 employees can expect to have 50 resignations per year. The latest Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) figures issued by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (for November 2006) record AWE for full-time employees of $1,058.90. Adding 30% to this for the cost of employee benefits and on-costs amounts to $317.80, giving a total cost of $1,376.70. Assuming turnover cost to be a year’s total remuneration for each employee, the total annual cost of turnover for this business is $1,376.70 x 52 weeks x 50 employees. That’s a total of $3,579,420 per year. So a retention strategy that was able to reduce employee resignations from 10% to 5% per year would save this business almost $1.8 million per year, less the costs of implementing the strategy.

* Table from www.compensationforce.com

All IndustriesBanking & FinanceHealthcareHospitalityInsuranceManufacturing & DistributionNon-For-ProfitServicesUtilities

2014 Voluntary Turnover

11.0%13.3%13.0%20.2%8.1%8.6%11.2%8.6%6.9%

All IndustriesBanking & FinanceHealthcareHospitalityInsuranceManufacturing & DistributionNon-For-ProfitServicesUtilities

15.7%17.4%17.5%27.6%11.7%13.7%15.6%12.5%8.6%

2014 Total Turnover

THE CHALLENGE

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The most important thing about building a great team is that teamwork is the only sustainable point

of difference in an organisation. Anyone can copy a company’s strategy, but no one can copy your

teamwork and the culture it builds from within.

Great teamwork starts in the executive suite and requires a motivated leader with a strong vision and

belief, communication and humility. Teams that achieve greatness do not do so for their coach, CEO

or hierarchy, they do it for themselves. When a human being expresses kindness, appreciation and

helps another person, it raises the serotonin levels in both people's brains. It physiologically makes us

feel better and the harmony within the team increases.

To create a compounding effect throughout the team and the organisation, it all comes down to

having people who understand each other and work well together.

Developing the right mix of trust, honesty and a sense of purpose among your team members is

crucial.

Everyday we are faced with roadblocks and speed humps that challenge our team environment. If

your team have the right mindset and are determined, they are not fazed or deterred by failure or

setbacks. They persevere in spite of obstacles that are put in front of them.

There are four main areas that all successful teams excel in:

1. Purpose

2. Values

3. Vision

4. Belief

President Kennedy visited NASA and as he was walking the halls he came across a cleaner who was cleaning up a storm, like the Energizer bunny with a mop in his hand. The President walked over to the cleaner and told him he was doing a great job and the cleaner replied,

"Thank you Sir, I'm helping put a man on the moon."

Even though he was cleaning floors he had a bigger purpose and vision for his life. This is the essence of teamwork.

BUILDING A GREAT TEAM

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Human beings require a purpose.

Something bigger than themselves.

An article by Forbes magazine in 2014 asked Millennial (Generation Y) employees what motivated

them. 18% of people said money, while 78% said finding meaning, purpose and a sense of belonging

in their life.

To achieve that higher purpose and sense of belonging, there are three vital ingredients that build

camaraderie and improve teamwork. This is about:

The Values

Is each individual intrinsically or extrinsically motivated? External influences such as money, power,

and fame are insignificant compared to a true passion for what you do.

The Vision

As a leader, if you hire people that believe what you believe and you are willing to lead by example,

they will work for you with blood, sweat and tears.

The Belief

Is everyone on the team ‘buying in’ to the bigger goal and the higher purpose?

Is the purpose something

bigger than themselves?

Internally or externally

motivated

Does the team share your vision?

Is everyone buying in?

VALUES

PURPOSE

VISION

BELIEF

TEAMWORK

“Giving your young employees a purpose will enable them to envision a future with your company. Young people are fickle. They are on an endless search for happiness. If an organisation is unable to map out a road plan, a purpose of employment, it will unfortunately notice a high 0-2 year turnover. Millennials need direction and meaning, an interesting mixture of altruism and self-interest.”

PURPOSE

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Over the next decade of disruption, organisations and sporting teams who wish to prosper and not

get left behind will focus more time on developing their teams, having an organisational purpose and

contribution which gives people a sense of pride and a genuine feeling that they belong and are

making a difference in the world. You see, the majority of people are not motivated by money.

They are motivated by the challenge.

For hundreds and even thousands of years, people have sought to be part of something larger than

themselves. They want to be part of something that they are really proud of.

Something that they will fight for, sacrifice for and be able to share.

Creating this type of environment can dramatically reduce employee turnover by up to 50%, improve

morale and AT LEAST double your productivity, all of which improves your bottom line.

In fact when I completed this with the Townville Crocodiles a few years back, I designed a program

where everyone knew their roles and responsibilities as professional basketball players, but by

fulfilling certain traits and displaying the four pillars that I teach in a team environment, they became a

CROC.

A CROC was a status symbol that embellished those that displayed qualities and put the team first by

proving that the team was more important than one person. By displaying my four pillars of success

for 30 days straight, they demonstrated that they now played for the name on the front of the jersey,

not the name on the back.

These values transfer responsibility to a group of senior team members and, in particular, hard-hitting

peer to peer reviews where team members honestly, and at times even brutally, tell each other exactly

what they think and what their strengths and weaknesses are. When facilitated correctly, this brings

with it a renewed sense of optimism and instills trust and a collective feeling that they can do better.

Courage is what you call on in times of adversity.

This adversity builds resilience and makes you and everyone around you stronger.

FOUR PILLARS OF A SUCCESSFUL TEAM

Endurance is to see a project through. Not quitting and the ability to sustain a stressful activity or situation.

Mateship does not discriminate.Male or female, even race, religion, creed and education level is irrelevant.

Mateship is about loyalty and depending on those around you when the going gets tough.

The Four Pillars is a model that clarifies different components of what it takes to build camaraderie and a sense of belonging within your team.

Sacrifice is about putting others’ needs before your own. An altruistic mindset where others’ welfare is more important than your own.

COURAGE ENDURANCE

MATESHIPSACRIFICE

VALUES

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Ian StackerHead Coach Townsville Crocodiles 1998-2005NBL Coach of the Year 2000 & 2003World Championship Gold Medal 1997 National Young Men’s teamMen’s Head Coach Australian Institute of Sport 2010-2013

Ritchie Gibson first entered my life in 2000, at the time I was Head Coach of the Townsville Crocodiles in the National Basketball League. Our season was on the brink, and we had lost star players with season-ending injuries, we had team chemistry issue with import players and were staring down a disastrous finish to the year.

We embarked on a team-building, bonding and teamwork strategy session with Ritchie and it changed our season and fortune for the year. We went on a 16-game winning streak and made the NBL Grand Final for the first time in our franchise history.

My coaching career has had a fair share of significant results with NBL and World Championship successes and I hold the memories of my time with Ritchie in the same fondness as I do those results – the wins were great at the time but Ritchie embedded strategies for dealing with adversity, creating resilience and the value of teamwork and the importance of roles that will stay with me forever.

We need to learn from people like Ritchie who can change people’s lives for the better.

We need to learn from people like Ritchie who can change people’s lives for the better.

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Every team can relate to being somewhere on this scale.

Mutual trust, loyalty and a sense of belonging is at its highest and strongest point when everyone is focused on the one goal with the higher purpose, not on who is going to get the credit.

An end goal of leaving the organisation in a better place should be the priority, rather than being externally motivated. Externally motivated people strive for recognition, material rewards, praise, or personal status. But if the person participates because he or she enjoys the activity and wants to accomplish something for their self-worth and self-fulfillment, then they are internally motivated.

A great guide to differentiating between internal and external motivation is how a person feels after he or she has achieved something. If you feel satisfied only after you win or finish at the top, then you are externally motivated. But if you can feel satisfied by knowing deep within yourself how hard you have trained, and if you are not concerned whether you win or lose as long as you have given your all, then you are internally motivated. The bottom line is that internal motivation means you derive satisfaction from achieving instead of from external rewards.

If a team can't achieve this type of altruistic mindset, a greater effort needs to be made by individuals to put the team first. Otherwise, individualism and a toxic environment start to affect morale.

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.

TEAM CULTURE OUTCOME FOCUS PRODUCTIVITY

CON

NEC

TDI

SCO

NN

ECT

2

1

3

4

5

Toxic ToxicDamage Damage - 2 - 2

Solo SoloApathy Apathy - 1 - 1

Cooperation CooperationOptimism Optimism 0 0

Collaboration CollaborationCamaraderie Camaraderie ×2 ×2

Altruistic AltruisticBelonging Belonging

Choice Choice

Effort Effort

Honesty Honesty

Trust Trust

Purpose Purpose×4 ×4

VISION

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John GoddardProminent company director and former Chief Operating Officer of

Bendigo Bank

Rather than adopting the traditional cure-all ‘meaning-of-life’ template,

Ritchie has drawn deeply on his personal life experiences with an honest and

searing analysis of the positive strategies he has successfully adopted in

achieving life success.

The central and powerful messages he delivers in his teamwork

presentations and training sessions are about camaraderie and building a

sense of belonging; overcoming and harnessing the fears that disable us;

and, finally, about never ever giving up.

Ritchie is truly a successful self-made man who never stops living the

dream. I salute him for writing the Passport to Success and commend it to

anyone who is serious about making positive changes in their life or their

business.

Ritchie is truly a successful self-made man who never stops living the dream.

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Most of our beliefs are held not because we have verified them for ourselves, but for many other different reasons. Those reasons range from the influence of our environment in childhood to the influence of the media in adult life.

What your team believes to be true is only as true as their worldly experience; their reality doesn’t go any further than that. In the end, what really matters is exactly the conclusion they draw.

To gain a competitive advantage, we need to think differently when it comes to teamwork and improving synergies within the workplace. Our forefathers set the bar with courage, heroic traits and what it takes to make a great team. During the many wars that Australia has fought in, it wasn’t a strategic 5-point plan that motivated our soldiers to display gallantry or valour; it was always for a cause, a purpose or belief, and the sacrifice they were willing to make.

The contrast between belief and the pursuit of results explains the reasoning behind inspiring achievements. Having a strong belief and purpose in what you are doing does not expect a result and it does not sway towards probable odds, it just doesn't accept mediocrity.

If you are the kind of business that believes that a great team is forged from within, never settles for mediocrity and has a never-say-die attitude, well, you are going to be well-placed over this next decade of disruption.

It is time to create more leaders, not followers, to put pride back into the company and most importantly, to set an example with every act of integrity, compassion, courage, or sacrifice that enriched, empowered, or encouraged others to emulate your example.

You can only achieve this if you have a strong enough WHY. In his book, Start with Why, Simon Sinek explains that If your WHY is strong enough, and the team ‘buys in’, the results can be enormous.

THE BELIEF

Every organisation on the planet knows WHAT they do. These are products they sell or the services.

WHAT HOW WHY

Some organisations know HOW they do it. These are the things that make them special or set them apart from their competition.

Very few organisations know WHY they do what they do. WHY is not about making money. That’s a result. WHY is a purpose, cause or belief. It’s the very reason your organisation exists.

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The problem with traditional team-building and culture-training historically is that there is no traction

or process. It is an event and a bit like a hot bath, it makes you feel good but over time it loses its

effectiveness.

It doesn't matter whether you are a small business owner or you own Google, appreciating and

recognising improved teamwork in your workplace will make your staff happier and your business

more money, and lots of it.

As evidenced again and again throughout the history of business, both ancient and recent, it's

incredibly hard to change a system when you're living within the system. For those operating in large,

complex organisational structures with many moving parts, leading change and disruption is

incredibly difficult. 

As a leader, you must be positively paranoid and look for where complacency has set in. If nothing

changes on your watch, you are a manager not a leader.

You’ve probably identified that this white paper is not spruiking some sales pitch or telling you that

everything thing will be OK within your company.

No, this paper is speaking directly to the part of you that knows this stuff is true.

It’s what has been proven, time and time again, within multi-million-dollar organisations. I have worked

with people all over the world who are currently implementing this approach and achieving incredible

results.

If you’re serious about thriving in the modern era and your team leaving a legacy, then this program

may well be for you.

In the next 10 years we are going to see a converging of forces both technological and social that are

going to create an unprecedented environment for change. Make no mistake, if your organisation is

not prepared or willing to change, or if you allow fears to control your emotions, you’re going to be left

behind.

The Passport to Success training program creates accountability in team environments, changes

emotional behaviour and develops newer and improved habits. Both of which, improve and increase

productivity and performance.

The real key is developing what Stephen Covey calls his ‘cadence of accountability’.

If you can get these things right, you are creating the building blocks and foundations for a

collaborative team and a successful sporting organisation.

SUMMARY

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Ian Healy

Former Australian Cricket Captain, Australian Cricket Hall of Fame

inductee and Channel Nine presenter

Powerful messages and experiences delivered quickly, I love it.

More than likely to make you more successful if that's what you want, but

certain to make you happier.

That's what we all need!

I have led a charmed life, yet I still derive extreme value from Ritchie’s words.

I have led a charmed life, yet I still derive extreme value from Ritchie’s words.

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Ritchie is one of Australia's leading speakers

and trainers on teamwork, culture and

performance. He works with and develops

high-calibre athletes and leaders from

professional sporting backgrounds and

corporate organisations who are willing to

learn more, grow more, invest more and lead

by example.

He has worked with and coached many world-renowned brands such as Telstra, Steiner Transocean,

Bendigo Bank, Westpac, St George Bank, Brisbane Broncos, Townsville Crocodiles, Perth Wildcats and

even professional athletes in the NFL.

He is the author of the best selling book “Be You. Be Great.” and has written for Woman’s Health

magazine, Accelerate, Ultrafit, The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, The Herald Sun and been a regular

on radio around the country.

He draws on his background and experiences to touch and empower his clients and is the reason why

people are still talking about his speaking and coaching several years down the track.

He will focus on improving individuals in every aspect of their life which will have flow-on effects with

improved productivity and teamwork in the workplace.

To arrange a meeting to discuss a Passport to Success corporate training program and transform the

culture of your organisation or schedule a keynote presentation for a conference or event, please

contact Ritchie at:

Subscribe to the best newsletter in the business here:

http://beyoubegreat.com.au/get-in-touch

ritchie@ritchiegibson.com

or call 0414 927 035www.ritchiegibson.com

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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If my clients do not perceive that they have received value from my product, they receive a full refund.

That’s my personal guarantee.

100% money back guarantee and refund if you’re not 100% happy with the results and wish to proceed onto the next stage.

I profit through the value I deliver to your company.