Lessons from Beckham
“You have to be wanted and loved by your team mates”
Such a great quote out of the Beckham doco by Michel Salgado of Real Madrid fame.
While on sick leave I binge watched the Beckham doco on Netflix. Typical me I was observing the human & pack behaviour laid out like a learning seminar…& I loved it!
**Spoilers ahead! This is some of the story & life of one of the greatest footballers in history & many of the incredible, & largely unknown, challenges he faced to keep on performing.
The media were relentless in their pursuit of him, often spinning misguided judgements & narrative without ever knowing the full story.
It also shows the ugly side of pack mentality & the awful way that humans can ostracize another when they buy into largely misguided narrative fueled by the power that is the dirty tabloids.
It shows controlling, powerful team managers that made glaring mistakes due to alignment with their ego vs the team. But it also shows the power of winning when the team are ONE, when they are aligned & supportive of each other. Fascinating & inspiring.
Beckham was single minded in that he loved the game & he wanted to play it & win at it for as long as he could. He was also a master of truly playing "with" & motivating the team. Many of these amazing high performers supported each other in winning. They truly understand what a team game is.
I was totally drawn to the team play & dynamics & the effect that managers & coaches have – of course!
It clearly outlined/reminded that having one high performer in a team does not a winning team make. (Demonstrated when he first joined LA Galaxy.)
An entire team of high performers who work together, support & celebrate each others wins IS a high performing team. Each high performer plays a different position, one that suits their strengths & expertise. There will also be those that catalyze effort & motivation; Beckham was one of these.
What makes a standout difference in the dream team work was beautifully articulated by Michel Salgado, one of his Real Madrid team mates, with these 2 quotes:
“You have to be wanted and loved by your team mates” to be & play at your best.
“Our strength was not individual. Together we are our strength – a team of friends.”
When Real Madrid embraced Beckham as a friend & showed him love & support after he joined & wasn’t “fitting”, even against the managers plan, the team became a winning team once again. It was beautiful to watch!
Don’t know about you but I grabbed some great take aways from this doco to remind us how to not compete with our team mates but rather be competitive & have a winning mindset as a whole team.
Are you in a high performing, winning team? Or is it more a team of high performers? Great contemplation & material here for those questions.
PS I invite all team coaches & leaders to watch this doco.
PPS I was waiting for Ted Lasso to arrive at any time & help some of the managers!