This week we will find out who will win the UEFA 2012 European Championships. Whatever playing style or formation is chosen, it’s pretty certain the winning team will have developed a specific team culture around sustained ‘Excellence.’

This desire to create a culture would have been initiated and nurtured by the team’s Head Coach (often described in the UK as ‘Manager’).

Is it important to develop a Culture?

Patrick Lencioni in his research identified the Five Dysfunctions of a Team. You may want to use the simple questionnaire he devised here to establish if your team is functional or dysfunctional.

He identified these characteristics of winning teams:

• They trust one another
• They engage in unfiltered conflict around ideas
• They commit to decisions and plans of actions
• They hold one another accountable for delivering against those plans
• They focus on the achievement of collective results

Sir Alex Ferguson in this video here reemphasizes similar points.

This is a case study on how Egypt has dominated soccer in Africa by creating a culture of excellence.

To develop a healthy team culture, the coach must recognize his or her strengths and weaknesses as outlined in these clips.

Video 1 (Arsene Wenger and Roy Hodgson)

Video 2 (Arsene Wenger)

Howard Wilkinson, former FA Technical Director and LMA Chairman poses these 11 questions to the hypothetical manager, Jason, of the team created for the Scenarios for the LMA course.

In 2010, the English League Managers Association (LMA) launched an online course ‘Creating a Culture of Excellence.’ The course involves these 6 modules: 

• Increasing your awareness of ‘What is a Culture of Excellence’ 
• Reflecting on your own Strengths and Weaknesses 
• Developing a set of values that define you 
• Establishing realistic objectives 
• Knowing how to achieve these objectives 
• Improving your communication 

The course was recognized by UEFA and the Football Associations of England, Scotland, Holland and Iceland for the retention of UEFA Coaching Awards. In the first two years since the launch, over 1,000 coaches from 35 countries have enrolled, including at least one coach from 60% of Premier League and Football League clubs in England

To see what the coaches who have completed this course say about it, Click Here.

Course 1 ‘Developing a Culture of Excellence’ aims to provide the learner with a toolbox to assist in developing leadership skills as a manager. Rather than an attendance course or series of lectures, it is an online learning course that allows the learner to decide when to learn. Learners will discover:

• What makes a good manager? 
• What is a culture of excellence? 
• What are your own strengths and weaknesses? 
• How to establish and achieve objectives 
• How to improve your communication skills 

The course will therefore help learners to establish a vision, set realistic objectives and know how to achieve them. It will also improve communication.

What are the benefits of taking a course?

• Learn from the best in the world 
• Preparation for being a head coach or manager 
• Ongoing professional development to keep your skills up to date 
• Easy to access online for busy coaches and managers 
• Flexible completion times 
• Learn from practical problems 
• Reflect, discuss and learn from fellow learners over a period of time

Learners are invited to submit answers to hypothetical managerial problems. For an example of a Scenario, click here.

For details of the discounts available to NSCAA members click here.

In next week’s article related to the 2012 Euros, we will look at how the 2012 UEFA Euros were won.

Past 2012 Euro Articles:

Evaluating Performance: Lessons from previous European Championships – How important is the first goal?

Euro 2012 and the Inevitable Penalty Shoot-Outs!

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