The corrosion of a winning culture often isn’t noticed overnight but is seen in the sum total of missed opportunities large and small. It is a failure to execute to the highest level. Ultimately it becomes the inability of an organization to achieve goals consistently and achieve the outcomes that separate a winning team from a losing one. It is evident in a team that is just happy to “get by” with a good-enough effort….without any deep-seated desire to be the best.
Even “longtime listeners/first-time callers” point out the obvious importance of winning culture. It is the intangible yet obvious difference that ultimately wins or loses championships. Teams fail because of coaches who motivate in the moment by yelling at players or officials instead of actually creating a winning culture.
Unfortunately, the culture of an organization is often overlooked or ignored as a factor in success or failure. Some leaders don’t believe in the culture of an organization beyond their own bubble. Developing a culture of success has to be an intentional effort by leadership. And the accountability, both personal and organizational, that is required for a winning culture is too hard for many leaders.
And a winning culture doesn’t necessarily mean that the team wins every game or achieves every goal. But it is evident in the burning desire of the team to do everything possible to win. A winning culture can’t be forced from the top down…it has to be built from the bottom up and is evident in the execution of even the smallest of details.