The Batting Doctors Cricket Team Wisdom

By The Batting Doctor

Many years ago I was lucky enough to meet well known cricket Sports Psychologist Sandy Gordon. At that meeting Sandy indicated that it was important for all teams and team members to continue to look to improve in all they do.

Later I was fortunate to attend a Junior Cricket meeting where Mike Hussey spoke. Mike indicated that Sandy Gordon had impressed on the West Australian Team there was a genuine need for all to work together as a team.

Sandy had suggested to Mike that he and the team needed to remember the following acronym:

Together
Each
Achieve
More

The WISE quickly understand that there is a genuine need for all to continue to work to improve in all that is done. The WISE also better understand that so much more can be achieved when all in a TEAM work together.

Over many centuries of human existence, the WISE have used these important ideals to achieve unbelievable and sustained SUCCESS. Many examples of these outstanding achievements have been included to provide impetus for the reader to apply WISDOM in all that is done.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Jun 18, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796002287

The Batting Doctor

I am a humble, older, retired gentleman who has gained considerable knowledge on cricket in my 50 years of involvement. Currently I enjoy coaching a small group of young men one-on-one. My coaching experiences gave me the idea of starting an Internet Cricket Coaching service under the title “The Batting Doctor”. That goal is now achieved. My coaching has seen me develop my own philosophies and ways of doing things in cricket. Many of my ways are unique and opposite to conventional thinking. I get immense pleasure from understanding how and what motivates individuals.

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Copyright © 2019 by The Batting Doctor.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 06/17/2019

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CONTENTS

Introduction

PART 1

TEAM COMMITMENT

Chapter 1      The Importance of Commitment

Chapter 2      The Benefits of Team Commitment

Chapter 3      Planning Team Commitment

PART 2

COMBINATION

Chapter 4      The Importance of Team Combination

Chapter 5      The Benefits of Team Combination

Chapter 6      Planning Team Combination

PART 3

TEAM CHARACTER

Chapter 7      The Importance of Team Character

Chapter 8      The Benefits of A Great Team Character

Chapter 9      Planning A Great Team Character

PART 4

BELIEF

Chapter 10    The Importance of A Great Team Belief

Chapter 11    The Benefits of A Great Team Belief

Chapter 12    Planning For Team Belief

PART 5

BALANCE

Chapter 13    The Importance of Team Balance

Chapter 14    The Benefits of Team Balance

Chapter 15    Planning for Team Balance

PART 6

ADDING VALUE

Chapter 16    The Importance of Adding Value

Chapter 17    Planning to Add Value

Conclusions

Introduction

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T o see a champion team combining enthusiastically as one is an exhilarating experience for me. The connection between one and all within the team appears to happen with a minimum of effort, yet with a maximum in performance. These teams seem to be connected by an invisible magical force that allows them to anticipate the moves of each other and those of their opponents.

Is it magic? Is it just good luck? Is it hard work? Perhaps it is a combination of all. Or is it something else altogether?

What do you think?

Wisdom is arguably the most important ingredient in success. A team that uses its combined wisdom can create outstanding success and magical team synergy.

Team synergy provides that extra bit and allows for the creation of the magical plays and outstanding successes used by champion teams. The use of astute team wisdom is however required before sustained success can be created.

The team wisdom required, I believe, may be as simple as ABC. I arrived at my ABC concept after a passionate involvement and interest in sport, which has spanned more than fifty years. A curiosity in wanting to know how, when, where, what, who, and why these extraordinary events happen has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.

What then are the precise components that make up my ABC pyramid concept?

The three founding components of the ABC pyramid require all within a team to make a wholehearted Commitment to the team, the development of a selfless Combination of all, and also the discipline for all to build a great and indomitable Character.

Two interconnecting and cementing components of the pyramid require all within the team to establish an undying team Belief and superb team Balance.

Once the preceding components are in place, an enrichment process becomes much easier. This enrichment process will see all within the team seeking to Add Value by working to improve in all they do.

With Commitment, Combination, and Character, a great team gains a vital foundation, from which they are able to launch towards success. Commitment to the team helps to build a passionate team allegiance and energy. Immense strength and genius are also generated when a team selflessly combines and works together. When an indomitable team character exists, powerful mental, physical, and spiritual forces are ignited.

Belief and Balance ensure the great team has the necessary faith and composure to thrive in all facets of competition. An indomitable belief helps a team to mould and then deliver the exciting expectations that are set. Balance ensures the team is centred, well-structured, and able to perform in all situations.

A champion team will also actively seek to improve and add value in all they do. They do this with astute planning. This can include learning new skills, fully understanding why a process needs to be done a particular way, and gaining wisdom through experience.

In the chapters to follow, I will discuss each of the components of the ABC pyramid in greater detail. Hopefully, it will help provide you with a greater understanding of the positive ways in which team wisdom can be achieved. If you enjoy a challenge, you will no doubt, like me, be looking to build greater wisdom through the improvement in your knowledge and understanding.

It is my sincere hope that you get to understand the immense value derived from obtaining greater team wisdom.

Peter Bowler

The Batting Doctor

Perth, Western Australia

PART 1

TEAM COMMITMENT

Chapter 1

The Importance of Commitment

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Why Is Commitment So Important

to an Individual and Team?

P assionate commitment is vital to a team because it creates immense willpower and an exciting environment. With great team commitment, it is also possible to create team synergy. Team synergy ensures that something extra is created out of the sum of all components.

Commitment ensures that the inspired and magical actions of a team are brought into existence. Team synergy rarely happens by accident but is more likely to happen with passionate team commitment.

When fully committed, an individual is loyal, fully supportive of their colleagues, and is prepared to go the extra mile for their team. They are able to enthusiastically fire themselves into action, keep going when the going is tough, and can celebrate as one when successful. When an individual is fully committed, they put their best foot forward, reach for new levels in performance, and have the willpower to create some cricketing magic.

Commitment is a vital component of success for any individual and team.

Why Has Evolution Helped Create a Need

for Passionate Commitment?

In the past, our forefathers found it necessary to be part of a group to better their chances of survival. To satisfy this evolutionary need, the majority of us have a great and earnest desire to be accepted by our team. If this need is met, we feel accepted and willingly make a firm commitment.

Acceptance helps to create an environment where enjoyment can exist. Enjoyment, as psychologists now understand, sees an individual attracted to the things they enjoy yet avoid the things they don’t. Encouragement ensures better enjoyment of what an individual does, as well as making them feel more accepted.

A great team coach, thus, ensures that these vital evolutionary needs are met. These special coaches are encouragers, making all feel that they are important and valued members of the team.

The great team coach also understands the need for all within a team to be empowered. Empowerment gives each player the opportunity to contribute to the betterment of their team in their own special way. To remain part of a group in the past required our forefathers to contribute to the group in order to be accepted and for them to stay as part of the group. Empowerment ensures each individual is able to contribute their respective skills and expertise, and this helps to satisfy the evolutionary need for acceptance. Empowerment helps to provide a greater assurance that all within the team will do their best for their team.

Passionate and selfless commitment to a group in the past ensured that the individual felt accepted, could contribute to the good of the group, and then get to enjoy the safe and satisfying environment they helped to create.

Passionate commitment needs to be built and embraced. If done with wisdom, it will also help to satisfy the evolutionary need for acceptance and the inbuilt desire to contribute to the good of the team.

Why Is a Great Team Commitment So Important?

Alone, an individual may be committed to their goals and dreams and work hard to achieve those goals. However, what an individual is able to create is small compared with what can be achieved when they work selflessly in unison with their team.

A passionate and selfless commitment to a team brings together the various skills and expertise that each member possesses and can significantly create a synergy or magic that makes champions and champion teams. Commitment of this magnitude requires certain vital components to be present before what is desired by the team can be accomplished. These components ensure that the commitment made is passionate, selfless, lasting, and able to satisfy evolutionary conditioning.

These vital components include enjoyment, encouragement, and empowerment.

When these vital components are included and embraced by a team, they truly get to feel accepted. They also get to feel that they are able to contribute usefully. They will also get to understand that they will be encouraged in all circumstances. Most importantly, they get to enjoy what they and others achieve. In an environment where these three important enabling forces exist, it is likely that team members will also be inspired to do their best and to be their best.

Enjoyment is a force that ensures each individual within a team can have fun and laugh together in what they do and achieve. Enjoyment also helps with the release of chemicals within the body that help to create and hold a euphoric state of being. Enjoyment helps to capture the hearts of a team.

Encouragement is an extremely powerful motivating force because of the positive feedback and reinforcement that it provides. When selfless actions are taken by an individual and their efforts are acknowledged, they are also rewarded with the release of chemicals that also help create a euphoric state. Encouragement in the form of praise helps to recognise and confirm the selfless actions undertaken by an individual. Encouraging words help to retain the euphoric state created by the chemicals released into the body.

Empowerment is a potent force as it gives each team member the opportunity of providing an input into the overall planning and running of the team. It provides team members with ownership and the ability to express their values and uniqueness on and off the pitch. Empowerment also builds a feeling of partnership and a means by which a player can selflessly contribute and influence the direction and outcomes experienced by the team. Empowerment also provides the wisest of coaches with a means of satisfying the evolutionary need for each player to contribute to the performance of the team.

These three energising and evolutionary forces help to build and reinforce a passionate team commitment.

What Examples Show the Importance

of Great Team Commitment?

The most successful and fastest-growing businesses in the world are those where the employees are actually encouraged and made to feel that they are part owners of the business. When they are given greater input into the decision-making processes, they become more mindful of the areas of the business where improvements can and need to be made.

These employees are often further encouraged and recognised by being given a share in the profits that flow with the success of the business. Rewards can increase enthusiasm, enjoyment, commitment, and a determination to go the extra mile. Employees who are rewarded readily and willingly put in extra effort, which can in turn provide an increased standard of excellence and success.

The keys forces are empowerment, encouragement, and enjoyment.

Without these key forces, an organisation is likely to be less robust, and the thousands of little things that could be done to improve overall performance can be missed and never see the light of day. People deprived of these important forces normally only do what they have to do. The result is a greater likelihood of malaise rather than a highly motivated and dynamic team environment.

The innovators and risk-takers who can make a significant difference in a business or great team can become frustrated at having no input or in not being given room for self-expression. If their ability to contribute and have an impact within a team is obstructed, they are likely to seek a more congenial atmosphere elsewhere where their expertise is appreciated.

It is worth remembering that the most successful and highest-paid managers and coaches are paid for what they can motivate their people to deliver. Leaders who are more dynamic and inspirational are the ones that get the very best out of their people.

Let us look at a specific sporting example that demonstrates the value of commitment.

In 1995, the Carlton Football Club won the AFL Premiership, set a record number of wins for the season, and established the longest-winning sequence in AFL history.

David Parkin, the coach of this Carlton team, indicated in an interview recorded in Coaching Life magazine that they had in fact encouraged the involvement of all players, coaches, support staff, administration, and other interested parties. These people all had input and ownership of the planning and decision-making processes of the team for the entire season.

He described how invaluable the input was from all. The information and input gathered were used to formulate new innovative goals and strategic plans for the team. Various groups then worked together to refine and implement the plans, with an aim to improve overall performance and to sustain peak performance for longer periods of time. In undertaking these actions, the Carlton team created a magnificent commitment by one and all and a truly dynamic team environment.

The team wisdom that the Carlton Football Club developed enabled them to reap the rewards that their planning, hard work, and outstanding commitment provided.

In conclusion:

Without team wisdom, it is unlikely that any team will develop the commitment that is vital for success, both in the short and long term.

In summary:

Team wisdom will see the development of team

commitment, which is vital for SUCCESS.

Chapter 2

The Benefits of Team Commitment

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The Innumerable Benefits of Great Team Commitment.

A great team commitment provides many benefits to a team. Some benefits can be seen and are therefore tangible. Other benefits are created by actions that are not readily seen, and these are intangible.

These intangible benefits may not be seen by the less discerning, but they are vital for any team. One of these benefits is team synergy. The extra magical outcomes that synergy produces can only be achieved through the extra efforts and actions undertaken as a result of total team commitment.

Let’s look at six other major benefits that commitment will bring to a team. It is important to remember that we are unlikely to see any benefits without the committed actions that follow on from positive and purposeful planning.

Great commitment by a team will inevitably be of benefit because of the extra actions taken and the magical outcomes that these actions can produce. If we use ACTION as an acronym, we will see that it contains six types of commitment benefits for any team, and these are as follows:

•  Agreement

•  Challenges

•  Targets

•  Inspiration

•  Openness

•  New pathways

Let’s look at each part of our ACTION acronym more closely. Where there is genuine commitment within a team, action will be taken, and many benefits will arise.

Why Is Better AGREEMENT a Major

Benefit of Team Commitment?

Great team commitment is likely to see increased agreement and cooperation between all.

To gain the benefit of agreement, wise coaches will seek input, ideas, opinions, and consensus from their players.

More importantly, agreement between all provides the team with a focused purpose. This agreed focus helps to build superior team commitment and ultimately better overall success for a team. The truly wise coach understands the enormous value and benefit that agreement brings to a team.

The wisest of coaches, therefore, go through the planning process step by step with the team, seeking input, ideas, opinions, and a vital agreement from players along the way. Initially, a basic agreement on proposed goals for the team needs to be determined. Input from the players and then agreement to these important direction-determining goals can help to increase commitment through a greater feeling of belonging and ownership.

These coaches will also seek to gain agreement on the need for reviews and measures to ensure that progress towards the agreed goals is being achieved on a timely basis.

In conjunction with the team, the coach will then set in place plans to achieve the specific performance and outcome goals that have been set. These plans will include training schedules, which outline training days, times, and specific processes that are to be undertaken.

The coach will also explain to the team that the accomplishment of the larger goals set will only be achieved by improving the specific processes undertaken by the team at practice and in the game. Specific process goals established in conjunction with the players are aimed at obtaining commitment to the improvements desired. As each and everything the team does is made up of processes, the improvement of actual playing processes will be of great benefit to a team.

As there are an indeterminable number of processes undertaken throughout the cricketing year, these coaches will point out that there is always room for improvement. To start this improvement process, the intelligent coach will outline some basic plans that are required to improve the specific processes of both the individual and the team as a whole. These plans will require scrutiny and agreement from all.

The plans formulated as a result of this consultative approach will remain flexible but be measurable to ensure that desired results are being obtained.

As improvement is made in one area, the emphasis of the specific process plans or mini goals may be changed to reflect other issues requiring attention. Better success can be obtained when these changes are done through consensus.

In an ideal world, a team would be committed to improvement, and progress would happen automatically. The intelligent coach knows that improvement does not just happen magically. To achieve the desired improvements will require specific actions. This will see the shrewd coach inspiring and motivating the players to take on the extra work needed to improve.

The astute coach knows that the plans for improvement can be better achieved by positively and purposefully reinforcing the improvements that are seen to be made. The skilful use of praise, encouragement, and perhaps a small rewards programme can help enormously. These three positive processes ensure greater commitment to the improvement processes.

In addition to the collective specific process plans or mini goals the team is working on, the wise coach may ask each team member formally to look at and identify an area of their game where they believe they could do better and improve. When the information gathering is complete, the coach may instruct the player individually with the precise processes to be undertaken for improvement.

The shrewd coach will often get the players to look at, observe, and model themselves after someone who is very good in the area that they would like to improve on. The coach may also encourage a stronger player to work with a weaker player to achieve the improvement desired. Again, each step requires consultation with the players and their agreement.

Improvement in a particular process needs to be set up as a specific process goal. Astute coaches will monitor improvement in the designated area whilst continuing to praise, encourage, and support each individual. An improvement in the game of any individual is likely to buoy the player, improve their self-confidence, and can significantly reinforce the commitment to ongoing self-improvement.

Players of any ilk may have phobias or blocks within their mental make-up. The improvement methodology targets all performance aspects of a team and allows the coach and the player to work through and overcome any specific mental issue faced.

The agreement by the players to the improvement concept and associated plans is likely to see increased cooperation between individuals, promote greater self-reliance, and, most importantly, increase personal ingenuity. The individual taking responsibility for their own improvement may learn through the support of the coach or by making personal observations, working with other team members, or perhaps engaging their own personal coach.

A player who improves is also more likely to excitedly and enthusiastically tell other members of the team of their improvement. In doing so, they positively reinforce the overall desire within the team to improve. As players compare themselves with others, an improvement that is noticeable can spur other players to improve as well.

The wise coach will succeed in creating many opportunities for improvement, and an agreed commitment to improve will ensure that the momentum started does not rely solely on the coach.

The wisest of coaches are looking for input into the plans for the team rather than hearing their voice issuing commands. Unfortunately, in toxic environments, every man or woman can be out for themselves; and any knowledge possessed is less likely to be shared. The astute coach will work very hard to break down these barriers by positively reinforcing the virtues and benefits in sharing knowledge and working together as a team.

It will take time to break down any ingrained selfishness possessed by individuals. Some selfish individuals unfortunately believe that the person with which the knowledge is shared may improve and replace them. They forget that the expansion of knowledge is a two-way process, and that in giving, you are also likely to receive.

Encumbrances like jealousy, pride, selfishness, and paranoia are all part of a negative mindset and will hold a team back from its goals to improve and reach their full potential. These hindrances can prevent commitment and undermine the need for all to embrace a true spirit of trust, cooperation, and harmony. The astute coach will remind all players over and over that cooperation can and will lead to exciting new opportunities and successes for one and all.

Former Australian coach John Buchanan was a master at this. He encouraged the sharing of knowledge. This sharing saw him lift the Queensland and Australian cricket teams to unprecedented heights.

Those who withhold information will noticeably not contribute and avoid becoming involved in such conversations. Astute coaches are able to observe a lack of input from any individual. They will remind the player in isolation that their actions have been noted and that to be part of any successful team will require their contribution, cooperation, understanding, compassion, gratitude, and goodwill. An input agreement needs to be reached with all types of players. Without a commitment to these requirements, the team may be better off without a selfish player.

Selfishness is the primary reason why a champion team will invariably beat a team of champions.

Wise coaches also understand that input from all allows them as coaches to find an increased number of opportunities for praise, encouragement, positive reinforcement, and, most importantly, a greater appreciation of the efforts of the players.

If something suggested by a player sees an improvement in the performance of the team, the wise coach will be quick to skilfully thank and pass on the credit to the player in front of the team.

Whilst a shrewd coach will be quick to praise and commend the actions of their players, they wisely take full responsibility where the suggestions made are not entirely successful or fail. Under no circumstances will the wise coach condemn or complain about the input of their players. If the actions taken were not successful, it simply remains another area where the individual or team can modify the processes undertaken and improve. In instituting this course of action, the coach increases agreement, trust, loyalty, cooperation, and harmony.

Agreement within a team is of major importance as it provides massive benefits for all. Two of the most important benefits include the building of a rock-solid, indomitable team spirit and commitment.

Astute team wisdom will ensure greater commitment and agreement.

How Can CHALLENGES Benefit Team Commitment?

The wise coach will challenge his players to improve at what they do and also to always do their best. A committed team is always ready to take united action to meet the varying challenges that a game of cricket and life will bring. The challenges we face in life can leave us in want and despair or provide us with the opportunity to learn, grow, and excel. Those who accept the challenges benefit greatly through their increased commitment.

Just as there are an indeterminable number of stars in the sky, there are equally as many ways that a team can improve.

The wise coach may challenge each player within a team to improve their technique, temperament, physical tuning, and tactics. Each of these four areas will require a player to undertake actions and processes that will help the player to at least stay abreast with others within their side. A deficiency in any of these four areas will impact on the personal performance of the player and thus on the overall performance of the team. In accepting the challenges presented, players will gain the benefit of added commitment, purpose, and focus in their lives.

Astute coaches are mindful of the importance of these four primary areas of proficiency and will, through the challenges issued, seek improvement from each of their players. Commitment to improvement in each of these four areas will impact positively on the overall success of the team as well as the player.

Why?

When an individual isn’t committed, it will be difficult for the coach to challenge the player to undertake any extra actions to improve. Until the coach can gain the acceptance and commitment of all team members to improve in these four primary areas, the team is less likely to see the necessary improvements in performance that are required to reach the goals set or have sustained success. The wise coach understands that the team becomes only as strong as the commitment that each individual is prepared to make to their team.

From personal experience, I can say that people, who are fully supported and have their input welcomed, will invariably agree to meet the challenges and throw themselves into action with gusto.

A player may be challenged to pick a weakness that they wish to overcome, and it may be in any one of the four primary performance areas. The coach must be experienced enough to explain how to overcome the problem or alternatively find someone who can help. Knowledge, experience, understanding, and wisdom are blessings to the astute coach. But it may take many years and a great deal of time to reach this elite level of coaching. Not a week goes by where I am not endeavouring to learn something new and continue to excitedly move forward in my quest for greater wisdom.

How then can an inexperienced coach be more helpful in getting the team to meet the challenges that are set?

The astute use of praise and encouragement will assist an inexperienced coach more than anything else. Probably the most important action for any inexperienced coach would be the fostering of an edification methodology.

An edification methodology will see the coach look to speak in glowing terms in respect of each charge. Wise coaches set an example for others to follow by seeking to eliminate any criticism and condemnation from what they say. An edification methodology also ensures our inexperienced coach is firmly focused on positively and purposefully looking for the things that have been done well or have been improved individually and collectively. This is of great benefit as it ensures that the negatives and mistakes made by the players do not become the exclusive focus of the coach.

Positive reinforcement of things done well and are wanted is a primary focus of great coaches as it is empowering and focuses the players on what is wanted rather than what is not wanted. Keeping the players positively focused is a big challenge for any coach. Positive reinforcement keeps the players committed and fully focused on the desired processes and outcomes.

All too often, a poor coach takes an adversarial role and criticises his players in front of the team for mistakes they have made. Those that are subjected to criticism by an irate coach are unlikely to improve in the area in which they were criticised.

Why?

These players may never get to feel special or to believe they are an important part of the team. Their self-confidence may be shot to pieces, and as a result, they may focus solely on trying not to make the same mistake or more mistakes. This is unfortunately negative reinforcement, and it is dangerous to the mental health of all. It can make it impossible for anyone to perform anywhere close to their potential.

Why is this?

Many wise people have said, ‘We are what we think we are.’ If a player is constantly thinking about failing, not measuring up, or not making mistakes and this is reinforced by a critical coach, then the player is most certainly going to be spending their time worrying about mistakes and failure. This focus becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy; and they only achieve what they are focused on, which can be failing, not measuring up, and not making more mistakes.

What then can an inexperienced coach do when the same mistake is made over and over again?

The challenge for an inexperienced coach or player is to view any mistake as a learning process. For it to become a learning process, there is a need for a review process so that there is an increase in collective knowledge and understanding.

The review process is likely to include how, when, where, what, who, and why to assist with the answers to the questions raised. Over the years, I have found that breaking down actions into their simplest processes or forms is a challenge, but one that will definitely help to find a solution to any problem.

The coach or player accepting the challenge of improving can then take any poor action apart piece by piece. They can also closely observe the actions of an expert player to model or copy. They will then get to see the exact microprocesses used and required to improve the process under review. The modelling of a great player provides an inexperienced coach or player with an example of exactly how something is done well and what precise processes are needed to be used to do it. The challenge, when accepted, and the resolve to see it through provide both the coach and the player with increased commitment, new expertise, greater self-confidence, and the know-how or ingenuity to solve any problem.

I love to sit and watch cricket for the enjoyment that it gives me. It is exciting to watch a team that is fully committed as they will do anything within their power—to take a catch, for instance. Some miracle catches are taken as a result of their great commitment. On the other hand, it is disappointing to see players who are not committed, letting the ball go just wide of them or just over them or allowing the ball to drop just in front of them. My observations over many years have shown me that a team that is inspirationally committed in the field is also more likely to be motivated to improve in other facets of the game. The inexperienced coach, like the wise coach, will do well to challenge the players to make a commitment and seek to improve specifically in the four basic components of cricket.

We all have taken actions in areas where we were inexperienced and have had complete disasters. The wisest accept the challenge to learn from these opportunities to improve. In seeking to improve, we are truly making the most of our mistakes. There are in fact no mistakes in life when the wise individual takes the time and opportunity to learn, grow, and excel. When we were little, we made myriads of mistakes and blunders, but none of these were of any real concern to us because we were fully focused on the challenge of improving and getting what we wanted right. In this short period of time, we learnt, grew, and excelled at more things than we would at any other time in our lives.

The challenge our inexperienced coach or player faces is to make the commitment and accept the challenges to learn, grow, and excel. The wisest of people make that commitment, accept the challenge, and work inspirationally to be the best they can be in all that they do.

Total commitment ensures that a team is positively and purposefully focused on the challenges they face.

Why Does Great Team Commitment Require TARGETS

and What Are the Benefit of Goals and Plans?

Without definite targets in life, we can become ships without rudders and drift aimlessly through life.

It is therefore illogical to think that a team can be totally committed without targeting goals and then setting up specific plans to achieve those goals. Goals significantly benefit a team through the focus, direction, and purpose they provide.

The wise coach will also reap enormous benefits in providing each team member with lofty personal target goals and specific plans to achieve what has been set. Such a process helps to improve their overall commitment and also provides extra impetus, purpose, and direction.

Goals provide targets, but to be of any benefit to a team, they must be associated with plans for their accomplishment. Otherwise, they can unfortunately wither and waste away. Plans provide the means to accomplish the goals that have been set, whether it be for the team collectively or on an individual basis. Astute plans target specific actions for improvement. When these specific areas are improved, benefits flow onto the individual and team.

A goal of improvement is of no benefit unless it provides a precise vision of what is wanted. It also requires planned actions and processes to achieve the vision. To be of benefit, the plans put in place also need to be measurable in order to see whether what is planned is actually being accomplished.

When specifically targeted areas are improved, the measures and reviews instituted will show the improvements made. When this methodology produces success, players and coaches will look to target other specific areas where improvement can be made. Inspiring and visionary leadership will continually look to target processes that require improvement. The benefits of such planning are innumerable and of great benefit to a committed team.

Visionary leadership will empower a team and see that the thoughts of the players on where improvement can be made are included in the goals and plans of the team. A committed person may feel hamstrung if they are not allowed to contribute to the overall targeted visions and planning of their team. Inspired and innovative input can wither on the vine if ideas are discouraged or derided by the coach.

Positive input, ideas, and help from the players will significantly benefit any team. Specific players can also provide assistance with specifically targeted process goals. The empowerment process substantially benefits a team. It strengthens commitment and can see the improvement of a team reach a point where their opponents are in awe of their prowess.

The targeting of specific goals through empowerment may also benefit a team through the streamlining, revitalisation, or perhaps elimination of antiquated processes and procedures. When the coach is in sole control, the players may only do what they are told to do. In some instances, the same plans set by a coach can remain virtually unchanged through the entire tenure of the coach. This can result in a failure to address issues that arise.

Let us look at an example where accepted ways of doing things remain unchanged. Early in preseason training, for instance, many coaches focus on improving the fitness levels of their teams. Whilst physical fitness is important, valuable daylight or time may be wasted instead of spending time improving the technical skills of each player. Preseason is a time where specifically targeted changes can be more easily made to player techniques. The change of instinctive habits takes time, and this invaluable period before the start of a season is an ideal time to target changes in technique.

The wisest of coaches realise that a change in technique during the season can cause a loss of form and be resented by players. When the change is done out of season, it can be implemented more easily, become more instinctive before the start of the season, and be better accepted by the players.

The maximisation of the available time to improve techniques may not have been considered by a coach or team because they have always followed set plans and training methodology.

Mr Musashi, in the scroll titled Wind in his wonderful book The Book of Five Rings, describes the need to understand the lack of logic in opposing schools of thought. In cricketing terms, it is the specific weaknesses in logic and coaching of our opponents. The wise realise that they will also be carefully scrutinised for specific weaknesses in what their team does. Those who look to capitalise on their opponents’ weaknesses and at the same time eliminate their own weaknesses will benefit greatly, but those who do not do so at their own peril.

It is also my belief that the targeted goals and specific plans of a team need to be relatively flexible. Flexibility allows plans to be modified or see further targeted specific process goals added as required. Flexibility can be better accommodated by a team committed to being their best. It is a major benefit to a committed team.

Many teams do not have meaningful specific process goals. They may set flowery outcome and performance goals but miss the importance of implementing meaty and relevant specific process (actions) goals to target specific areas where improvement in what a team does can be accomplished. The result can see a team continuing to do the things that they have always done, which invariably sees them obtaining the same results that they have always gotten.

Astute ideas and input from coaches and players can see new targeted process goals implemented that are more logical, dynamic, and specifically designed to improve what is done. When improvement occurs, a team will benefit through the extra enthusiasm, focus, and commitment created.

Wise coaches are also mindful of the fact that a person may be skilful in one facet of the game and be of value to the team in that area. Someone else may have expertise in another area of the game and be able to add something in respect of that facet of the game. Utilising the respective talents and skills of all within a team may be missed if the coach does not specifically target areas where improvement can be made and look at utilising available knowledge, understanding, expertise, and skills. Those with the necessary knowledge, understanding, and expertise have great power; and it is the wise coach who uses this power for the maximum benefit of the team.

Great coaches understand that specific process actions underpin the success of the primary outcome and performance goals. Specific process actions require careful consideration, measurement, and review before they can successfully lift the performance of a team.

The intelligent coach will also review what has happened at the end of each training session and game with the view to identifying the small and significant specific areas of technique, temperament, tactics, or physical tuning that can add improvement.

To maximise the benefits that can be achieved, the wise use of assistants and senior members of the team can help greatly. This group may, from their perspective, pick up on and then target additional areas requiring adjustment or modify specific process actions that are not delivering desired outcomes.

This reminds me of a great example of a very gifted player who left one club and went to play with mates at another club. The move saw the player improve significantly and go on to make the West Australian team. I asked him what had been done differently at the new club to improve his game. He explained that at his former club, he got ten minutes’ batting practice, whereas at the new club, he got twenty minutes per session with the bowlers. He went on to say that he also spent forty minutes extra doing throw downs. To me, it was easy to see why the improvement was achieved and what its benefits were. Unfortunately, it also shows that a desire at his former club to give every batsman an equal amount of batting time, and not changing long-standing customs, does not necessarily bring the best out in players.

When a team is reviewing what they do with a focus of refining and improving the specific processes undertaken, they need to eliminate the time wasted on things that are of little benefit to them. A loss, for example, can infuriate an ego-driven coach and can see a team punished specifically for a single dropped catch. The next training session or two may focus entirely on running and fielding drills. The whole process is solely focused on punishment and is, in my opinion, a complete waste of time. This is of little benefit to the team as much valuable batting and bowling practice is lost.

The astute coach targets improvement and understands that any improvement desired will require them as coaches to be patient, encouraging, supportive, and experienced to precisely impart specific technical knowledge. These wise coaches quickly understand that they are unable to do it all alone and are therefore inclusive. They invite input, ideas, and assistance from others. In some instances, players may be entrusted with coaching roles to ensure their leadership skills grow. Empowerment can see players be drawn like a moth to light. This ensures that greater ongoing benefits are achieved for a team.

We all have differing personalities, and some people have leader-type personalities, which sees them drawn to roles as coaches. Unfortunately, this type of individual can, at worst, be driven by their ego and only want to do things their way. A leader type with such an outlook believes they know best and are infuriated when someone suggests that things could be done differently. Whilst believing their way is the only way, they only succeed in alienating people in the long term. Their autocratic actions can undermine the growth and self-reliance of the individuals within the team. This style of leadership in cricket can stymie input, initiative, and calculated risk-taking, which are major benefits to a great team.

The wise leader is mindful of the additional improvements that can be accomplished with input from team members. When team members identify with the improvement process and have input into the precise processes, they are more likely to catch on and embrace it. An invitation to have input into the formation of goals and plans of a team also increases the likelihood of greater ingenuity and resourcefulness coming from within the team. The shrewd leader knows that input into the formation of goals and plans benefits a team through the building of greater commitment, loyalty, expertise, and enlightenment for one and all.

The excellent Japanese proverb ‘None of us are as smart as all of us’ captures succinctly the benefits of cooperation and input from all. Something obvious to one player may not be so obvious to others or the coach. Input allows players to have their say, suggest changes, and thus modify what a team does to achieve their primary goals. With input from all, the specific process actions undertaken can become more dynamic and achieve greater benefits for all.

History clearly shows that the great leaders in war or business do not do it all alone and in fact rely on trusted colleagues for advice, ideas, input, and assistance. The plans in these instances are jointly formulated. Whilst a coach is in charge and will ultimately decide when and where any input is used, the wisest of coaches are the ones who get to reap the enormous benefit that collective input provides.

Coaches often have a lot on their plates and at times are overloaded with a myriad of issues. A senior player group can be of great assistance to the shrewd coach in providing helpful input and assistance. The wisest of coaches see their role as inspirers, teachers, and preparers of players. They are also encouragers who seek to inspire their players to do and be the best they can be at all times. In doing so, they and their teams benefit greatly by reaping massive rewards.

Great commitment will see a champion team make the extra effort to identify and target areas of improvement in as many ways as possible. When this is done, major benefits will occur.

How Can INSPIRATION Be a Benefit

of Great Team Commitment?

A lot of hard work and commitment are required by one and all for any team to be successful. This workload can be made much lighter when a team is inspired and enjoys harmonious interactions. A harmonious environment provides fun, laughter, enjoyment for all, and the opportunity for inspirational enthusiasm. Inspiration creates enthusiasm and commitment which are a great benefit to any team.

Inspirational commitment will ensure that harmonious feelings are more consistently maintained. Inspired individuals are more likely to enjoy what they do and work enthusiastically to do their best for themselves and their team. When inspired, they are more likely to feel part of something vibrant and worthwhile, which helps to keep them keeping on.

Wise coaches, thus, seek to build a team environment that is enjoyable, fun-filled, and harmonious for the massive inspirational benefits that such environments provide. Their coaching styles also help to build individual and collective confidence, loyalty, and trust. Such an environment helps to satisfy the evolutionary needs of players as they are accepted, respected, and feel that they contribute to the success of their team.

A greater understanding of evolutionary conditioning has led to the discovery that differing chemicals are released into our bodies to respond to the challenges and environments experienced. When an individual feels they belong and are trusted and respected, their body releases chemicals that help to produce a euphoric mental state.

These chemicals are a reward for effort and help an individual to maintain a buoyant and optimistic mood, as well as sustaining the power in their efforts. The primary euphoria-building chemicals are serotonin and oxytocin. More importantly, the release of these two chemicals also help to build the special bond of trust, understanding, loyalty, and cooperation. The benefits are far reaching for any group.

Inspired leadership also helps to release serotonin and oxytocin into the bodies of the players. These great leaders create a belief that they will sacrifice themselves for their team rather than the team for themselves. Their model actions as coaches and leaders provide a great benefit to all.

Alexander the Great was able to conquer the then-known world through his inspirational leadership. He led from the front and would not ask any of his troops to do anything that he was not prepared to do himself. His outstanding leadership ensured that his troops were inspirationally motivated and ready to meet his commands.

An inspiring coach sets an example as a true leader, creating an environment of cooperation, harmony, and sacrifice for the team. These coaches also look to recognise and reward the benefits that the exemplary actions of players bring to the group. Wise coaches understand that there is a greater likelihood of the success for all when this special bond and spirit are maintained. They are well aware that synergy is able to be manufactured as a result, and this ensures that many magical cricketing moments are created.

Darren Lehmann is current Australian coach as I write, and like former coach John Buchanan, he has been able to create an inspirational cricketing environment through the belief in the players and support provided to them. In attending to the evolutionary needs of their players, both of these coaches have demonstrated, like Alexander the Great, inspiring leadership skills. In an environment where inspirational leadership exists, there is a constant flow of positive energy, and this is able to lift a team to new and exceptional heights.

Individuals that have experienced this energy flow are attracted to it, want more of the same, and seek to remain connected to the euphoric feelings experienced. In inspirational companies, for instance, many workers do not want to go on leave because of the immense enjoyment they receive from being in such an uplifting environment. Inspired leadership also ensures that players want to stay connected with the dynamic energy force created.

Unfortunately in life, there are those within a team who think only of themselves, their happiness, and their performance. Selfishness and self-centredness can quickly undermine and dampen the team environment. Unless this type of person is willing to change, they will prevent the building of these special inspirational bonds. It may be best for the team that such a person be asked to leave if they are not prepared to modify their behaviour. Just as one rotten apple can spoil the bunch, the selfish actions of one individual can undermine and spoil what could be a special environment.

A selfish, ego-driven coach or individual is likely to create a toxic environment and stress for all. Lingering stress sees the release of different chemicals into the body, and one of these is cortisol. When cortisol is released into the body, it causes such things like increased heart rates, a stop to normal growth, a reduction in the repair of body tissues, and also a dampening or the shutting down of the immune system. This chemical helps to keep an individual alive in an immediate moment of time but can be detrimental in the long term. It is the precursor to the fight-or-flight response. Sustained cortisol release may also undermine trust and increase paranoia.

Stress has many causes, and the wise coach is mindful of the fact that matters external to the team may easily affect the mood and happiness of their players from time to time. Additional support may be required for team members with personal problems, and such help reaffirms the comradeship and harmony that are being built. Support may come in many forms and can, for instance, include counselling from a sports psychologist. A normally happy and motivated individual can, as a result of external issues, become the exact opposite of their normal vibrant self. Helping and supporting a player with personal issues builds greater harmony, cooperation, respect, and trust within a team. These positive attributes are of great benefit to a team, and the inspiring leader is keen to build these wonderful attributes within the team.

The inspiring coach seeks to get each player to enjoy their cricketing experiences. These coaches know that enjoyment at practice and in a game is more achievable when the individual focuses in the present moment. Worrying or being anxious about past events or something in the future obviously takes the focus of an individual from the present moment. This loss of focus will impinge on their enjoyment and performance.

These special coaches take the time to explain to one and all that an individual focused in the present moment is better able to unleash their talent and expertise. To reinforce this message, the coach may ask a talented player to explain to the team the exact processes or routine they use to remain focused in the present moment. The inspiring coach or player provides an example to mirror or focus on, which can be of enormous benefit to any team.

Togetherness is of great benefit to a team. In the 1920s, Knute Rockne, the coach of the US Notre Dame gridiron football team, lost his best player, George Gipp. On his deathbed, George requested his coach to ask the players, when they were up against it, to ‘win one for the Gipper’. That catchphrase is now legendary and the famous story was made into a movie starring a former president of the USA, Ronald Reagan.

This catchphrase especially reminds us all of the value of inspirational camaraderie. The emotions that can be taken from a tragedy can, if channelled correctly, lead to a supercharged performance of a team. Tragedies can, when handled astutely, see the release of serotonin and oxytocin into the bodies of the playing group and provide a supercharged mental state of being and performances.

The astute coach is mindful of the immense value of positive emotions and feelings. When the team or an individual team member has been criticised by another team, an inspiring coach can use the situation positively to unite, inspire, and ignite the feelings of the team. Positive feelings, when skilfully managed, can produce supercharged team performances.

The inspirational actions of a coach, team, or individual can increase commitment and provide massive benefits for one and all. One of the main benefits inspiration provides is the ability of a team to produce sustained supercharged performances.

Why Is OPENNESS a Benefit of Team Commitment?

Openness allows a coach or player to speak about their ideas, concerns, and feelings more easily. This is a great benefit to a committed team because it allows the airing of creative thoughts and risk-taking.

A team as a whole may be more willing to take creative risks where there is openness and receptiveness to the ideas that are put forward. Creative risk-taking relies upon calculated strategies being taken to maximise an advantage that is apparent at a particular moment of time. Openness to these suggestions and actions is very important to the champion team.

Astute coaches of champion teams are galvanising, openly supportive, and more willing to embrace the use of the creative risks in challenging situations. They are more willing to see their players use a creative strategy to change the course of a game and less likely to condemn a player for trying to implement a creative strategy. They know through experience that not all risk-taking will be successful.

Successful coaches are less likely to criticise a player who plays a false shot, bowls a poor ball, or drops a catch. Hindsight can be a very powerful weapon when used astutely; and wise coaches, therefore, refrain from telling their players, ‘You shouldn’t have done this, that, or the other.’ They are more open and accommodating, seeking to understand why a player did what they did. They will ask the player what they were attempting rather than criticise. They may also observe a weakness in what was done, and set specific process goals in place to rectify the problem. This process may ensure that risk taking actions are more successful in the future.

Open discussion can ensure all become more successful, be rewarding for the team, and give great joy for all concerned. Openness can become a truly motivating force, leading to greater thought on the creative tactics that a team may use.

Taking the time to understand the thoughts and feelings of their players will allow the wise coach to become more in touch, motivating, and wise in their actions. These special coaches understand the benefits that openness provides. It will see a team better share their knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, thereby allowing for an increase in overall expertise. Great teams openly share their expertise and in doing so create more opportunities to take creative and calculated risks.

Such a moment was created when Australia played Pakistan at Bellerive Oval in 1999. The Test looked gone for Australia, and an inevitable defeat was ominous. Justin Langer and Adam Gilchrist, however, were magnificent and put on a massive partnership of 238 to get Australia up for an unlikely win. That win was due to a collective belief that the Australian team held at that time. They believed that they could win and overcome any obstacle.

That grand partnership created further belief and further momentum for the team. It was the third test win in a sequence that lasted a world-record sixteen consecutive Test wins for Australia. True commitment and unparalleled openness enabled the Australian team to take the creative risks that ensured this wonderful piece of cricketing history.

This grand victory and the subsequent victories may not have happened had it not been for the astuteness of the then Australian coach John Buchanan. Coach Buchanan displayed great wisdom in asking the team to share their respective cricketing knowledge, understanding, experiences, and wisdom. This openness was of enormous benefit to the team and created a shared belief within the team that they could win under any circumstances.

The building of openness and commitment can only come through the astute coaching of a man like John Buchanan.

Whilst openness positively lifts team performances, many regimes dwell more on not making mistakes and resort to put-downs to achieve the outcomes they desire. A put-down is negative reinforcement at its worst and, to my knowledge, only ever succeeds in creating more mistakes.

All of us, through evolutionary conditioning, have a need to feel secure, accepted, and valued. Players in a toxic environment become more concerned with not letting the team down and on not being chastised or ostracised if they do anything wrong. Their thoughts are then rarely focused on improving and success.

The wisest of men throughout the millennia have correctly stated that what ‘what we are focused on is what we attract into our lives’. In toxic environments, the players are more likely to be focused on not making mistakes, and as a result, more mistakes are made.

Negative environments can in fact see team members spending more time inventing excuses to deflect blame or criticism from themselves rather than positively seeking to improve or in contributing to the improvement of their team.

The team in a negative environment is, as a whole, more likely to be trying too hard in their practice and matches in an attempt to avoid making a mistake. In a negative environment, some will become despondent and do things half-baked, hesitantly, and with self-doubt. Others may just simply give up and leave the team.

An astute coach and senior player group will endeavour to openly encourage and praise the players for their efforts and inputs. The establishment of a positive leadership group can actively encourage members of the team to openly contribute their knowledge, understanding, experience, and wisdom.

Openness is a major benefit and will help a team to be happy in their involvement and commitment to the team. If we look at HAPPY as an acronym, we can see why openness is such a marvellous benefit to any team. A happy team is committed because hosting active participation prepares you.

Our HAPPY acronym will only work when there is open participation by all within team operations. Let’s look at how openness and commitment help to better benefit a team.

In hosting a happy environment, a coach better prepares their team and the individuals within their team to produce their best.

Where there is praise, encouragement, support, and perhaps the