How to create a high performance culture | Andrew Sillitoe | TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells
Summary
TLDRIn this TED Talk, the speaker reflects on the importance of purpose in life and society, recounting personal experiences and lessons learned from his journey with the T Street Cruisers hockey team. He emphasizes the need for creating an environment where individuals can thrive, sharing five rules that foster leadership, embrace failure, and promote accountability. The speaker calls for a reevaluation of current systems in education and business to inspire and engage people, rather than focusing solely on performance and profit.
Takeaways
- 🎯 The speaker initially focused on preparing a TED Talk script but realized the importance of purpose over perfection.
- 🔄 The speaker emphasizes that purpose is crucial for maintaining engagement and connection, especially during tough times.
- 🏆 Purpose is essential for peak performance, whether one is an athlete, teacher, parent, or business leader.
- 🗣️ The speaker recounts a story about a heckling trader to illustrate the importance of personal purpose in one's work.
- 🎥 The speaker's purpose in life is to prevent the stress and anxiety that can lead to early death, inspired by his father's passing.
- 🏑 The speaker's personal story involves a love for street hockey, which provided opportunities and shaped his life's journey.
- 🌟 The speaker believes in the power of self-direction and ownership in achieving success, as experienced with the T Street Cruisers team.
- 🤝 Creating a high-performance culture involves fostering leadership and embracing failure as a learning opportunity.
- 📈 The speaker learned that one cannot simply impose a culture; it must be organic and grow from the team's own vision and values.
- 💡 The importance of accountability is highlighted, but it must be balanced with trust and a supportive environment.
- 🚫 The speaker criticizes systems that focus solely on performance and accountability, leading to disengagement and a lack of personal fulfillment.
Q & A
What was the speaker's initial reaction to being invited to speak at TED?
-The speaker immediately started typing his script and it became an obsession for him, as he was concerned about the impact it could have on his career.
Why did the speaker decide to change his speech topic on the day of the TED Talk?
-He realized he had completely missed the point and lost the connection with the audience, focusing too much on himself rather than on delivering a meaningful message.
What is the main theme the speaker decided to focus on for his TED Talk?
-The speaker decided to focus on the importance of purpose in society, how it relates to meaning, engagement, and connection in life.
What was the speaker's experience when sharing his thoughts on purpose with a group of traders in Canary Wharf in 2009?
-The traders were initially engaged but one individual was heckling him throughout the session, dismissing his talk about purpose as nonsense.
What question did the heckler ask the speaker about his own purpose?
-The heckler asked the speaker what gets him out of bed every day and what his own purpose is, challenging him to apply his talk about purpose to himself.
How did the speaker respond to the heckler's question about his own purpose?
-The speaker shared a personal story about his father's death and his desire to prevent others from experiencing the stress and anxiety that can lead to such outcomes.
What sport did the speaker grow up playing and how did it change his life?
-The speaker grew up playing street hockey, which he started at the age of nine and it led him on an extraordinary journey with the T Street Cruisers, playing all over Europe and the United States.
What was the significant change the T Street Cruisers made in 1995 that initially seemed like a failure?
-The T Street Cruisers switched from traditional roller skates to rollerblades, which initially resulted in them coming last in a tournament and being laughed at by others.
What was the speaker's approach when he became the head coach for team Great Britain in inline hockey?
-The speaker initially tried to recreate the culture he had with the T Street Cruisers but realized it was not effective and had to rethink his approach, focusing on creating an environment where everyone could thrive.
What were the five rules the speaker implemented to help create an environment for thriving in team Great Britain?
-The speaker did not explicitly list the five rules in the script, but he mentioned the importance of letting the team have their own story, creating leaders, embracing failure, and holding each other accountable.
What is the speaker's view on the current state of education and sports in terms of engagement and purpose?
-The speaker believes that the current focus on performance and accountability is leading to disengagement and a lack of purpose, with students becoming academic robots and athletes being treated as commodities.
What is the speaker's call to action for the audience?
-The speaker encourages the audience to think about their own stories and what they can do to help others thrive, suggesting a need for a rethink in how we create environments that inspire and allow people to operate at their full potential.
Outlines
🎯 Rediscovering Purpose in Life and Career
The speaker begins by sharing the anxiety of preparing for a TED Talk, highlighting the pressure of creating a career-defining moment. He confesses to losing sight of his purpose, initially focusing on personal success rather than connecting with the audience. The speaker then shifts his focus to the broader issue of losing purpose in society, emphasizing the importance of meaning, engagement, and connection. He shares a personal story about his father's death, which serves as a turning point in his understanding of purpose, and uses this to illustrate the need for purpose in various roles, from athletes to business leaders.
🏑 The Power of Personal Story and Team Culture
The speaker recounts his experience with the T Street Cruisers, a street hockey team, to illustrate the power of personal story and team culture. He describes the team's journey, including their innovative switch to rollerblades and the subsequent challenges and triumphs. This anecdote serves to underline the importance of self-direction, leadership, and embracing failure as a means to grow and succeed. The speaker then transitions to his role as head coach for Team Great Britain, where he learned that one cannot simply impose a culture but must instead foster an environment that allows each member to thrive.
🌟 Creating an Environment for Success and Engagement
In the final paragraph, the speaker discusses the five rules he implemented to create a thriving environment for Team Great Britain. He emphasizes the need for each team member to have their own story, the importance of developing leadership within the team, and the necessity of embracing failure as a path to growth. The speaker also stresses the value of accountability, not just in terms of performance but in ensuring that each member feels trusted and empowered. He concludes by reflecting on the broader societal issues of disengagement in education and business, calling for a reevaluation of the systems that drive personal greed and corruption, and urging the audience to consider their own stories and how they can help others thrive.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Purpose
💡Engagement
💡Connection
💡Ted
💡Script
💡Career-defining
💡Simon Sinek
💡Disengagement
💡Accountability
💡Leadership
💡Embrace Failure
💡High Performance Culture
Highlights
Speaker's initial obsession with script preparation for TED Talk
Realization of losing connection with the audience and the importance of purpose
The definition of purpose as meaning, engagement, and connection in life
The impact of purpose on performance in various roles such as athletes, teachers, and business leaders
Personal anecdote of the speaker's father's death and its influence on his life's purpose
The story of the T-Street Cruisers and the importance of self-direction and ownership
The transition from traditional roller skates to rollerblades and embracing failure as a learning opportunity
The experience of coaching Team Great Britain and the challenges of cultural fit
The five rules implemented to foster an environment for thriving and high performance
The importance of creating leaders within a team rather than just followers
Embracing failure as a means to prevent paralysis and enable full potential
The concept of holding each other accountable as a foundation for trust and commitment
The current issues in education and business that lead to disengagement and the need for change
The speaker's call to action for the audience to reflect on their own stories and contributions
The applause and music signifying the end of the talk and its impact on the audience
Transcripts
[Music]
when I first heard I was going to be
speaking at Ted this about 6 weeks ago I
immediately started typing my script and
it's been an obsession ever since I
don't know about the other speakers but
and I was saying to my wife yesterday
that um it's not ready it just doesn't
feel right you know something doesn't
feel right she said oh don't worry it'll
be fine you know this was yesterday
right there's people in this room
thinking that's not what we rehearsed on
Wednesday and I said you don't get it
this is
Ted if this goes
viral it's career
defining I'll be the next Simon cynic
you
know and then I realized that I'd
completely missed the
point that um I i' forgot my purpose in
this and so I'm going to flip the script
I woke up this I was on my bike this
morning I'm going to talk about
something
different
and I think we are losing our purpose in
society you know purpose is about
meaning in our life it's about staying
engaged and you know when things are
tough and it's
about
connection and i' i' I'd lost that
connection with you it become about me
and not you
yeah so
um I'm going to talk about that for a
bit I think whether you are an athlete
or a teacher or a parent or running a
business we cannot operate at our full
potential without
purpose now I was I was sharing this
about six years ago uh in Canary war
with a group of Traders now I just want
you to picture the the room it's 2009
and they're just starting their career
in trading in the
city okay so the crisis just hit and I'm
in there and I'm talking about purpose
right and to be fair to they were
getting into it they started to get the
idea but there was this chat in the
corner of my eye throughout the whole
session and he was just heckling me
throughout the day just wasn't getting
it um in his words this is
bollocks and uh this anyway in the
afternoon he said to me
um he said Andrew you've been talking
about purpose all day you've been
talking about asking us why we do what
we do what gets us out of bed every day
he said what do you do what what gets
you out of bed you know why do you do
what you do what's your
purpose which is a fair question to ask
the person who's talking about purpose
right and I knew the answer cuz I I'd
ref reflected on it in the past and I
said to him do you remember the rocky
films do you remember the rocky films
yeah Rocky
five Tommy
Gun I said that's the worst I said I
remember that
film um I remember watching it it was a
Sunday night it was a it was 1993 March
21st I remember watching that film and
Sundays in my house uh pretty stand I
would have been out all day playing
street hockey I'd have been at Safeways
car park in t Welles I still it safe
ways um I'd been playing all day I'd
come home had a roast dinner with my
family um and we' have watch sport it
would have been Cricket football golf or
snooker one of those four depending on
the time of year and this night I was
watching my dad um loves sport he was a
baker my granddad was a baker and I
always expected the business to be mine
but when I was 11 my dad sold the
business he sold it so that was kind of
the end of that I still feel like a
baker but
but he um he s to be fair to me made a
lot of money he moved into into
construction and um we had this
wonderful we made big houses in t Welles
we had this wonderful big house and we
had a you know the fancy holidays to PTO
you know all that kind of Mara you know
all that nice stuff we had this
wonderful e type Jag blue e type Jag
used to sit on the drive but as quickly
as he made all his money lost a lot it
was the mid 80s and that's what happened
in construction lost it and our lives
changed like that
and on his Sunday
night he um he came to the
door and I was watching this
film and he said to me I'm going to
bed come and give your dad a
hug and I said no no you've had a drink
he said come and give me a hug I said no
no and he went to bed I didn't and he
went to bed that was the last time I saw
him he died a heart attack age
48 and I looked at this guy and I said
do you know that 20% of people die in
the early hours of a Monday Morning
broughten by the stress and anxiety and
fear of facing work the next day I said
I don't want that to happen to you or
anybody that's why I do what I
do let's shut him up
um I feel blessed to live in t Welles
actually because I I grew up playing
street hockey in TS and I um I got my
first stick when I was
nine um and it changed my life forever I
was 9 years old I played other sports
but I think you know Paul was talking
about giving children opportunity you
know 80% of young people young 14year
olds will become disengaged with sport
80% because they're looking for
Alternatives they and we don't we're not
offering it but I was lucky because I
found street hockey and I went on this
extraordinary Journey with the tel
Street Cruisers and we would play all
over Europe we would drive out to
Amsterdam Rotterdam uh we'd go out to
dorf and play in these Ro hockey
tournaments out there out into the
mountains in Switzerland we even went
off to Chicago to play in Chicago we had
an amazing we didn't have very much
money we had to save our pennies in fact
when we used to go to Europe we used to
rent a Transit van we used to put our
hockey bags in the back and put
mattresses on top so we'd go out and
that would be our accommodation for the
weekend um and uh we were the first team
believe it or not the first T well
Street Cruisers was the first team in 95
to switch from traditional roller skates
roller blade you know the quads to
rollerblades because we thought it would
give us a competitive Advantage it was a
disaster but what happened is that we uh
you know people thought it was hilarious
because the first tournament we played
and we came last and this was in
Switzerland
and everyone thought we were crazy for
doing it they couldn't understand why
we'd made this this transition until of
course we started winning and in 98 the
T Street Cruisers beat the dorf Rams in
the final of the championship now if you
speak to the team and say you know tell
me about your experience it's very rare
that they'll talk about the winning you
know winning is great it's it's a
wonderful feeling winning but if you ask
them they'll talk about the sacrifice
they'll talk about the RO road trips
obviously I can't tell you the stories
because you know the rules um they'll
talk about the fact that we owned it
that we shaped it it was ours we didn't
have a coach or a manager telling us
where to be what to do it was all
self-directed by
us and the following uh 10 15 years I
played in 12 world championships for
team Great Britain at inline hockey I
played I was turned from America playing
and an 2010 I took on the head coaching
job for team Great Britain and I'd
acquired a team that had lost in the
quarterfinals of Paul B in the world
championships Paul B is is essentially
like divisions two and Paul a is the top
eight countries in the world so Sweden
Czech Republic Canada USA Etc the top I
icky countries that come across and
um so I I'd noticed that they'd become a
bit disengaged with playing for their
country having lost to Australia in the
quarterfinals the year before in pool B
so I was going to go in there you know
all guns blazing as head coach and I was
going to create the exact same culture
as I had experienced with the T Street
cruises the problem is you cannot take
one culture and put it on another it
just doesn't work right and that was my
experience so I had to rethink what I
was doing with the team and and think
about um putting a different set of
rules in and these are the the five
rules I'm going to share with you that I
put in place that for me have helped
create an environment where everybody
can absolutely Thrive and I think we all
have a responsibility to create that
type of type of environment so the first
thing first thing we did with the with
the team GB is that they needed their
own
story they needed their own story not
one that I was trying to force on our
story happened over 10 years it was
organic you can't just recreate that but
I had nine months before the world
championships and their story what they
came up with was that they wanted to
look act and feel like a PO a team to
look act and feel not to win the gold
medal in pool B but to look act and feel
that was their vision for the team now I
couldn't go in and say well if you want
that you need to eat better you need to
train harder because you you still get
resistance so I promised myself that I
would not tell them to do anything and I
would just ask them if that if that's
what you want to achieve I would just
ask them the questions there were some
things I had to to put in place around
strategy and how we play the game but I
wanted them to come forward with
everything for them to thrive and really
own it like I we had the other thing is
I wanted to create leaders in in the
team in team Great Britain I didn't want
to I didn't want follow followers are
good for the ego they're not good for
business right they're not good for
sustaining change they're not good for
creating a high high performance culture
so I wanted to create leaders and that's
my captain I always said you needed
Captain you you need assistant captains
out there you need people who can
influence
change and we need a
change the other thing is I promise that
we would Embrace
failure absolutely embrace it because
what I could see was a group of players
who were Paralyzed by the fear of
failure and it was prevents them from
playing at their full potential so we we
said we'll embrace it embrace the
unknown and when the street Cruiser
switched to to rollerblades it was a
failure but we came back stronger and we
ended up winning and you know when you
take a risk it's going to go one of two
ways isn't it you're going to have it's
going to be a really good experience and
you learn from it or it might be not a
great experience and you learn from it
right so either way it's a bonus the
other thing is if you can do all of that
then we could hold each other
accountable we could look each other in
the eye and feel absolutely trusted that
we would do what we said we would do now
the problems that I'm seeing which is
driving
disengagement is that I see in education
I see it in uh
businesses is that we are focused on
that holding people
accountable businesses are getting
better and the reason why they're
getting better because they realize if
you engage
people if you help them find their
purpose it means they're more productive
they will be more engaged and that means
more profit organizations like that in
sports we're seeing athletes as a
commodity which is drawn driving
personal greed and corporate greed and
Corruption as we've seen recently with
FIFA because we're just focused on
performance in schools we're seeing
academic robots on a conveyor belt to
something they don't know where they're
going because that's what they're being
told what to do because they're being
held
accountable what's this one that's a
degrade send it
back yeah it's not the system is not
working we need to rethink
how we can create an environment where
everybody can Thrive feel inspired and
operate their full
potential so I've shared my story with
you I'd like you to think about what
your story is and what you can do to
help others thrive in this world thank
you
[Applause]
[Music]
[Music]
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