How to create a high performance culture | Andrew Sillitoe | TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells

Summary

In 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.