Talking about team building with PSV Head Coach Peter Bosz.
From the football pitch to the boardroom, the quest for the secret to building championship-winning teams is universal. In our most recent podcast episode, we delve into the fundamental principles of effective team dynamics with Peter Bosz, Head Coach of PSV, and Sandrien Boogaard, HR Director at GoodHabitz. You can listen to the full episode here or read below for the key insights into the four statements we discuss in the episode.
Sure, great teams come to those who are patient and invest time in optimising collaboration. Peter Bosz, however, highlights the fast-paced nature of his job as a football coach. In the competitive realm of football, there’s a huge demand for immediate results. There is no time to wait. That means he, as a coach, has to be clear about expectations, goals, and responsibilities from the very start of the season.
Sandrien Boogard explains how this idea also resonates from a business perspective: “As a leader, you have the responsibility to set the foundation for success right away. With a common purpose and mission for your team, you highlight the importance of teamwork in achieving collective success. Besides that, it helps each individual employee to understand their roles and responsibilities, laying the foundation for a cohesive team.”
Our guests’ experiences and ideas show that building successful teams always requires a delicate balance of time, strategy, leadership, and collaboration - both in sports and in business!Top of Form
As Sandrien acknowledges, the diversity within a football team is limited when compared to a business setting. Nevertheless, Peter emphasises that even though his team consists of only men, the individual players are very different from each other in terms of age and background. Additionally, there is always a clear need for diversity of skills on the pitch. Only a team of diversely skilled players can contribute effectively to the team's objectives.
While diversity may manifest differently in sports than in business contexts, its role in fostering innovation, resilience, and inclusivity cannot be underestimated in any team. By harnessing the collective strengths of each team member, you can achieve remarkable success.
When it comes to leadership and team management, Bosz has a clear and inspiring approach. He’s always searching for three key leaders in his team: the social connector, the on-field captain, and the morale booster or, in other words, the captain of fun. By nurturing collaboration among these leaders, he creates a cohesive team in which every individual player feels supported, valued, and connected.
Creating this cohesiveness amongst the team and its members also creates a safe environment in which to make mistakes. This is something that Boogaard explains by referencing the research of Harvard professor and researcher Amy Edmondson, which highlights the importance of psychological safety.
According to both Sandrien and Peter collective collaboration is what makes collective success. Sandrien explains, “There is no individual that can perform better than a group of people. It’s the essence of a team.” That’s as true in sports as it is in business.
It’s even true in more individual endeavours. The role of teamwork is clear in football, but it also appears if you look closely at a more solo sport, such as tennis. Behind every winning player, there is a whole team that enables the individual to get the best out of him or herself.
One important part of this is that any team lead or manager needs to celebrate each success as a team. By celebrating successes together, you boost the morale of each employee. This is where that captain of fun we mentioned earlier comes in really handy!
Even the wildly different fields of football and business have a lot to learn from each other when it comes to leading a strong team. Hopefully, this has inspired you to think about what your managers can learn and what your teams can become.
Want to listen
to the full episode?
Discover more of Peter Bosz his insights, tips and tricks in our podcast episode 'Building winning teams: from sports to business'.