Courtesy of Michael Caulfield MSc, Sports Psychology Consultant at Just Caulfield
Last year, a highly decorated International cricketer kindly asked me to talk to him as he started out on his coaching qualifications and career, and I was delighted to help.
The player in question had to write a project on team culture, how to build a team, build relationships, and research and discuss all the relevant challenges we know exist in trying to build a team, any team, not just in sport.
After much thought, I suggested that he should be brave, daring, and do something that probably no one else would do, or had probably done. I sent him the photo attached to this post of the former England and Derbyshire fast bowler, and subsequent coach, Mike Hendrick (third from the left) surrounded by his former England team mates, including Sir Ian Botham, Sir Geoff Boycott, Derek Randall, John Emburery, John Lever, Bob Taylor and Geoff Miller.
The sadness being that Mike Hendrick was gravely ill, he only had days to live as it turned out, and it was also as we were coming out of covid restrictions too. But when his team mates heard how ill Mike was, they all drove to Derbyshire for one last reunion, and I understand that Mike took Ian Botham’s arm to help him to his car, for his final journey. I suspect there were a few adult tears too.
That team had played and toured together 50 years ago, and in those days, tours lasted months, not weeks, there were very few support staff, if any, it was basically a coach, a tour manager and a scorer! But then again they had everything, as they had each other, each others company, friendship. and each others back, and the passing of the years and decades did not dim their love and respect for each other. They were the very definition of a team, until one of them was cruelly taken.
I will say over and over again, that “not everything we did used to fail”, and it didn’t. Much time, and vast amounts of money, is spent on developing teams, team culture, team behaviours etc, and if you are a cricket supporter, you will know there is no shortage of advice and theory on how to do that. Indeed, it is a lucrative industry now.
But I wish anyone well in finding a team with more loyalty, devotion, love – you name it, they had it, than the team pictured below, and it happened naturally too. I suspect there was the odd argument or two, but as you can see, they passed like last week’s weather. Ex Derbyshire player, John Morris took the beautiful photograph, and it is truly beautiful, if a little sad for obvious reasons.
So I asked the highly decorated player to write his thesis on the photo, and he did, comparing it to the current era. My day was made when he messaged me to say his work got the highest possible grade and the panel of experts ‘loved it’.
As ever, draw your own conclusions from this short story, but not everything we did used to fail, and we can still learn so much from yesteryear, we really can. Thank you for reading.
#teams #culture #belonging #togetherness
