Blog

• tonydorigo
• Blog
• November 15, 2024

Fire in the Belly

A ‘Fire in the Belly’ – but what’s the driver?

I discuss a ‘fire in the belly’ when delivering my keynote. Whatever path you have chosen in your professional career, you must have a level of desire for the core function of your particular role. If you haven’t – you’ve chosen the wrong role!

The size of the ‘fire in the belly’ can be small, a raging bushfire, or anywhere between these 2 points. It can be worked on and improved. What becomes very individual is the ‘why’. Why do people do what they do?

People’s actions are influenced by a complex interplay of factors, including:

1 – Motivation: Personal desires, goals, and ambitions drive behaviour. This can be intrinsic (personal satisfaction) or extrinsic (rewards or recognition).

2 – Needs and Wants: Basic needs (food, safety, love) and emotional desires.

3 – Cultural and Social Influences: Cultural norms, family upbringing, social circles.

4 – Emotions: Feelings such as happiness, fear, anger, or sadness.

5 – Cognitive Processes: Individual beliefs, values, and perceptions. People assess situations based on their past experiences and knowledge.

6 – Circumstances: Environmental factors, including economic conditions, opportunities, and external pressures, can dictate what people can or choose to do.

7 – Psychological Factors: Personality traits and mental health can affect how individuals respond to situations and pursue their goals.

Just because you pay a footballer a lot of money doesn’t guarantee 10/10 performances.

The ‘why’ is complex but worth a leader’s time investment in understanding. Understanding it leads to better outcomes for the individual and the team/organisation.

#Leadership #DreamTeam #BoomerangKeynote

• tonydorigo
• Blog
• November 13, 2024

Organisational Culture – Why It Matters

Organisational Culture – Why It Matters

Why do some businesses perform highly, and others get lost along the way? Have they superior products or services? Do they implement clever strategies? Or, drawing a football comparison, are their people or players just better?

All of the above are advantages, but those advantages will be eroded if an organisation is not built on a rock-solid foundation. Your culture will be the foundation for sustaining and growing these advantages and becoming a high-performing organisation.

Football has many examples of clubs buying high-performing players but ending up with an underperforming team. Fill in the blank for your favourite underachievers; there are a few to choose from ………….

Culture starts with what people do and how they do it. Say you’ll visit your favourite Italian restaurant – what people do within those 11,500+ UK Italian restaurants won’t deviate much. They all provide Italian cuisine with varying degrees of quality and price points – but high-performing businesses distinguish themselves in how they do it. This cumulative effect of what is done and how it is done ultimately determines an organisation’s performance. When I visit a restaurant, what I eat is important in addition to how they serve and make me feel when I’m there.

Additionally, and most importantly, culture encompasses why people do what they do. We can all observe what people do and how they do it—that’s all visible. The why is such a driving force of organisational culture, the shared mindsets and beliefs that influence people’s behaviour.

My favourite Italian restaurant is very proud of its regional differences in Italian cuisine. They are passionate about their food and their hospitality. Customer satisfaction, financial success and excellent reputation will then naturally follow….

Recognising that most of what matters cannot be readily seen – think of an iceberg where 90% is below water…..this is a great place to start for any organisation looking to up their game!

#Culture #Leadership  #TeamBuilding

• tonydorigo
• Blog
• November 7, 2024

Has your organisation got the right culture?

Has your organisation got the right culture?

Culture encompasses the broader values, beliefs, practices, and behaviours that shape the overall environment in an organisation, team or group. It defines how things are done within that setting.

Organisational culture includes communication styles, decision-making processes, leadership approaches, policies, and the organisation’s overall mission and vision.

Within football, I look back at the Sir Alex Ferguson era at Manchester United, and we all immediately recognise the team’s style and characteristics. It was the same with the Howard Wilkinson era when he was my boss at Leeds United – outstanding leadership, direction and vision.

The challenge for both clubs has been how to replace great leaders who lead their organisation’s culture and, in turn, succeed at the highest level of their profession – a challenge which neither team has entirely managed since. There’s also an argument about whether modern-day football managers can have that sort of influence over the whole organisation. Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola would say yes.

Culture is more pervasive and affects all members within the organisation, influencing how they interact with one another and how they approach their work overall.

As an organisation, I look at Brighton and Hove Albion and am very impressed with its culture, led by its owner, Tony Bloom and CEO, Paul Barber. The club gives off a consistent feel, identity, and what it stands for. The proof is how it outperforms year after year against so-called bigger clubs. Search for the Paul Barber interview on the ‘High-Performance Podcast’ – it’s well worth a listen!

In business, Google is an obvious candidate to be highlighted for its culture, but what about here in the UK? BUPA and Innocent Drinks, amongst others, get reviewed highly – are there any other standouts?

#Culture #Leadership

• tonydorigo
• Blog
• November 5, 2024

Team Spirit – create a bond between each other

Team Spirit – create a bond between each other

When we run a Dream Team Day for our business clients, at whatever iconic stadium, we always run a clip of Pep Guardiola getting interviewed when he first arrived as manager of Manchester City.

He’s certainly in the mix when discussing the greatest managers of all time, so when he speaks, it’s certainly worth a listen! He talks about what every manager in the world wants – to improve the individual, which will then, in turn, improve the overall team.

He says every manager or leader has their individual belief in how they want their team to perform. Time is always at a premium, but the first and most important thing he wants to create is “TEAM SPIRIT”. Pep talks about the need to create something special between each other, first and foremost.

Team spirit refers to team members’ enthusiasm, camaraderie, and motivation. It reflects the team’s unity, shared goals, and mutual support.

A high team spirit includes teamwork, collaboration, trust, positive attitudes, and a sense of belonging. Team spirit will lead to increased morale and motivation within the group.

Once this is established, all the other parts will follow, and as Pep says, they will essentially take care of themselves. The manager’s tactics and ideas will be absorbed and implemented far more effectively.  

Team Spirit is a related concept to “Culture”, but there are differences, and they work at different levels. Much like Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, they perform at a different level to just about everyone else!

#TeamSpirit #Teamwork #Leadership #DreamTeam

• tonydorigo
• Blog
• November 1, 2024

Zarach – The Children’s Bed Charity

Zarach – The Children’s Bed Charity

Today’s post concerns a charity I encountered while working at Elland Road as an Ambassador for a Leeds United home match. They’re called Zarach and were founded by Deputy Head Teacher Bex Wilson, who works at an inner-city Leeds school.

In 2017, Bex asked her 11-year-old student if he was tired, as he wasn’t his usual happy self lately. The answer, “Miss, I’m always tired as I don’t have a bed”, was to stoke a fire that burns ever larger. Zarach was formed: “We’re on a mission to lift children out of bed poverty.”

Their vision, by 2027, is to end bed poverty in England by providing 1,000 beds a week alongside family engagement support. What struck me were the numbers involved right here in England. It’s estimated that 900,000 children are living in bed poverty, and Zarach wants to provide a complete bed bundle and support, one bed at a time.

I recently supported a Burberry Golf Day, where Zarach was one of 2 charities that received generous donations from the day itself. I also volunteered to deliver beds in and around Leeds, a sobering day that always ended with delight and gratitude from the young recipients.

Zarach recently moved to a larger warehouse in Leeds and has already set up nationwide satellite centres for growing demand. Of course, this means more donations/money is required, and anyone reading this who would like to join their mission in any way, I’m sure you would be most welcome.

Bex and her team are doing a fantastic job; Zarach would love to hear from you at www.zarach.org or drop me a comment below.

#bedpoverty #charity #zarach

• tonydorigo
• Blog
• October 30, 2024

Celebrating Diversity

Celebrating Diversity

Having experienced Italian football with Torino, I learnt to appreciate diverse cultures and different game approaches, whether tactical, physical or mental. I had the Aussie, English, and now Italian angles.

Each different viewpoint brought another perspective that added to your knowledge and understanding. Some of these viewpoints could be very different, not always embraced, but valuable, nonetheless.

I’ve often not understood enough, but I have learned that you can never have too much knowledge!

Warming up for a Torino training session, we’d get in two lines and jog around the pitch. The coach would shout out numbers that corresponded to an exercise. We then let a player shout out the numbers, the twist being that they delivered the number counting in their own language, and we all then repeated it.

We had 20+ Italian players, a Hungarian and an English/Aussie, so I thought this wouldn’t last long. Until I realised that even among the Italian players, their local dialects were utterly different and incomprehensible to other Italians!!

I could then count to 10 in the Sardinian dialect, amongst others… useless but valuable at the same time. As a team, we celebrated and enjoyed the diversity of our language. By embracing diversity, everyone was being heard, which embraced an inclusive environment. It was a great icebreaker, a fun warm-up, and another moment where the bond with colleagues became stronger.

How has your team’s diversity inspired creativity and innovation in your projects? Have you an exercise that celebrates diversity? Share your experiences in the comments below! 👇

#Diversity #TeamBuilding