Leading on and off the field
Last week I had the great pleasure to spend time with James Roby of St Helens RLFC to talk about all things culture.
James’ legacy at St Helens and in the world of rugby league is already secured, so it’s only right that he would look to lead off the field too.
St Helens is one of only a handful of sports clubs that has appointed an ex-player to oversee its culture, both internally and externally.
It’s a move that recognises not only the importance of culture in today’s modern sporting world, but also how the organisation can create connections to the community such that all athletes and staff can share the same values with the fans and external stakeholders.
Social awareness i.e. the ability to consider the perspectives of other individuals, groups, or communities is a critical component in the evolution of any organisation’s culture and sports teams are no different.
To appoint ex-players who have a passion for the club and who are looking to further educate themselves on how forward-thinking organisations create cultures in which high-performance (at all levels) can flourish, is a blueprint that other sports teams can copy.
Sporting organisations have typically been slow to react to the changes in building safe, respectful cultures that we’ve seen in the business world, but in this corner of North-West England the work has already started.👏
If you're interested in how sporting culture needs to change click this link to download my free whitepaper.