16/08/2023
What game are you really playing at work?
There aren’t many moments when you can feel the country shifting in real time, but this last week or two has been one of those, I believe. The Matilda’s have not just played football well, they have shifted the goalposts. They’ve rearranged perceptions of female sports, likely lifted the earning capacity of all female sports professionals in Australia and no doubt inspired a new generation of young women to pursue what even AFL lovers now call football.
They may have even gone further in bringing the whole country together behind a group of woman who have become new role models for what we recognise as the finest examples of how Australian’s believe any game, or indeed any enterprise should be pursued.
They’ve played with boundless enthusiasm, resilience in the face of setbacks and believe in each other. Fair play on the field, compassion and friendship off it. Some of our men’s teams need to take note.
We can learn from this example in our workplaces too. By adopting their principles we can go beyond the normal immediate goals of making the monthly numbers to building a team that can handle any circumstance, support each other to reach our combined potential and shift what’s considered possible.
In the peer groups of founders and CEOs that The Executive Connection (TEC) run, we aim to play that kind of game. At a recent meeting that I chaired we discussed the game we were playing. Members said they were there, of course to grow their business, to grow their skills as leaders, but also to contribute, to support the whole group to reach its potential and for a sense of making the most of what’s possible on the grand journey and amazing opportunity it is to lead an organisation and build a better business.
We can learn from the Matildas to play a bigger game, as better leaders, building better businesses that contribute to a better world.
