Developing a Thriving Culture

By: John Klessinger - South River High School (MD)

Being a successful organization is all about developing a thriving culture. An organization without a positive culture may thrive in the short term but hardly ever sustains itself for long. Plenty of teams are "one-hit wonders." They have enough talent to win for a year or two. Then, slowly the success dwindles, replaced with apathy and complacency. Apathy, by definition, is a lack of emotion. In the sports world, it means that teams have become content and have lost their desire to continue to grow and flourish. That mindset becomes a program killer. There are several reasons why a team stops progressing. The apparent reason is the talent pool dried up. However, when you look deeper, it is usually because the culture either diminished or wasn't established in the first place.

What do I mean by a program's culture? Firstly, it is the common bond that keeps your team together. At South River, the common bond focuses on becoming better people through wrestling. It is a concept I preach from the start until the end. With 100% honesty, our culture is about developing people first. Wrestlers second. Trust me, you will win if you focus on developing people first. You will experience pitfalls often. That is the nature of coaching. Most cultures go through adversity and become better because of it. The ones that don't, well, as I said, probably haven't established a thriving culture.

Secondly, when I think about culture, I think about our program's mission. It is about developing people first. That is the overarching theme. Specifically, for us, that is working hard, focusing on improvement (instead of winning), and being good people. That is both the expectation in my program and the standard. So I will not allow deviation from the mission. That is the foundation, and if the foundation is weak, the rest of the structure is also vulnerable.

The question is, how do we develop a winning culture? By winning, I am not necessarily referring to your record and stats. Indeed, that is a part of any program and why we even compete. However, winning matches or games is a by-product of a strong culture. Winning becomes like your mission. It becomes your expectation and standard when you have an established culture in place.

Below are six ways to grow your program into a winning culture.

1. You're the "face" of your culture and program. If you expect people to follow you, you have to be the first to get into the fight. That's my motto with everything in our program. I am the head coach. But I am also the person who builds the program's reputation on how I carry myself in school, extra-curricular activities, and the community. Your culture begins with you. If you want your team to be a certain way- hard-working, committed, or disciplined- you have to be the one who demonstrates it first. Nothing else, in my opinion, is more critical than this point. When you think of Penn State wrestling, you think of Cael Sanderson. Alabama Football- Nick Saban. Duke basketball- Mike K. There is a reason we think about them when we think of a team. They are the face and establishment of that program.
2. Develop a Mission Statement. What should be included in your mission statement?
   • An underlying theme. "Our mission at South River High School is to teach student-athletes life skills through the sport of wrestling."
   • Specific ways you are going to accomplish your mission. "Hard work, commitment to being good citizens, daily improvement, etc."
   • A statement of commitment and expectation for its members. "As a member of the South River Wrestling Program, you will bring favorable attention to the program at home, in school, and in the community."
   • How will it be measured? How will you know if you are accomplishing your mission? Essentially these are goals. Wins and losses? Improvement?
3. Building a Winning Culture is not done in isolation. Many people are involved in establishing the culture in your program. It starts with you then needs to be communicated to everyone associated with your program. That would be parents, athletes, teachers, and administrators. If they are on board with your mission, you will have their support when you need it most. I can't tell you how many times I have needed help from a parent or a teacher. Because I established a relationship with them by sharing our program's mission, expectations, and standards, it allowed me to solicit their help with my team. If you get others on your side beyond your athletes, quickly it becomes "this is how things are done on the South River Wrestling Team." Many coaches only want to work with the athletes and neglect or refuse to include others in their culture. You have to remember that parents, who dearly love their children, can also be your greatest allies in growing your organization.
4. Promote, advertise, and grow your brand. Once you get your personnel on board with what you are doing, you next have to put it out there for everyone to see. Athletes and parents love seeing their child's names in newspapers, social media, and emails. The more your name is out there, the more people know about your program. Post information about your team on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Send emails out regularly highlighting performances in matches and practices. It goes a long way in creating a positive culture.
5. Culture is organic. Your culture is constantly growing and changing. It has too. Some years you will have teams filled with many returning wrestlers. Others, you will be top-heavy with new kids in your program. Your culture is always moving in slightly different directions depending on the kids and parents in your program. For example, without a 2020-21 season in Maryland, I began practice with close to forty prospective wrestlers. Nearly thirty of them were not on my team during the 2019-20 season. I quickly learned that my old way of doing things wasn't practical. I had to deviate from my standard messaging. In some respects, my stress of discipline and accountability loosened. I had to recognize that I didn't have the large buy-in from day one like other years. I had to create the buy-in from our program with constant reinforcement of our expectations and standards. Practically daily. I had to be willing to compromise some of my core beliefs to sustain the culture that had taken years to develop. I felt like I was taking a "soft" approach in a demanding sport for a while. However, in time, I learned that these kids needed something different than the hard-line approach I was used to in the past. Ultimately, while challenging, the year's team has become one of the most enjoyable teams I ever coached.
6. Develop your culture from the end to the beginning. Decide what you want your culture to be. How do you want it to look from the outside? What do you want people to say about your program? Looking from the end will guide you in creating a culture that matches your objectives. It takes a little leg work in the beginning. Investigate other programs you admire. What have they done that makes them who they are? Adopt their practices in your program. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. When I began creating the culture at South River, it started with dropping my ego and looking to others for help. I spoke to many other coaches in our school and competing schools. But mostly, I observed and watched other programs. From them, I decided what I wanted our program to look like. It took time. A lot of time. Now I can honestly say that we have a culture here that I am proud to be a part of.