Episode 265: The Power of Team in Boosting Individual Performance
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The path to improvement is one that includes hard work and commitment, but too often we travel that path alone. We seek our personal goals in a very personal way. It can often be a solitary endeavor. Not only does it not have to be, but it also shouldn’t be.
"You cannot expect to optimize your performance or results if you always take the journey alone."
In this episode of the Purple Patch Podcast, IRONMAN Master Coach Matt Dixon highlights the benefits and impact of chasing your individual improvements by engaging in team and group training.
The thread that unites athletes of all levels and abilities is a desire to improve. Tapping into that shared motivation fosters a supportive, fun, and competitive environment that provides accountability and inspires a diverse performance culture.
Using stories of Purple Patch Squads enduring 5 am cold water plunges and scaling virtual mountains together through video-coached bike classes, Matt illustrates how individual gains emerge from the practices and habits that develop from these shared group experiences.
While these stories are of empowerment, improvement, and the amplified performance gains that come from team or group training in sport, the lessons from Matt’s discussion are easily applicable in all areas of life.
Regardless of your skill level, stage of development, goals, or training needs, individuals within a team, united under a common approach and mindset, naturally upskill and thrive, as does the team.
"The team as a whole develops greater resiliency, higher effectiveness, and a greater ability to adapt and absorb uncontrollable forces that occur from external factors. In other words, there is a culture of performance. And it is when this takes footing, that there emerges a virtuous circle of productivity for individuals, teams, and organizations."
The goal of this episode is to inspire you to become a part of something and participate in building a supportive collective where everyone commits, engages, and grows together along their performance journey.
Episode Timestamps
00:00 - 03:28 - Welcome and Episode Introduction
03:35 - 06:21 - Matt's News-ings
06:36 - 08:37 - Word of the Week
08:44 - 32:59 - The Meat and Potatoes - Episode 265: The Power of Team in Boosting Individual Performance
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Full Transcript
Matt Dixon 00:00
I'm Matt Dixon and welcome to the Purple Patch podcast. The mission of Purple Patch is to empower and educate every human being to reach their athletic potential. Through the lens of athletic potential, you reach your human potential. The purpose of this podcast is to help time-starved people everywhere integrate sport into life.
Matt Dixon 00:24
All right, today's episode is all about the power of team even when you're an individual pursuit. One of the great things that I've realized over working with so many pro athletes, as well as of course, leading CEOs and executives, is the propensity to really embrace coaching, to look to surround themselves with great experts to help them go where they want to go. And as you go along your performance journey, you don't need to go it alone. In fact, what we do at Purple Patch is we draw on the expertise and insights from the team of scientists at InsideTracker. By taking a look inside, at your biometrics, we can get precise focus on where we should apply our attention so that we can get the best platform of health and ultimately performance across both sport and life. And you can embrace the same methodology as well, all you need to do is head to insidetracker.com/purplepatch, that's insidetracker.com/purplepatch. And you can get 20% off everything at the store with this very simple code, Purple Patch Pro two, zero, Purple Patch Pro 20, you should be good to go. I hope it helps. Today, it's a cracker, hope you enjoy the show.
Matt Dixon 01:44
And welcome to the Purple Patch podcast as ever, your host, Matt Dixon. And I'm sure you're listening to the show thinking I want to improve. And you know that whatever that improvement is going towards whatever you want to get better at intuitively understand that the path to improvement is going to include a whole bunch of hard work, you've got to be committed. But have you ever considered the benefits and the impact that actually emerged from chasing your individual improvement via engaging as a team? Yes, any individual that is supported with a team is going to amplify results. Today I wants to discuss high individual performance that emerges from team and with that how engaged individual gains can actually improve and amplify productivity and performance within the team setting as a whole. In today's show, I'm going to tell some stories, we're going to talk about cold water plunges at 5:30 in the morning, video coaching, and the global team of athletes. We're going to talk about executive and leadership teams that I've worked with, all who have embraced individual excellence via a team setting. We're also going to reveal why so many pro performance levels declined after they decided to leave the Purple Patch coaching. And I want to point out before we even get going, it was nothing to do with the pros no longer being bathed in the Matt Dixon pixie magic dust. It was much more compelling than that. I think that you know, we are going to have a great listen today. And I think there are some performance gems in store. But before we get going, I want to do a little Matt's News-ings.
Matt Dixon 03:35
Team, headline news throughout the month of April, we did the special promotion. And we got to welcome many new athletes to the Purple Patch squad program. And guess what? We have decided to do a one-week bonus, mostly because my mate Colin was traveling for much of April. And he suggested to me that he just simply can't register until he's back online, May 5. And so we said you know what, right now, for the first seven days of May, we're going to keep the promotion going. Yes, our special 2023 squad promotion is extended by exactly one week. This is your last chance, commit to an entire 2023 season with us the rest of this year and you will receive $600 worth of additional individual consulting with a Purple Patch coach. And it can be around any performance subject that you would like including a little bit of customization around your race plans and even a little bit of season or race planning. And if you're not ready to commit all the way up front, you can just simply register month to month with us before May 7 and you will get $200 worth of individual consultations. It is a cracking value add. We are committed to you if you commit to us. It's all anchored around our tri-squad program.
Matt Dixon 04:51
And remember that we are always so confident of our program that we invite you to join and become part of the team because it is a team, but If it's not for you if you feel like you know what, I didn't really think that this was all scrubbed up to make it to be, well guess what, we've got a 30-day money back guarantee. If you don't like it, and then we graciously shake hands and say goodbye. And I promise you, that doesn't happen very often. That's why we're so confident in that promise and guarantee. All right, if the interest is piqued, I recommend that you take a peek at our brand-new squad page. It is terrific. It was a real team effort. I think we've done a superb job in there explaining what the program is and how it's differentiated from so many normal training programs. But you're also equally likely listening as a time-starved athlete. So let me remind you right now on this show that this is the only triathlon program available that is specifically designed for your needs as a time-starved athlete. And of course, as being time-starved. You have by definition, a restricted training availability. So how do we optimize? Or that is our expertise.
Matt Dixon 06:01
Hope that helps. Of course, if you wanna have a conversation after having a checkout on the web page, feel free to reach out info@purplepatchfitness.com. And of course, that conversation will be complimentary and pressure-free. And with that, Barry, I'm in the mood. Yes, indeed, I'm in the mood for you. So why don't we do Word of the Week?
singer 06:21
We liked the way he thinks serious with the way so it's time to take text the way
Matt Dixon 06:36
Yes, indeed, it is Word of the Week, and this week and our Word of the Week is bedtime. Do you remember when we were kids? We were typically, at least most of us, held to a pretty darn regular bedtime. Perhaps during the school days, it was a little bit earlier. And then we got an extra 30, 40, 60 minutes of playtime at the weekend. At least that's how it worked in my household. But then we all grew up. And as adults, most of us don't adhere to the same practice, review many people's bedtime and it varies wildly. Well, if this sounds like you, you are leaving performance on the table. And I would consider you to evolve your practices because research consistently shows that a regular bedtime contributes to improvements in the quality of your sleep and the rejuvenation that you get with it. When you commit to a regular bedtime, you tend to accumulate more sleep hours as well. So we know that good sleep hygiene is a direct performance enhancer. It improves and amplifies your health, your sports, and life performance. And so this to me seems like a good practice to adopt -- regular bedtime. Me? Well, I'm kind of one of those guys that goes early to bed. In fact, I'm often barely hanging on after Baxter's bedtime. That's how early it is. On the flip side, I rise early, but I feel refreshed and ready to perform in the day. And so if you tend to be scattered or random in the time that you put your head on the pillow, it's a shift to make sure that you can enhance your daily energy and your performance. And that is why this week, the Word of the Week is bedtime. All right, Barry, it's not time for our bedtime. We've got lots of education to get in. Let's do this. It's a goodie for you and me because oh, don't we make a gorgeous team Barry? It is the theme of the day teamwork. Let's do The Meat and Potatoes. There is plenty to go around for everyone, folks. It is, as I say, The Meat and Potatoes.
Matt Dixon 08:44
To kick off The Meat and Potatoes. I'm going to tell you a story. I want you to imagine a chilly San Francisco Tuesday morning in winter. The time is 5:30 in the morning, and I stand as a coach on the pool deck of the Jewish Community Center in San Francisco and a string of 35 athletes flow onto poolside, most of them carrying that special hesitancy that only a swimmer knows. Yes, that hesitancy that is reserved for those few minutes prior to when you need to jump into the chili water at that ungodly hour. Of four to six athletes per lane 90 minutes of hard interval-based swimming ahead of them. At one end of the pool in lane one the fast kids the pros, the elite amateurs ex-collegiate swimmers, and then the poor performance level just trickles and transitions down as you pass through the lanes all the way at lane six. But in quirky Purple Patch style, we don't call the athletes in they're a member of lanes six by its number. We lovingly label it World War Two. As the level of swimming in that lane reminds me, the coach, of the horrors of war. The only way is up for those participants.
Matt Dixon 10:02
But my question to you is why? Why would so many athletes decide to commit to showing up twice weekly, rarely missing, those mornings where all they get to be greeted by is chilly water? After all, they could just as easily show up at a more reasonable hour in much less crowded conditions. Well, if I were driven by ego, I would claim that it was all down to my wonderful coaching and feedback, but the truth is that it goes well beyond that fact. I believe that the answer emerges from a single word -- TEAM. Yes, this collection of 35 individuals form the most unlikely of teams, a team in which athletes of all levels and abilities show up. And they show up like clockwork, they commit to hard work. And the single thread that unites all of these people is a singular desire to improve. Now, the positive impact of this team is absolutely undeniable. And let me explain why.
Matt Dixon 11:06
Well, each member of this team commits to group training, because they individually realize benefits in their own performance levels. These include an enhanced accountability and support of a shared experience, each individual gets pushed beyond their normal levels that they would be able to do on their own, fostered by a really supportive and fun competitive environment. And each individual also gains courage, courage to push through barriers and stick with the challenge, especially when there's something as a part of the group. All in all, folks show up, they push themselves more, they're less likely to quit or backtrack when they're placed on challenge. As long as the team environment is supportive, respectful, and embraces each member is someone who is contributing to the performance culture at their own level. And then individual performance levels tend to raise and this is great individuals improve because of group training. But something more powerful begins to emerge over time. And that's the fact that these swimmers establish a set of practices and habits, all within a really supportive environment that ultimately over time has led to the development of a performance culture.
Matt Dixon 12:26
What emanates, is a sense of belonging for these individuals, where they feel like they contribute, and they are valued. And ultimately, athletes of all levels are inspired by one another, they have an impact. Perhaps it might be the performance and levels and race results of one of the elite or pro athletes. Or maybe it's the faster athletes looking down and seeing the gains that a newbie has made. Perhaps they've overcome fear and made huge seismic imprints on their own performance levels. The instances like this have developed a belief, a belief in the program, a belief in themselves, and a belief that they are now a part of something special. And you can't overstate how powerful this becomes. From a set of individual commitments, or with a desire to improve themselves, has created a collective performance bigger than the sum of its parts. And the bonus through all this. Well, it isn't the gains, what you might expect from the team approach. We start to see newer athletes coming in raise their levels, as they're driven and inspired to ever improve their performance from the friendly competition above their level. But in addition to that, the experienced athletes look down they're pushed forward themselves, as they start to lean into their role as mentors and role models. And perhaps inspired by the work ethic and the support of their teammates, many of whom are really successful people in broader life outside of swimming.
Matt Dixon 14:01
You see, the point is, in this collective team, this motley crew, no matter the level, the team ends up thriving, and therefore individuals in that team upskill, emerge, improve. So this is a story of empowerment and improvement and the benefits of team coaching. But this isn't the only story like this within Purple Patch and many other organizations out there. Let's just rattle off one more, let's consider our bike coaching program. So each week, I show up to the Performance Center in San Francisco, and in Studio One, I am leading a small group bike coach session. But in addition to those 20 or so folks that are in San Francisco, we are connected via two-way video to a regular global community of athletes. We have Greta in Mexico, Lena from Denmark, Martin from England, Kevin from Washington, Marlo from Michigan and the list goes on. These are regulars who are in person, but remote. And the key here is that whether in studio one or whether or across the world, they are connected. Now in this session, we also have elite athletes newcomers aspirational amateurs, or those that are just seeking better energy or health and never dream of towing a start line of any sort of event. But just like the swim program, the same impact occurs. These athletes, and not just getting on their bike trainers at their home, in their office in Studio One, and just training chasing power, they are a part of a group. No, more than that. They're a part of a team. They are getting coached to the session, and driven individually to better performance levels, while also having a blast getting a sense of belonging. To be explicit, every individual in this group, whether at home or in person in San Francisco, is riding at their own intensity at their own level. So they are meeting themselves where they are currently at. But they are also benefiting from being able to draw on the positive energy and support as well as the accountability that emerges from a group environment. They are driven to better levels than what they could ever imagine hitting when they're alone. And you better believe that no one quits when things get tough, because of the accountability that emerges.
Matt Dixon 16:34
Now in this environment, as coaches, we like to place a heavy emphasis on skill acquisition and becoming ultimately what we label a better bike rider. And so within this group environment, in person, or remotely, individuals are rewarded, but they're rewarded because of adherence to the session as intended as to improving their own skill levels. And that's how they climb the virtual leaderboard, when they ride their bike well, when they established a smoother pedal stroke when they nailed the Terrain Management integrated into the session. And it is within this group environment that they get feedback. Because of the two-way video environment, it's me able as a coach, or one of the Purple Patch coaches, being able to say to Marlo, "Marlo, drop your shoulders, they're too tight." But you better believe that Constance and Debbie and Martin also drop their shoulders, also improve their posture. And that's one of the benefits of team, of group. And so, therefore, individually performance levels rise. But just like the swim program, the same pattern emerges. Individual performance rises, because of team environment. But the team environment improves because of the expectations, behaviors, and contributions of the collective individuals across all the levels.
Matt Dixon 17:57
These two stories highlight a stunning truth. And that's a simple fact that you as an individual simply cannot expect to optimize your performance or your results. If you always take this journey alone. Amplified performance gains emerge from group-based commitment. When you engage in a team, you individually get better. Now let's pause here. Because the two stories that I gave to you today are a collection of people that are ultimately seeking individual gain, swimming, triathlon, and they're two individual sports. But those sports are amplified via a team approach. So why don't we just for the sake of argument, put this into a different context? Let's broaden our perspective a little bit. Because one of the things that I get to do is work with a lot of C-level executives and a lot of executive teams. So let's consider those executives and leadership teams. I work with a lot of them. And I've had a chance over the last 15 years to support and educate various different groups of people.
Matt Dixon 19:05
Now, one thing that is common with executives is they are under ever-increasing demands and scrutiny. Ask any executive what their most valuable commodity is, and most will answer you with time. Many executives struggle to get everything done that their role demands, let alone having enough capacity to contribute to broader draw broader team activities and respond to uncontrollable external forces: economy, Silicon Valley Bank, a pandemic. You get the picture. These are really really tough roles. It's why we always say they are time-starved. Now, to excel as an executive. If you put it out there most would agree that the age-old mindset of health, a level of toughness and work ethic just isn't the long-term path to achieve sustainable high performance. It's more nuanced than that, and almost universally, it would be accepted that if you can improve fitness and habits around quality eating, and proper sleep, and then we are going to foster improved capacity, greater performance, including stabilizing energy, increasing your focus, ability to process information and much, much more. And yet, when we think about our swim example, and our bike coaching example, out there, most individual, executives don't get to enjoy the same benefits of working on their own performance within a team environment. And here lies a little bit of a paradox if you ask me, we know that executives achieve higher performance when engaged as a part of a high-performing executive team. And we also agree that improving your fitness and health enables sustainable high performance. And yet, the vast majority of executives are left to their own devices when approaching their own fitness and health. And I see so many leaders and executive teams and even organizations struggling with so many post-pandemic challenges. The collision of remote versus office work, burnout being at unprecedented levels, too many workers just showing up to work and checking the box. In other words, punching the clock. Presentee-ism is rampant right now in the American workplace. And so how do organizations boost productivity? How do they increase performance levels across individuals, teams
Matt Dixon 21:35
even company-wide? Well, I believe it's impossible to do this on a case-by-case, one-by-one, basis. We need to begin at the top and we need to adopt a team mindset. Let me use a case study here. Imagine we have an executive team of 10. Now in that group of 10 executives that become the leadership team, we might have a couple of folks that are really passionate about sport, maybe they're training for marathons, or doing an Ironman Triathlon, you know, every executive team has a couple of those types of folks. And then there are maybe two or three or four others that like to stay fit but aren't necessarily competitive. We have one or two that perhaps exercise because they realize it's important, but they certainly don't derive any joy from it. And finally, you've got the rest of the team that might deliver value in a lot of ways but don't really follow any form of performance lifestyle. So that's the makeup of a very typical executive team. Now, all the research shows that if we can foster improvements in fitness, and health, and therefore productivity is going to increase. We're going to experience individually and collectively better energy focus information processing more, yes, productivity improves. And if we can expect greater productivity, in turn, that should impact company performance.
Matt Dixon 22:56
But how can we engage these 10 individuals with such different passions and value placed on a performance lifestyle? It's tricky. The only path is to lean into the type of impact that we've experienced with our swimming and cycling programs -- TEAM. In other words, we have to foster a team environment where there is a collective mission of aligned goals. But within those aligned goals, each individual is met where they're currently at. And each individual that is supported in developing practices and habits that are suitable to them, and are not overwhelming. Now, by ensuring that the concept is not just 10 individuals, but instead a concept of team, we can then leverage that concept to boost a feeling of contribution towards the team goals that are establish, established by actually the group of the executives themselves, a sense of forced accountability and support and encouragement that is fostered along their journey. And ultimately having each individual feeling like they have a responsibility to contribute at their level, and therefore is rewarded for their contributions at that level. And this is how I've seen something very simple, become incredibly powerful. Because we might have David, who's training for a marathon. And at the same time, we might have Robert, who's just trying to move from sedentary to logging up 10,000 steps in every day of activity. The key is both Robert and David feel a part of the solution. They feel accountability and they feel individual contribution. In other words, they are a part of the creation of a performance culture. Now in a corporate environment, that is where things become really interesting because we already have established that individual executives perform better when they are part of a high-performing team. But in turn, a team culture of performance tends to accelerate individual performance. In other words, there is bilateral benefit here. When we nail this situation, it is a bi-directional positive force that becomes a virtuous circle of performance. And what ultimately emerges in this is an outsize impact that is bigger than the sum of its parts.
Matt Dixon 25:35
Individuals ended up becoming more productive and effective in the workplace. But the team as a whole develops greater resiliency, higher effectiveness, a greater ability to adapt and absorb uncontrollable forces that occur from external factors. In other words, there is a culture of performance. And it is when this takes footing, that emerges a virtuous circle of productivity for individuals, for teams, and organizations. When we add newcomers into this newfound performance culture, they are much more likely to adopt positive habits. After all, few people like to be left out or even stand out. And leaders will naturally begin to transfer this performance culture to their own teams that they're leading. And before we know it, taking the word back, we have a company pandemic of performance improvements, just like what has occurred in our swim programs and bike classes.
Matt Dixon 26:38
To be effective, it is critical in this environment, that every person is met where they're currently at. This isn't about becoming an athlete, it isn't becoming monk-like in performance. It is about simply going from where you're at right now and fostering steps towards improvements because little gains can have huge imprints in your overall performance. Meet where you're at. In addition, it's important that people are encouraged in a supportive environment that's respectful so that they can build confidence and many victories from their current state. We see an absolute need for collective engagement and unified team goals. And that respectful and supportive environment tends to bolster belief, confidence, and accountability. When we get this right, and we have got this right, executive teams see hugely impressive gains. Remember what I talked about, with our swimming and cycling examples, you cannot expect to optimize your performance or your results. If you take the journey alone. Amplified performance gains emerge from a group-based collective environment and commitment, a performance culture folks wins.
Matt Dixon 27:55
Let me finish the show by coming back to my own experience as an elite coach. When I sit here and reflect on the decade-plus of coaching world-class professional athletes, I'm reminded of a simple fact. I didn't coach 10 to 12 professional athletes at a time, I coached a squad of 10 to 12 athletes, a team. Each individual member of this pro squad was at various different stages of athletic development. They all had individual goals. They all had different training needs. But they were united by a desire to improve and a common approach, a shared mindset, and a set of practices all under a common approach to the sport. And this was all in the most individual of sports, we focused on team. And the result was the development of what an example of a leadership team would chase. The result was performance culture, improved productivity, or ultimately improved results. Each of these highly ambitious individual pros drew benefit from the support, the camaraderie, the accountability, from each other. They each engaged in lifting each other up, raising the performance expectations and levels, and ultimately their individual results were impressive. But the reason that Purple Patch had so much success across genders, as well as a rich history of athletes excelling across long-term development and performance gains, likely emerge from the team setup. Our virtuous circle became powerful in itself. The results were greater than the sum of the individual contributions because there was a belief in something magical. And that's where things get powerful.
Matt Dixon 29:43
Any athlete that departed Purple Patch tended to struggle to maintain their prior performance levels. Was it because of the Matt Dixon special sauce? Or was it because of the team culture? Incoming athletes were quick to adopt the positive traits and practices and they enjoyed some accelerated performance levels, they went to levels quickly than they never could have imagined. You see what happened is we created a conveyor belt of performance, or what I like to say is a performance culture emerged. Individual benefits, the team benefited everybody. One. Yes, folks becoming a part of something, committing, engaging, participating as a part of a team will draw benefits beyond your own individual efforts. And this is why I believe team goes well beyond community. When I look at athletes that thrive on the Purple Patch program, whether individually coached or a part of our tri squad programs, it's really typical, that those athletes that have long-term success, staying power, break through plateaus. These are the athletes that participate, that engage, that seek to contribute to give as much as they take. And ironically, it is them that receive more than anyone else. It's something to consider when you tackle your performance journey, lean in, support, give, commit, because you might get even more than you dare imagine. And with that, this concludes our lesson of today. I hope you have a super week, check in next time. Take care.
Matt Dixon 31:27
Guys, thanks so much for joining. And thank you for listening, I hope that you enjoyed the new format. You can never miss an episode by simply subscribing, head to the Purple Patch channel of YouTube, and you will find it there and you could subscribe. Of course, I'd like to ask you, if you will subscribe, also share it with your friends. And it's really helpful if you leave a nice positive review in the comments. Now any questions that you have, let me know feel free to add a comment and I will try my best to respond and support you on your performance journey. And in fact, as we commence this video podcast experience, if you have any feedback at all, as mentioned earlier in the show, we would love your help in helping us to improve. Simply email us info@PurplePatchFitness.com or leave it in the comments of the show at the Purple Patch page and we will get you dialed in. We'd love constructive feedback. We are in a growth mindset as we like to call it. And so feel free to share with your friends, but as I said, let's build this together. Let's make it something special. It's really fun. We're really trying hard to make it a special experience and we want to welcome you into the Purple Patch community. With that, I hope you have a great week. Stay healthy, have fun, keep smiling, doing whatever you do. Take care.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
performance, athletes, individual, team, levels, improve, executives, emerges, patch, purple, commit, people, bedtime, ultimately, coach, support, culture, benefits, coaching, gains