Tonight, the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets begin their best-of-seven-game series to determine this year’s National Basketball Association champion. As talented as they may be, both teams are defined by the cultures they have created.
Whether you lead a church, business, non-profit, or athletic organization, let’s take a moment and learn from these two organizations about creating a winning culture.
The Miami Heat
After winning the 2022-2023 Eastern Conference championship, I was surprised and amazed by the lack of reaction from the Heat’s players. Take a look at the faces of the team’s players in the picture below.
Noticeable is the lack of celebration we have grown accustomed to during these moments. There was no dancing, cigars, trash talk, or braggadocious behavior. That is not the culture the Heat have created.
Head Coach Erik Spoelstra
One of the guardians of the Heat’s culture is head coach Erik Spoelstra. This is Spoeltra’s sixth trip to the NBA Finals having won twice. As a result, the NBA Championship is where he and the team’s focus lies. The conference championship is merely a step, albeit a significant one, towards their ultimate goal.
To gain insight into how Spoelstra helps create and maintain the Heat’s culture, watch the video below as he discusses role player Duncan Robinson. Afterwards I will provide nine lessons on building winning cultures I gleaned from the video.
GRIT IS A SKILL
"He is committed to this process each and every day. He has a great work ethic and perseverance and humility." (Erik Spoelstra talking about Miami heat player and former Division 3 player Duncan Robinson) pic.twitter.com/tD7VFKdWnq
— Coach the Coaches (@WinningCoaches) May 31, 2023
The following is a transcript of Spoelstra’s news conference. From it, we learn the following nine lessons on creating a winning culture.
“He is committed to this process each and every day. He has a great work ethic and I’ve said it before, perseverance and humility. Don’t believe they hype. You can’t start reading your headlines and relaxing. Which he doesn’t do. He continues to work and not feel like he’s entitled. If you really dedicate yourself and are consistent to the process, you can make special things happen in this league. You have to have that grit. You can’t buy that. It’s either in your or not. You can develop it obviously but that is a skill unto itself.”
9 Lessons We Learn From The Miami Heat On Creating A Winning Culture
- Winning Cultures Have A Daily Process – Successful teams do not operate from a place of randomness. Spoelstra said, “He is committed to this process each and every day.”
- Winning Cultures Are Committed To That Daily Process – You cannot just have a process, you must be committed to it. To repeat, “He is committed to this process each and every day.”
- Winning Cultures Work Hard – In my book Timeless: 10 Enduring Practices Of Apex Leaders, one of the characteristics of the greatest leaders is they work hard, very hard. The Heat and its players reflect this quality. Spoelstra noted of Robinson, “He has a great work ethic.”
- Winning Cultures Are Resilient – In my latest best-selling book Mighty: 7 Skills You Need to Move from Pandemic to Progress, one of the qualities of today’s greatest leaders is resilience. Spoelstra added, “I’ve said it before, perseverance”
- Winning Cultures Are Humble – They are grateful and know that success is momentary without diligence. Spoelstra demands of the Heat, “Humility. Don’t believe they hype.”
- Winning Cultures Focus On What’s Next – The default mode for average leaders is complacency. Successful leaders, however, are constantly forward-thinking. Spoelstra teaches that you must aggressively guard against a false sense of security. He acknowledged, “You can’t start reading your headlines and relaxing. Which he doesn’t do.”
- Winning Cultures Are Not Entitled – With the Miami Heat, it is not about you. It is about the team. Entitlement must be eradicated for a team to have a winning culture. Gratefully, Spoelstra observed, “He continues to work and not feel like he’s entitled.” For a deeper dive into the Heat’s culture and how they protect against entitlement, read team president Pat Riley’s 7 Danger Signals Of The Disease Of Me.
- Winning Cultures Are Consistent Cultures – Winning cultures are trustworthy, unfailing, and dependable. Believe it or not, this is a rare commodity, even in the NBA. Spoelstra admitted, “If you really dedicate yourself and are consistent to the process, you can make special things happen in this league.”
- Winning Cultures Develop The Skill Of Grit – Emotional fragility has created a leadership crisis. There is a severe shortage of competitive stamina. Quitting has become institutionalized. The ability to press into crisis and ultimately thrive defines the Heat culture. Spoelstra confirmed, “You have to have that grit. You can’t buy that. It’s either in your or not. You can develop it obviously but that is a skill unto itself.”
For a deeper dive on Heat superstar Jimmy Butler read 9 Leadership Lessons From Jimmy Butler’s Historic 56-Point Play-off Performance.
The Denver Nuggets
The Heat’s opponent, the Denver Nuggets, have a winning culture as well. In this NBA.com article, writer Matt Brooks provides great insights into makes the Nuggets’s culture so special. Below are the lessons I gleaned from his story.
16 Lessons We Learn From The Denver Nuggets On Creating A Winning Culture
- Winning Cultures Intentionally Build Healthy Relationships – The Nuggets have developed a family atmosphere. They are not dysfunctional. The team actually began cultivating friendships during training camp. This emotional bond paid dividends as the team overcame many challenging times.
- Winning Cultures Have Talented Players – Simply put, it is hard to win without talent. Head Coach Michael Malone said, “In this business, you have to bring in talented players; that’s a given.” For a deeper dive on the importance of talent, read What Defeats Talent Almost Every Single Time.
- Winning Cultures Only Select Players Who Fit The Culture – Successful teams do not add players. They select them. Successful teams know who they are as an organization and then select players who fit the culture. Malone stated, “But I think we’ve always done a good job of identifying guys that will fit into this culture.”
- Winning Cultures Remove Players Who Do Not Fit The Culture – Conversely, just as successful teams select the talent they want, they also de-select those who do not fit the culture. Malone declared, “What I also love about this franchise is that when guys don’t fit into the culture, they’re not here anymore.”
- Winning Cultures Are Selfless – They are committed to making their teammates better. Malone continued, “We have guys that understand that being selfless is a huge part of being a Denver Nugget and guys who continue to buy into that, whether they’re playing or not playing.”
- Winning Cultures Eliminate Distractions – Focus is required to having a winning culture. Malone noted, “If you’re going to win at a high level, you can’t have distractions.”
- Winning Cultures Have High EQs – Dysfunction is not part of winning cultures. Malone observed, “You have to have guys that get along—on the court, off the court”
- Winning Cultures Have A Common Goal – Winning teams are aligned and attuned. They are on the same page. Malone stated the Nuggets “come together and share in a common goal. I’ve seen that for years now.”
- Winning Cultures Are Led By Their Best Players – Jeff Van Gundy said, “Your best player has to set a tone of intolerance for anything that gets in the way of winning.” Two-time Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokić is not only the Nuggets’s best player, he is its most humble and selfless one. Jokić is the living embodiment of the culture. He even goes as far as calling teammate Jamal Murray “our best player.” Murray added, “There’s no selfishness when we’re playing the game. It’s just hit, cut, pass, move. If it’s not there, you don’t throw it. I try to go one-on-one, doesn’t have it, hit, cut. We’re just kind of free-flowing, playing the game, and it has been working.”
- Winning Cultures Are Not Soft With Success – Successful teams stay hungry. Malone acknowledged, “It’s my job to remind our guys, don’t read and listen to everybody telling you how great you are because then you’re going to get a little soft with success, and I don’t want us getting soft with success.”
- Winning Cultures Are Hungry, Desperate, And Urgent – Malone continued, “I want us staying hungry. I want us staying desperate and urgent and disciplined.”
- Winning Cultures Celebrate Along They Way – A leader who does not celebrate is a leader not worth following. The celebration is the reward for the successful commitment to the culture. Malone stated, “It’s a delicate balance because I think in life, not just in sports but in life, you have to enjoy moments. If you don’t enjoy the small victories and the moments along the way, I think you’re missing something.”
- Winning Cultures Focus On Winning – They do not confuse activity with accomplishment. Malone is clear about the team’s goals noting, “At the same time, we have much work in front of us. Our goal wasn’t just to win the Western Conference championship. It wasn’t just to get to the NBA Finals. Our goal was to win a championship, and obviously, that’s in front of us still.”
- Winning Cultures Have Great Trust – Trust is the foundation of all successful cultures. Nuggets player Christian Braun said, “I think the trust that they have built up. They listen to Coach (Malone) and they trust what he’s telling us…” For a deeper dive on the subject of trust, read 11 Things That Happen When People Lose Trust In Their Leaders.
- Winning Cultures Don’t Get Bored With Success – Braun continued, “Teams that struggle, they get old with those things, and Coach says all the time, ‘Don’t get bored with success.’ I think we have come in and we have drilled the fundamentals and listened to Coach and nobody tries to push back on what he says.
- Winning Cultures Have A Connecting Culture – People are valued in winning cultures. Open lines of communication exist. Bridges are built. Relationships matter. Braun observed, “It’s a good balance between Coach listening to the players and us listening to Coach.”
What is one thing you learned from these two championship-level teams which will help you develop a winning culture?
To learn more about developing the skills needed to have a winning culture, get my Amazon best-selling book Mighty: 7 Skills You Need to Move from Pandemic to Progress. To purchase copies for you and your team, click HERE or on the image below.
