Tips for Results: Transform Your Passionate B-Players Into a Championship Team

3 Essential Elements Every Winning Team Needs

Can you win with the team you have right now? 

This is a common question leaders ask when they're feeling stuck between ambitious goals and current reality.

The good news? You probably can go much farther than you think with the team you have.

Over my 30+ year career I've worked with dozens of teams across companies of all sizes. Most were made up of good people who genuinely wanted to do great work. Some were A players, but the majority were passionate B players. They were hungry, capable people who just needed some simple, but key, things to transform into a winning team.

I propose that every high-performing team needs three essential elements. Take care of these, and you'll be amazed at what your current team can accomplish.

Element 1: An Inspiring Vision (Your Compelling Audacious Goal)

The foundation of every championship team is a vision that pulls people forward.

We call this a Compelling Audacious Goal, a vision that has three specific characteristics:

• Compelling

It draws you in and makes you believe. It encourages you to hope again. You don’t want to pass up this opportunity.

• Audacious

It feels challenging, maybe even just out of reach, but it inspires you to chase what's possible.

• Goal

It's clear and tangible. Something you can sink your teeth into. You can close your eyes and imagine accomplishing it.

Think about any great sports movie like Hoosiers, Miracle, and Remember the Titans. They all follow the same pattern: a leader believes in the team, presents a goal that seems impossible, and the team gets inspired, begins to believe, and creates a champion story.

Why this works

People want to be part of something bigger than themselves. When you cast a compelling vision, you give your team a reason to stretch beyond what they thought possible.

Action Step

Schedule a team meeting specifically to discuss your Compelling Audacious Goal. I encourage you to involve your team in creating this CAG. If you come up with it together as a team then there will be joint ownership and buy-in.

Element 2: Solid Foundations (Simple Systems That Work)

Vision alone isn't enough.

Your team also needs some simple operational foundations that championship teams depend on.

Most teams I work with are passionate and capable, but they're missing basic operating systems. They don't have consistent processes, they're not aligned on decision-making, and they lack the regular rhythms that keep high-performing teams in sync.

This isn't about complicated systems or endless training. It's about getting the core foundations right:

• Clear roles and accountability: Everyone knows what they own
• Consistent meeting rhythms: Regular cadences for communication and problem-solving
• Shared decision-making processes: Clear frameworks for how choices get made
• Simple tools that actually get used: Systems that enhance rather than hinder work
• Regular communication patterns: Information flows smoothly up, down, and across
  
  

Why this works

When teams learn these fundamentals, everything else gets easier. Problems get solved faster, communication improves, and people feel more confident about their ability to execute.

Action Step

Audit your current operating rhythms. What's working? What's creating friction? Pick one fundamental area to improve over the next 30 days.

Element 3: Growth-Focused Culture (Feedback, Accountability, and Development)

The third element separates good teams from great ones: A Growth Mindset

A culture where feedback is a gift, accountability feels like teamwork, and everyone believes they can improve with the right support.

The concept of growth mindset versus fixed mindset, developed by psychologist Carol Dweck, distinguishes between people who believe abilities are static (fixed mindset) versus those who believe abilities can be developed through effort and learning (growth mindset). When you cultivate a growth mindset culture, people stop asking "Am I good at this?" and start asking "How can I get better at this?". That mindset shift changes everything.

Most organizations struggle here. People avoid difficult conversations. Feedback is either too harsh or too soft. Accountability feels like punishment instead of partnership. When someone struggles, the default response is to replace them rather than develop them.

Championship teams do this differently. They create environments that are clear, consistent, and caring:

• Regular development conversations: Check-ins focused on growth, not just performance reviews
• A few clear and thoughtful KPIs: Real data from the business that shows performance in black and white metrics. This allows feedback to be data-driven instead of emotionally driven.
• Honest feedback delivered with respect: Direct communication wrapped in genuine support
• Shared ownership of outcomes: Clear expectations that everyone understands and takes responsibility for
• Growth mindset as default: A shared belief that people can improve with the right coaching and effort
• Early intervention systems: Catching and addressing issues before they become crises
  
  

Why this works

When teams get this right, something magical happens. People start asking for feedback instead of avoiding it. They take ownership of problems and solutions. They support each other's growth instead of competing.

Your passionate B players become A players. Your A players become leaders.

Action Step

Implement one growth-focused practice this month, maybe it's regular one-on-ones, or a team feedback session, or simply asking "How can I help you grow?" in your next team meeting.

Putting It All Together: The Transformation Effect

Here's what I've seen time and again: when teams have an inspiring vision, solid operational foundations, and a growth-focused culture, ordinary people accomplish extraordinary things.

• The technology team that "just wasn't innovative enough" came up with game-changing 10x solutions once they understood the vision and had better collaboration processes.
• The leader convinced he needed to hire senior talent discovered his current team could handle much more complex challenges when given clear accountability systems and regular coaching.
• The CEO worried about scaling past $10M found that strong foundations actually accelerated growth rather than slowing it down.

Your team likely has more potential than you realize.

The question doesn’t start with finding the right people.  It starts with enabling the team you have with the right vision, foundations, and culture.

Here's Your Next Move: Start with one thing...

• Need vision clarity?

Gather your team for a Vision workshop

• Missing operational foundations? 

Audit your current systems and pick one area to strengthen

• Want better team development? 

Begin having more frequent, growth-focused conversations

Championship teams aren't born, they're built.

They're built one intentional decision at a time

Ready to help your team reach its potential? I specialize in helping SMB leaders build great companies through a proven framework and personalized coaching. Whether you need a Vision Workshop, Foundations training, or ongoing leadership coaching, I'm confident that I can help you unlock what's possible with your current team.

Curious? Let's Talk about your specific challenges and talk about a personalized solution for you and your team.