What Can Dominant Sports Franchises Teach Us About Teamwork?
Identifying Common Characteristics Of Great Teams And Great Coaches
There’s something magnetic about a team that wins it all. But there’s something even more compelling about a team that does it again.
Watching the Florida Panthers clinch their second consecutive Stanley Cup reminded me how rare that kind of sustained excellence is—and how much it reveals about what makes a team great. It’s not just about talent. It’s about cohesion, adaptability, culture, and leadership.
That idea echoed a theme from my recent conversation with digital transformation expert Kamales Lardi on the Humanity at Scale podcast. We talked about how organizations fail—not because of the technology they adopt, but because they neglect the human systems that make change stick. High-performing teams, in sports or in business, are built from the inside out.
In this edition, I take a closer look at 10 teams—from the All Blacks to the USWNT to UConn basketball—and surface the hidden dynamics that fueled their dominance. These stories aren’t just about trophies. They’re about what happens when people commit to something bigger than themselves—and learn how to win together.
Let’s explore what truly sets great teams apart.
I hope you enjoy this edition. If you do, I’d love for you to subscribe and share it with others who might benefit. Let’s dive in.
The Art Of Winning: Lessons From Dominant Sports Teams
The Florida Panthers just did it again.
With their second straight Stanley Cup, they’ve crossed the line from thrilling underdog to something far harder to achieve—a team built to win again and again. What’s most impressive about their success isn’t flashy individual talent or a lucky postseason run. It’s how they operate. How they adjust, recover, and execute as a system. They play like a team that trusts the process—and each other.
That got me thinking: What actually makes a team great—not just for a season, but over time?
To explore that, I looked across sports and around the world to find recent teams that weren’t just champions—they were dominant. The ones that became the standard others tried to match. I wasn’t interested in stats or tactics. I wanted to understand the culture, behavior, and leadership choices that make greatness last.
Ten Teams, Ten Blueprints of Dominance
Across sports and eras, a few teams have done more than just win—they’ve set the bar for what greatness looks like. These teams didn’t just have talent. They built cultures. They created systems of trust, adaptability, and shared purpose. They became the standard others chased.
Below are ten such teams—spanning leagues, continents, and decades. Each one offers a different window into what sustained excellence really takes.
Australian Women’s Cricket Team (2012–2023): During a run that included five ICC titles, the Aussies developed bench strength, team-first mentality, and unmatched consistency. Captain Meg Lanning led a disciplined, focused squad backed by data-informed strategy and psychological preparation.
Barcelona FC (2008–2012): With Pep Guardiola at the helm and Messi, Xavi, and Iniesta on the pitch, they dominated global football with a philosophy: possession as purpose. Their unity and telepathic passing stemmed from shared training models and deep mutual understanding.
Florida Panthers (2023–2024): From scrappy underdogs to back-to-back Stanley Cup champs, they won through grit, depth, and relentless cohesion. With stars like Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov stepping up, their real weapon was a culture of shared accountability and physical, unselfish play.
Golden State Warriors (2015–2022): Four titles in eight years. Built around Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson, they brought joy, ball movement, and a culture of selflessness. Steve Kerr’s leadership encouraged creativity within discipline.
Mumbai Indians (2013–2020): Five IPL titles in eight years. Mumbai built the greatest dynasty in T20 cricket through long-term strategy and depth. Captain Rohit Sharma provided steady leadership while management invested in scouting, analytics, and bench development.
New England Patriots (2001–2019): Six Super Bowl wins in 18 years. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick embodied process over flash. This team operated like a machine—players mastered roles, adjusted weekly, and trusted the system above individual ego.
New York Yankees (1998–2000): Three straight championships. This version of the Yankees wasn’t about the biggest names—it was about timing, team chemistry, and Torre’s steady hand. They won by playing clean, smart, connected baseball.
New Zealand All Blacks (2005–2015): A winning percentage above 85%, and won two Rugby World Cups during this period. Famous for the haka and humility. This rugby team fused elite physical training with emotional and cultural rituals—creating a shared identity far beyond the field.
Team USA Women’s Soccer (2015–2019): World Cup and Olympic dominance. Their edge? Fierce internal competition and unshakable purpose. They fused elite performance with a fight for equity, giving their mission emotional depth.
UConn Women’s Basketball (2000–2016): A staggering 11 national titles under Geno Auriemma. Intensity, transparency, and a relentless focus on fundamentals defined them. Practices were harder than games. Leadership was expected from every player.
Six Characteristics Of Great Teams
Looking across these ten dynasties, six recurring traits stand out—not vague slogans, but core elements that make teams thrive. These aren’t just individual qualities—they reflect team-wide dynamics that allow greatness to hold up under pressure and over time.
Shared Pulse: Great teams operate with a coordinated rhythm that enables rapid adaptation without needing to stop and recalibrate. This pulse isn’t choreographed—it’s developed through repetition, shared experiences, and a deep sense of timing. The Patriots could execute last-minute drives with eerie calm. The Australian Women’s Cricket Team integrated new players seamlessly into the cadence of gameplay without losing their strategic beat.
Constructive Tension: These teams don’t avoid conflict—they elevate through it. The Warriors created a culture where teammates openly debated decisions on and off the court—Draymond Green famously challenged both coaches and stars in film sessions. The USWNT fostered internal competition so intense that practice scrimmages were harder than most matches, pushing each player to grow without fracturing team unity. Constructive disagreement became a performance engine.
Role Clarity with Fluidity: Everyone understands their primary responsibilities—but rigid roles don’t restrict action. FC Barcelona’s midfield trio—Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets—constantly rotated positions, trusting each other to fill gaps without disrupting shape. UConn Women’s Basketball empowered guards to post up and bigs to initiate the offense, all while maintaining structural discipline. Coaches defined clear roles—but trained players to read the game and adapt in real time.
Embedded Repair Mechanisms: Elite teams expect mistakes and have routines to recover from them. The All Blacks embedded “no excuses” debriefs after every match—rituals that addressed emotional strain and tactical missteps with brutal honesty. The late-’90s Yankees relied on veterans like Jeter and Posada to reset the dugout mood after errors—often through quiet conversations or public displays of resilience that kept pressure from compounding. Recovery wasn’t left to chance—it was built into the system.
Culture-Driven Accountability: Peer expectations mattered more than top-down rules. The Australian Women’s Cricket Team held team-led meetings where players confronted lapses in effort or focus directly—regardless of seniority. The Florida Panthers developed a locker-room culture where stars like Barkov led by example and challenged teammates to match their intensity. In both cases, standards weren’t enforced by coaches—they were enforced by each other.
Purpose-Driven Leadership: These teams were powered by a clear sense of why they played. The All Blacks constantly reinforced the idea of “leaving the jersey better than you found it”—connecting individual action to national legacy. The USWNT played not just to win, but to push the boundaries of equity and representation, bringing deeper urgency to every match. At UConn, Geno Auriemma invoked the program’s tradition before every tournament run, reminding players they were part of something bigger than themselves—and had a responsibility to uphold it. The Mumbai Indians often spoke of building a legacy beyond trophies—reinforcing a team-first mindset that gave every player meaning in their role.
Let’s Not Forget About The Coaching
The most dominant teams weren’t just filled with talent—they were shaped by coaches who knew how to build lasting systems. It wasn’t charisma that made them exceptional. It was behavior. Here’s what these leaders consistently did:
They built systems that delivered clarity and consistency. Great coaches didn’t rely on hype or emotion. Bill Belichick turned the Patriots into a machine of precision by treating every week like a fresh tactical challenge. Every player knew their role—and why it mattered. Pep Guardiola at Barcelona embedded decision-making into the muscle memory of his players through relentless pattern training. Matthew Mott applied similar structure with the Australian Women’s Cricket Team, using role clarity and game planning to create cohesion across formats and lineups.
They demanded leadership from within. Instead of controlling everything, these coaches built teams where players held each other accountable. Geno Auriemma’s UConn Women’s teams were known for players running parts of practice themselves. Mahela Jayawardene empowered senior players on the Mumbai Indians to take ownership of team dynamics on and off the field. Steve Kerr cultivated a culture in Golden State where leadership was collaborative—players challenged and coached one another daily.
They created rituals that reinforced shared identity. Sustained excellence required more than strategy—it required meaning. The All Blacks, under Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen, embedded cultural rituals that reminded players they represented something bigger than themselves. Joe Torre fostered simple but consistent routines that bonded the late-'90s Yankees around humility and focus. Geno Auriemma used storytelling and alumni connections to link each UConn team to a larger legacy.
They modeled emotional steadiness. When pressure spiked, great coaches stayed calm. Joe Torre led with quiet confidence, creating stability amid intense expectations. Steve Hansen rarely showed visible frustration on the All Blacks sideline, helping players manage nerves in the biggest matches. Mahela Jayawardene projected calm and clarity during Mumbai Indians playoff runs—his composure often matched or exceeded the players he coached.
Sparking New Leadership Thinking
The patterns behind these dominant sports teams offer more than inspiration—they reveal actionable principles for building stronger, more resilient teams in any context. Here are five behaviors leaders can adopt to create the conditions for sustained excellence:
Codify what “great performance” looks like—together: Instead of just posting values on a wall, engage your team in defining behaviors that reflect success. Like Pep Guardiola building shared mental models through endless drills, involve your team in shaping what excellence actually looks like day-to-day.
Build shared rituals that reinforce your team’s identity: Whether it’s a weekly team huddle, a “pass the torch” storytelling session, or peer recognition tied to core values, create visible habits that embed your culture into how work gets done—just like the All Blacks do with the haka and peer evaluations.
Make room for challenge, not just agreement: Set up regular feedback forums or retrospectives where constructive tension is normalized. Treat discomfort as a leadership signal, the way Geno Auriemma uses intense practice to cultivate grit, clarity, and collective accountability.
Identify and empower culture carriers: Look beyond your top performers to the connectors—the ones who check in on teammates, mediate tension, or carry forward unspoken norms. Give them tools and voice, as great coaches do when they turn senior players into leaders.
Be boring in the best ways: As a leader, your calm and consistency are contagious. Like Joe Torre steering the Yankees through relentless media noise, hold your tone steady. Reliability—especially in moments of chaos—builds trust, safety, and team cohesion.
The Bottom Line
The most enduring sports teams didn’t just win—they built systems that made winning repeatable. Their success came from how they operated: disciplined, intentional, and grounded in shared culture. These same dynamics—trust, clarity, peer leadership, and emotional steadiness—aren’t exclusive to sports. They’re the foundation of any team built to thrive under pressure and over time.
Humanity At Scale: Redefining Leadership Podcast
Listen in to my podcast, Humanity at Scale: Redefining Leadership, where I talk with leaders and thinkers who are reimagining what leadership looks like in a fast-changing world. We explore how putting people first—employees, customers, communities—isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s a smarter path to success. Along the way, we dig into the human side of leadership—how our brains work, what drives behavior, and how technology is reshaping it all.
If you haven’t tuned in yet, it’s a great time to start.
The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
Humanity at Scale is a movement to inspire and empower leaders to create humanity-centric organizations
Very valid points relating sports team success to organization success. I’ve often thought about the negative side of both of these. A team full of superstars and high payroll unsuccessful due to a lack of chemistry and one bad apple. The workplace can mimic this.
Thanks for doing the research and presentation.