One of the most important but overlooked parts of a successful esports team is developing a team creed. A team creed is a set of values, principles, and beliefs that unite a team and help them to focus on their common goal. Team creeds are often used by traditional sports teams, including football, baseball, and basketball. As esports grows in popularity and competitiveness, creating a team creed can help esports teams rise above their competition.
The creed should be inspiring and motivating, yet at the same time simple and concise. It is ideal for a player to be able to mentally repeat a creed during a performance or competition. The team creed can also be useful for the entire team to huddle and recite prior to a tournament. Read on to get a more in-depth summary of what a team creed is and why your team should utilize a mental skills trainer to create one.
Benefits of a Team Creed
There are many benefits to creating a team creed. For one, it establishes a sense of purpose. It can serve as a rallying cry for the team to work towards a common goal. Additionally, it puts a team’s goals on paper and gives them something to refer back to throughout the season. Many players are able to come back to their creed during tough points in a competition. For example, after a bad loss, some may want to just give up, but remembering what the creed is, and that their entire team is dedicated to living up to it, they will be more likely to get back up and try again for their next performance.
A team creed also fosters teamwork. This happens because team members have a deeper understanding of their roles and responsibilities within the team, making it easier to work towards a common goal. When a player knows that their teammate has the same goal as them, they are more likely to trust and collaborate with them. It helps individuals move away from just focusing on individual stats or accolades, and step back to play in a way that works towards the entire team’s success.3
Teammates knowing the overall team’s purpose as well as their individual roles enhances communication. Clear lines of communication are open, and it helps members be honest with each other about areas of strength and improvement. Communication is especially important in fast-paced performances where there is no time to think. Callouts need to come quickly and effortlessly, and without hesitation, if the teammate is going to listen and execute them.
Overall, this promotes accountability within the unit. Teammates are more likely to play their part without having to be told to do so. But having clear roles and expectations known to the entire team also makes it easier to call out fellow teammates when they aren’t doing their part. A team creed can serve as a reference point for team members when making decisions or facing challenges. This can help them both in competition, and when interacting within the broader esports community. A clear team creed helps each team member act in a way that aligns with the image they want both themselves and others to perceive.
Crafting a Team Creed
Typically, a team creed is created right at the beginning of a new season. However, it does not have to be. It is usually created in conjunction with a mental skills trainer over multiple sessions to help guide and push the team to get the best product out. For larger teams, they may split into smaller groups. For a small team of 6 or fewer, they may start individually. Each small group or individual thinks of the best team they have ever been on. If they have not been on a team prior to this one, they would come up with at least five traits that this best team ever has or had.
From there, they get those five traits down to the top three. Once this happens, the team comes back together as a whole. Ideally, a whiteboard or similar is used to gather all of the top three traits from the smaller group. The team works on analyzing what was put up on the board one by one, eliminating anything that doesn’t get consensus, and circling what does. Finally, the team chooses five core traits that they will build their final team creed on. The team turns the traits into a sentence and sometimes even creates a kind of poster with visuals on it.
Why it is Important to Craft a Team Creed with a Mental Skills Trainer
A mental skills trainer is a person who is formally trained in Sport and Performance Psychology. They work with both individuals and teams to help them take their game to the next level. For traditional sports, most professional teams have a sport psychologist on staff. In esports, there have been many teams who have been avid about their mental skills trainer helping them to win a championship. Just as a sport psychologist is able to bring to the table a breadth of scientific knowledge on how to utilize the mind to get the most out of the body, a certified (CMPC) esports mental skills trainer can do the same.
Some may think that they can just do their own research and create a team creed, but this would not be advisable. Mental skills trainers are seasoned professionals who have worked with countless teams and have seen the pitfalls of those that try to attempt this key exercise on their own. One benefit of having an outsider come in to help is that they operate with an unbiased view within the organization. At the same time, remember that their expertise is peak performance and optimization, so they will be sure to stay fixed on the goal of helping the team be the best version of themselves, while simultaneously gently steering the conversation in the right direction to help get the team there.
Additionally, the mental skills trainer will be there to observe interactions while the creed is being constructed. They will be sure to bring a teammate in if he is staying on the outskirts. On the other hand, they can call someone out if they are dominating the conversation and ask them to step back. A team creed is only effective if it is done by the entire team – not just some of the members. A mental skills trainer is well-versed at making sure this happens, and in a healthy, constructive way.
Final Thoughts
A Team Creed is a set of agreed-upon values put into a phrase or sentence that can be recited. Team creeds have been used for decades, if not longer, by professional teams in traditional sports. With esports growing every day, more and more teams are looking at what the pros in established sports have been doing in order to give themselves a competitive advantage. Many pro teams are bringing on mental skills trainers and sport psychologists to help up their mental game. One of the first things a mental skills trainer should do is work on a team creed with the organization.
A team creed is typically created at the beginning of a new season and establishes an identity and goals that the team wants to uphold throughout their time together. The creed can take multiple sessions to complete, as it is very in-depth. However, the investment is well worth it.