When setting up high performance teams, what can top youth athletes tell us?

​Aiming for the top
At a dinner the other day I got to speak with Markus Mårtensson, the son of a friend of mine, about his career as an athlete. It turned out that he had competed at a national level with some success in 400 meter races, but then got injured and was now training for a come back. Contrary to my belief that top athletes did all their training alone in the woods, carried forward by their will of steel, Markus made it clear that although he competed in an individual sport, it was his team that made the all the difference for him. A contradiction in terms that got me thinking. 

Setting up your own high performing team
At the workplace, what can we learn from how winning athletic teams are set up? Is there a winning formula for high performing teams to be inspired by and copy? Well, there was only one way to find out. Go to a training, speak with the guys and unravel their secret ways. So I did. I went to Bosön on the green island of Lidingö outside Stockholm center; the headquarters for the Swedish Sports Confederation where many Swedish national teams have annual training camps. 

Lessons learned from top youth athletes
Given the hard, repetitive and, at times, simply boring exercises required to compete at very top, what keeps them going, those dedicated youngsters, day out and day in, 15-20 hours a week? This is what I found, as presented in SSI Lab´s Micro-documentary "Going for Gold" above: 

1. ​​Train in small teams - have fun
2. Set everyday improvement goals
3. Help others believe in their potential
4. Know that success takes time

What makes a high performing teams work in your opinion?