Andrew Longley – Article 3 – In-Group Identity & Enemies

Article 3 in the Series of 12

Andy is a team performance expert with a background in psychology & applied neuroscience, who will over the coming months share insights ground the art and neuroscience of high-performance coaching. Each article will share a little of the latest applied neuroscience plus give simple tips on how to practically bring it to life in your own coaching.

Great to be back with you. In my second article I introduced you to the coachup model of high-performance teams and coaches which you can see below and we looked at the science behind Purpose, and how to define a shared purpose with your teams.

The coachup.academy model of high-performing teams/coaches

Today we’re going to take a look at another fundamental part of high-performance coaching. We will focus on how to create a strong sense of in-group team identity & leverage enemies. Having a strong in-group team identity is also at the heart of inclusion & creating a sense of belonging for your athletes.

Great coaches use the lever of ‘Us’ versus ‘Them’ and optimal differentiation to create a sense of in-group identity. This is for good reason because we only collaborate (at a personal cost) with other people that we perceive as being in our tribes (in-group). In order to collaborate, sacrifice ourselves for the team, be a great teammate, and dig deep when under pressure we must share empathy with our teammates. Empathy is at the heart of all positive human relationships and is the glue that binds great teams.

The game changing piece of science behind this is shown from a brain study by Dr. David Eagleman and colleagues who looked at the nature of where/when we feel empathy for others. They did this by scanning the brains of people while they looked at images of other peoples’ hands experiencing either something painful or nice (a needle or a feather stroke). Each time they changed the label written on the hand to a different religious group (Jewish, Buddhist, Atheist, Christian, Muslim etc.). What they discovered is that the brain only reacted to seeing the other in pain when they shared that identity with them (the Us). When pain is inflicted on the other (Them), our empathy networks don’t activate. Just to reiterate this because it’s so important – all it takes is for a simple characteristic to be shared between two (unknown) people to automatically activate empathy in us and form an in-group identity. This is why we feel much more connected to someone we meet at a party if we find something in common. And on the flip side, all it takes is to have a simple characteristic that makes us different
to someone and they become out-group and we do not empathise with them.

This is at the heart of why it’s imperative to create a shared sense of in-group identity in your team. Because if you don’t, there will be minimal empathy between the team and teamwork will be done for.

As part of this approach, when the team identifies team characteristics which are truly unique it will also increase the empathy and teamwork. This is called ‘optimal differentiation’ and helps because we love to think that we’re unique and special as a group. It binds us together. So focusing on the unique aspects of your team’s identity will accelerate your teamwork and cohesion.

Identifying a shared enemy is another powerful way to strengthen our sense of in-group and deepen our team’s connections. This is because when we share something to rally against it reinforces our togetherness and sense of ‘Us’. This is what’s happening when a team unifies when they have their backs to the wall and it becomes an ‘Us’ against ‘Them’ situation. This concept also contributes to the ‘underdog mentality’ when a team feels they are being written off by others and they use these nay-sayers as something to rally against.

The word enemy is very evocative so I want to explicitly draw your attention to the fact that it’s very important that this is not a person or opposition because this will incite negative behaviours towards them. But select an enemy for something the team wants to stand against like poor training standards, not standing up for each other or not doing the individual fitness work beyond the team sessions.

When we create a genuine in-group identify with our team, each team member feels included because we’re focused on what unites us and any difference which can create exclusion is ignored. As we feel included and part of this unique team identity of our ‘Us’, this also stimulates a sense of belonging to our team/tribe.

So as coaches, when we can co-create a unique team in- group identity with our team, we’re activating the empathy regions in our brains and unlocking true teamwork and a sense of inclusion and belonging.

Here is a short practical list you could start with to create a sense of in-group identity:

Ask all of your athletes ‘what is a common characteristic which binds us together?’. It may just be being on
the team, but if you can also go deeper than just team membership, you’ll make the in-group identify more powerful and enduring. Bring into focus what makes the team truly unique as part of this process.
Building on this, a great question to ask the team when brainstorming the team’s identity is ‘what about this group is truly unique?’.
With your team, identity an enemy (out-group) that you’ll focus on and rally against to reinforce your own in-group identity.
Together create songs, rituals, chants, mottos, uniforms, team nicknames and any other symbol which clearly shows you as one in-group team identity. These will activate and deepen your empathy and team work whenever used. There are innumerable examples of these in sports ranging from the haka, to the Tasman Mako shark fin try celebration, to the Icelandic football team’s Viking clap, to ‘Up the Wahs’, to the Green Bay Packer’s ‘Lambeau Leap’.
As a coach, ensure all of your symbols and rituals are a regular part of your team experience so that your in-group identity is front of mind at all times. Also, reference your shared enemy whenever you need a quick teamwork and self-sacrifice boost.
Lastly, watch out closely for sub-groups forming and cliques. The fastest way to kill a team culture and sense of teamwork is for cliques to form within the team. This is because these are their own in-group identity which creates the risk that other teammates not in the cliques will now be seen as ‘Them’. It’s natural for sub-groups to form within a team, but great coaches ensure the whole team in-group identity is the most powerful and revered to ensure teamwork thrives.

So, there we have a little of the applied neuroscience behind why creating a unique in-group identity and shared enemy is such a critical aspect of high-performance coaching. Also, you could do exactly the same exercise with your coaching group, or management group because it’s fundamental to any team’s performance.

The fourth article in this series next month will focus on why a high-performing team must have trust and
psychological safety, and how you create this with your team as their coach. Stay tuned.

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