The Richmond Football Club and the 3 H’s

“Connecting is the ability to identify with people and relate to them in a way that increases your influence with them.”- John Maxwell

After a 36-year drought, the Richmond Football Club finally won the Australian Football League (AFL) again in 2017. The team credited their strong connection with each other as one of the main reasons for winning. In the preseason they tried a new    activity, The Triple H Exercise, to help create a better culture. Each player and staff member took turns sharing 3 stories about themselves:

  1. A Hero: Someone that has inspired them. Who are they and what did they do?
  2. A Hardship: What’s the most challenging thing that they’ve been through?
  3. A Highlight: What’s their greatest achievement?

Brandon Ellis, a member of the 2017 team shared the impact the exercise had on him, “By the end, people were crying…I felt like I became a new person. And I just felt so much closer to the group, so accepted. It was massive for me. Massive. It’s like I can finally be who I want to be. There’s so much love for each other. We stay positive, we stick tight, we don’t let anyone inside our heads. And we know our best footy together is good enough to beat anyone.”

Summary

  • The Triple H exercise is designed to build trust among team members and create a more positive environment.
  • This exercise has become popular with collegiate teams. UCLA women’s basketball team and Clemson University’s football team have been known to implement the Triple H. The power is the ability to connect team members, to have them understand each other on a deeper level. 
  • Jon Gordon refers to this exercise in his book, “Power of Positive Teams.” It is also used in many of his workshops. 
  • High performing teams are built on a foundation of trust. If you trust your teammates, you can have honest and difficult conversations with them. You can disagree and challenge each other knowing that it won’t be taken personally or be used against the other person in the future.

 Reflection

  1. What stories would you share for your hero? Hardship? Highlight?
  2. How do you think you might start to see       teammates differently if you knew more about the things in their life that had influenced them?
  3. Are you willing to be vulnerable enough to     connect to your team on a deeper level?

Moving Forward

Consider: Read more about how the Triple H stories shaped Richmond Football Club’s season in the full article.   Implement:  Have 1-2 teammates daily share their Triple H stories.Expand: I am trained in Jon Gordon’s workshops. If you’d like me to bring a Jon Gordon workshop to your team to build positive energy, culture, leadership, etc. please reach out: tami@ tamimatheny.com

“You are not a team because you work together. You are a team because you trust, respect and care for each other.” -Vala Afshar `

For more stories like this, check out Challenger Deep: Stories, Athletes Rising Above Adversity:  https://tamimatheny.com/product/challenger-deep-athletes-rising-above-adversity/ or find it on Amazon.