Lessons from Gareth Southgate to the Isle of Mull

It's a real-life version of Ted Lasso, which I also love. And what strikes me about both is this: the manager is rarely in the film talking tactics or training drills. The work is culture. Breaking down barriers, building belief, creating an environment where people feel safe enough to be themselves.

With the World Cup underway, I'm watching with a particular lens — which teams have genuine cohesion, which have the better 'juju', and how that invisible thing shapes visible results.

I've always been fascinated by team dynamics. By how a group with strong culture can consistently outperform a more talented but less connected one. You see it in sport, yes — but also in the military, in business, in schools.

The Isle of Mull

My kids' school runs something called Expeditions Week. Each year group gets a different adventure, and the older you get, the bigger it gets.

The pinnacle used to be Year 8. A 14-hour journey to the Isle of Mull. A week of camping, outdoor challenges, exhaustion, and the kind of shared experience you simply can't manufacture. Teachers watched it happen every year — kids arriving as individuals, leaving as a unit. Genuinely bonded. Connected in ways that surprised even them.

But a few weeks later, they watched that same group disperse as they left for their senior schools. The bond was real. It just had no runway.

So the school moved the Mull trip to Year 7. Same adventure. Same island. Same gruelling journey. But now the connection, the trust, the shared story carries them forward into their final year together. Small change. Completely different outcome.

Whanau

I love the Māori word whanau — meaning 'extended family.' Former All Blacks coach Sir Graham Henry, who led New Zealand to World Cup glory, explicitly wove this concept into the team's culture. His goal was to eliminate toxic individualism — to replace the 'me' with the 'we.' It became a cornerstone of one of the most consistently successful sporting teams in history.

But I'll be honest — sport and schools have it relatively easy. The goals are clear, the seasons have rhythm, and the team stays together long enough for culture to take root.

Business right now is a different story.

The moment we're in

It's a strange and unsettling time to be at work. AI is changing everything. The economic outlook is uncertain. Most of us are being asked to do more with less, while quietly wondering what it all means for our roles, our teams, our careers. And underneath it all, there's an exhaustion that no dashboard is measuring.

In that environment, culture isn't a nice-to-have. It's the load-bearing wall.

Your people need their own version of Mull.

A few principles for your next team offsite

Go to Mull. Get out of the office. Choose a venue that's fresh, a little unexpected, and signals that this time together actually matters.

Make the team the agenda. Not the business review, not the strategy deck. A clear, visible investment in who you are together — that's the message people need to feel right now.

Don't overfill it. Resist the urge to pack every hour. The magic often lives in the gaps. Keep it simple and give it room to breathe.

Bring in an expert. You're brilliant at what you do. Bring in someone who's brilliant at helping teams build energy, connection and belief — because it's genuinely hard to facilitate from the inside. And this isn't about yoga or trust falls. It's about smart, intentional design that creates real moments of connection and translates into genuine ways of working and performing better together.

Build in what comes next. One great offsite fades fast without follow-through. The leaders in the room need to go back and role model what was agreed. Build in the structures, rhythms and check-ins that keep the energy alive.

And make it fun. If nothing else, make it fun. Everyone needs a little more of it right now.

Want to bring a new energy to your team or offsite, check out our team accelerator: https://www.uppingyourelvis.com/our-work/your-team

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