As a leader, the depth of your belief not only fuels your actions but also profoundly impacts those you lead. Let’s take a little more time than we normally do to tell a story (trust us, it’s worth your time).

Story-Time: The Lesser-Known Miracle

If you're a sports fan, you know of 1980’s Miracle on Ice and the belief that Herb Brooks, USA National Hockey coach, instilled in his team with his famous “You were born for this” speech before their game against the USSR.

What you likely have never heard of is the 1992 Denmark National Football (Soccer) team coached by Richard Møller Nielsen. Here’s the cliff notes version of that team’s story (there’s plenty more there if you want it).

• Denmark had never won an international competition and wasn’t even expected to qualify for the 1992 European Championships.

• Nielsen was only hired in 1990 after several foreign managers turned the job down.

• Nielsen was a career coach from the Danish league. Denmark isn’t exactly known for its soccer prowess. The hire was frowned upon by just about everyone domestically. How would a career Danish coach help them outperform the legendary German or Dutch sides?

• The Danish team’s two best players, Michael and Brian Laudrup (brothers), the team’s closest things to stars, quit the team when he was hired.

• The team failed to qualify for the 1992 European Championships.

• Only 11 days before the European Championships, Yugoslavia was banned from the competition due to the Yugoslav Wars. Denmark was in their qualifying group and were the team chosen to replace Yugoslavia.

• Nielsen personally called his players when they were on holiday and had to convince most of them in the potential of a makeshift, last-second team.

• The entire squad didn’t get together until 3 days before the tournament.

• The team wasn’t even expected to make it out of group play, with many expecting them to finish last in their group. They made it out of their group by upsetting France, a major power in Europe, 2-1 in their final group game.

• One of the team’s leading scorers, Kim Vilfort, had to leave the team before their semifinal game against Netherlands to comfort his soon-to-pass 7-year old daughter in her battle with Leukemia. Nielsen gave Vilfort as much time as he needed, only returning close to an hour before the game.

• They defeated the reigning European champions Netherlands 2-2 (5-4) in penalties.

• The team went on to win the European Championships by beating the reigning world champions Germany 2-0 with the final goal of the competition scored by, you guessed it, Kim Vilfort.

What a story!

So, how did Nielsen lead his team to this massive upset?

Nielsen was remembered by his players for doing two things. First, he never made the moment bigger than it was. Here’s a quote from Nielsen.

“I could have made an alibi for the team, and I could have said we had no chance to win any games. But I did not. I succeeded in getting the players just to think of the first match against England.”

Second, he believed in them. He communicated that belief more than he communicated anything else to his team.

From Kim Vilfort, “Richard always believed in us, even when we doubted ourselves. His belief was infectious.”

So, what’s in this for us, as leaders?

There’s a term in Sports Psychology research called “Positive Momentum.” (see this study on confidence in world class athletes). It’s the sense that things are going well. When teams, players, employees simply SENSE that things are going well (whether they are or not), their confidence increases which significantly enhances performance. Sidenote: we’ll let you guess what negative momentum does for teams.

So, how can we do what Nielsen did for our teams? What are some practices we should consider? Here are 3 ideas.

On Cultivating Belief:

1. You can’t give what you don’t have: Before imparting belief to your team, assess your own. Do you genuinely believe in your vision, your strategies, and your team's abilities?

2. Affirm Your Team's Strengths: Regularly acknowledge and applaud your team's strengths. Plan it into your days, weeks and meetings as a leader. Be intentional. Your words make a significant difference.

3. Create Systems for Positive Reinforcement: Encourage teammates to lift each other up. Never forget - there’s a lot of evidence that peer reinforcement is more impactful than from the top-down.

Closing Thoughts:

Remember, a leader's belief in their team doesn't just boost morale; it amplifies performance. When you believe in someone more than they believe in themselves, you are offering them a gift of untapped potential.

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