Why I read it: I recently connected with Rebecca Levett, a brilliant sports psychologist who also happens to be a distant relative, as we put together some thoughts for an event. During the conversation, Rebecca recommended Belonging; 3 minutes later, it was in my basket, and 48 hours later, it was perched atop my reading pile. Throughout my reading and thinking about teams, I’m most drawn to the sense of belonging, trust, and unity that can be galvanised in a group or workplace. I often wonder if it’s being adopted that sharpens that knife for me, or whether it’s just a natural curiosity; but what could be more important when establishing a team, than making sure it is a safe place that welcomes and looks after all in its care?

Belonging by Owen Eastwood | Hachette UK

Our need to belong, I think this is something that’s critically important, is that for all of our history I would say, including now, if you are alone, you won’t survive. Your health will be seriously compromised for most of our history that would have been fatal. And so that need to belong. That survival instinct that we all have, that was part of a band of people and the band had a leader. So the leader’s fundamental job was to take care of people. That was a fundamental job. That’s why our groups of humans existed. So when we think of it like that, why is that not obvious to us today? Why do we feel that we can go and pursuit of outcomes and sacrifice people and damage people along the way? It makes no sense to me. How he thinks about true leadership Finally, a huge thanks to my sponsors, Puresport. Their range of CBD and Nootropics supplements have had a significant impact on how I sleep, manage stress, and focus throughout the day. I can’t recommend them enough. But the England of Sterling and Kane, of Saka and Maguire is a very different one to Ottoway’s, surely? They are not trying to replicate anything from the past, Eastwood says. “We should be proud of our history, understand and respect it, but ultimately this is about us, a very diverse, young, technically different group of people. It’s about inspiration and a sense of belonging to motivate us to create our own story.” One of the wisest books about winning you’ll ever read…Powerful lessons beautifully expressed.’– James Kerr A visual, shared vision: Eastwood proposes that visualisation can be a powerful tool; imaginging a successful future and believing in it. This can also become a literal vision, with displays, videos, and other visuals being utilised to constantly remind the team of how they belong, and the story they are part of. It’s vital to get input from others so that the vision is genuinely shared. This culminates in his description of a beautiful project he worked on with Ford as part of their desire to galvanise their Le Mans 24 team.To create this within a team, Owen borrows from New Zealand culture the "incredibly powerful idea" of whakapapa (a genealogical thread). Initially a navigator’s strength came from their ability to simultaneously carry in their hands both a grand vision and an intimate understanding of the detail. For Eastwood’s ancestors the grand vision was new land, and the intimate understanding of the detail was the sun, the stars, and the constellations - all of which were used to navigate at the time. Working with the NATO Command Group, Eastwood invoked whakapapa to reflect on previous NATO Command Groups, looking at the challenges they faced when the sun shone on them and the legacies they ultimately left. They then previewed their own legacy as the sixteenth leadership team and articulated this in writing with a whakapapa legacy statement. Sustaining success is very difficult from a hormonal point-of-view. Our dopamine system is anticipatory. We receive bursts in the pursuit of a goal rather than on the attainment of it. These bursts increase when the outcome is uncertain as opposed to guaranteed. This explains why we can feel so flat immediately after a major event or performance.

Belonging by Owen Eastwood | Waterstones Belonging by Owen Eastwood | Waterstones

When the sun shines on us we are alive, we are strong. For we have had passed down to us a culture that immerses us in deep belonging. We feel safe and respected. We share beliefs and a sense of identity with those around us and this anchors us. We share a purpose with them. We share a vision of the future. We fit in here. Rituals and traditions tie us together. The experiences and wisdom of those who walked in the light before our time are passed on to us. When the sun shines on us we are alive, we are strong. For we have had passed down to us a culture that immerses us in deep belonging. We feel safe and respected. We share beliefs and a sense of belonging. We feel safe and respected. We share beliefs and a sense of identity with those around us and this anchors us. We share a purpose with them. We share a vision of the future. We fit in here. Rituals and traditions tie us together. The experiences and wisdom of those who walked in the light before our time are passed on to us.” For most of human history our wiring and our society matched up pretty well. Then came the Industrial Revolution. It changed almost every area of life. The most important thing to me is that we go through the experience of joy or disappointment together. And the thing that will break my heart and make me look at myself and think I have failed is that, if either of those scenarios play out and we become a bunch of individuals. And we either become heroes and look at ourselves as some form of celebrity because we’re successful or alternatively, we splinter apart and go and suffer alone either of those situations. His cherished framework In BELONGING Owen Eastwood reveals, for the first time, the ethos that has made him one of the most in-demand Performance Coaches in the world. Drawing on his own Maori ancestry, Owen weaves together insights from homo sapiens’ evolutionary story and our collective wisdom. He shines a light on where these powerful ideas are applied around the world in high-performing settings encompassing sport, business, the arts and military.Owen Eastwood considers our ancestors throughout the book, reflecting upon how they understood our primal need to belong – to work together, to thrive in groups. Over the course of Belonging, he poignantly considers his own childhood, one in which his Maori heritage helped him to understand the past, and shape his identity. This book, then, provides reflections, research, traditions, anecdotes, and plenty of thoughtful musings, as Eastwood explores why we need to belong, and how we can achieve it. He asks thought-provoking questions of us, such as what is the optimal environment for this group to perform to their best? And it soon becomes apparent that the group will only thrive when they feel a sense of belonging. Eastwood says that ability to form groups is an essential human trait. Great teams harness the belonging idea. Belonging confers safety, whether it’s psychological safety or the safety from physical danger. Belonging provides a shared purpose and vision. And belonging establishes values and norms of the group that influence the behavior of group members.

Belonging: The Ancient Code of Togetherness by Owen Eastwood Belonging: The Ancient Code of Togetherness by Owen Eastwood

Whakapapa is a Maori idea which embodies our universal human need to belong. It represents a powerful spiritual belief - that each of us is part of an unbroken and unbreakable chain of people who share a sacred identity. Owen places this concept at the core of his methods to maximise a team's performance.A lot of credible research supports Eastwood’s points. The research is woven together with stories. Some of the stories are from Owen Eastwood’s own experience as a performance coach. Others are historical examples or stories other people have told him. The result is an engaging, easy to read book. Belonging is a vital book for our disconnected and leaderless times. It’s one whose lessons should be taught in schools across the world, because the power of creating a sense of togetherness could help heal our fractured society. At this stage a paradox plays out. We enter self-preservation mode as our mind begins to think about surviving rather than succeeding. In a family, that signifies your life, in a sports team the time you get to wear the shirt. “When the sun is shining on you you have an obligation to make the tribe stronger, and ultimately what you achieve when the sun is shining on you is going to be your legacy, the memory that people will hold of you in the future.”