An organisation is only as good as its people and their accomplishments and challenges can help shape the future direction and successes and of an organisation. For these people to do great work, they need to feel part of a team and a great team at that. The value of teamwork cannot be underestimated – it is vital to your organisation’s success.

Tim Baker does a wonderful job dismantling the mystique of continued and sustainable success. He creates guidelines that some leaders think they already possess. …. Mistakenly.

From 1984 to 1993 I had the fortune and privilege to play the New Zealand All Blacks on 20 occasions. 18 in our Wallaby Gold jersey and twice when I was honoured to captain a World XV team that played to celebrate NZ rugby’s amazing centenary of existence since 1882.

For a country of now only around 4.5 million it continues to amaze me how consistently dominant the All Blacks have been over the decades especially in the last two. In 1987 in Sydney in a one-off Bledisloe Cup match the Wallabies first decided to stand up and eyeball the Haka – the New Zealand/Maori war dance. For me it was important to stand up and not be 50-metres away trying to ignore it, as we had previously done. We did this as a sign of respect to an amazing rugby culture and team. But perhaps more importantly we did this to send back a message that we won’t roll over and die. The message was: If the all Blacks are going to win this afternoon they’re going to have to play damn well!

Having played all my rugby in the amateur days, I am thankful we got to kick off usually mid-afternoon. It meant we had a chance to break bread and share a beer post the 80-minutes of combat. The French call it Le Troisieme mi Temps or Third Half. As a result, to this day I have many great All Black friends. I have heard them speak of privilege of wearing the jersey and tales of the memorable moments of being first selected for their debut test. To a person they talk of what it means and the legacy they’re obliged to uphold. And the one thing they’re obligated to do—however long they play in that famous jersey—is leave the team in better shape when they depart! The nation demands it and the All Black players are left in no doubt about how weighty that obligation is.

The All Blacks deal with any road bumps on or off the paddock internally. If things go wrong, the team turns inward and sort out any issue of culture, discipline, preparation or optimising their performance. The leaders within the team—and there are several—set clear and simple expectations. One example that springs to mind is when the newcomer sees the captain sweeping the changing room floor after training! What sort of culture do you think this creates within the team? We aspire to best the world’s best, yet we humble ourselves. We also aspire to be decent people, seeking greater achievements and perfection. We do whatever it takes, including leaving the dressing room better than it was at the beginning of training. They don’t die wondering how good they can be individually and collectively.

Tim’s book nails the eight characteristics of high-performing teams. These characteristics are about relationships and culture, rather than just the task-at-hand. I call it ignoring the scoreboard and focusing on the process—all the things that go into doing your job, minimizing errors, trusting your teammates to do the same—and at the end of the 80-minutes or financial year—then look up and see what the scoreboard tells you! My experience in life is by getting the process right, the scoreboard looks after itself

I’ve had the great honour and privilege of representing the All Blacks between 1984 and 1993 in 46 tests. I have also been an All Blacks selector (2011–2019).
Tim Baker has written a great book on high-performing teams and has drawn upon the All Blacks as an exemplar of a winning team. As a current CEO, there are parallels between the world of sport and the world of business, when it comes to the application of teamwork.
It is drummed into us as All Blacks, that everything we do is about team first. This idea is translatable to business success.
The secret of the All Blacks success is that there is no secret—it comes down to hard work and application. The current players follow a proud legacy of success and it’s a legacy they strive to replicate and enhance. As our national sport, New Zealand’s identity as a nation is very much tied up with our success on the field.
Good coaching, talent, work ethic and correct fit is critically important of course, but the right mindset and application is key to success in any team, or any endeavor in life.
Tim Baker explains this perfectly in this very readable and practical book that is easily applied to your team.

“Just wanted to say thanks for the personal leadership course. I really enjoyed the content and the assessment really made me think about my life and choices. It has had a pretty profound impact on my life so far and I am positive about the long-term benefits of my goals.”

“I just wanted to drop you a quick note to thank you. You worked with me and the other Principal musicians at the Queensland Orchestra in 2008. It was a difficult time for me in the orchestra and your assistance was outstanding in dealing with the numerous issues that I was facing it the orchestra. Since that time I moved to Melbourne to take up the Principal Horn position in the Melbourne Symphony and more recently I have moved to Los Angeles to become the Principal Horn of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. I feel that implementing many of the skills that you taught have greatly contributed to my success. I hope that everything is going well for you and I’m very glad to see that you are working with the Melbourne Symphony. Your work is outstanding and I am very grateful for the opportunity to have worked with you.”

“Dr Tim Baker was Guest Speaker at our recent monthly Business Excellence Breakfast held in Tweed/ Southern Gold Coast Tim is the accomplished author of several high selling business books and spoke on “Attracting and Retaining Talent” one of his recent publications. His skill is making an analysis of fine details of business into a simplified procedure that can be understood by all. He held his audience’s attention from his opening words with his wide business experience. Tim has a speaking style that relates well to any group and makes a real connection with his audience. He has the gift of being able to transfer his successful business methods to any group. Having conducted business events and speakers for over 23 continuous years I state that any business or group that hires or uses his services will benefit a thousand fold. The feedback I received following his presentation was all positive.”

“Throughout my career, I have never been so positively impacted and so equipped to face leadership as through being coached by Dr Tim Baker. Dr Baker was my executive coach for over a year and provided me with not only the skills, methods and out-of-the box creative ideas to succeed in my leadership roles, his coaching provided me with the confidence to face any leadership situation that may arise whether negative or positive. Dr Baker is prepared to communicate the cold hard facts when change is needed and also has the tenacity and strength in disposition to ” go against the flow” and challenge the norm when it comes to executive leadership.. Dr Bakers’ encouragement to find my strengths and focus on these rather than my weakness was a turning point in my career. The proof of success of the executive coaching I received from Dr Baker is evidenced by the great teams I have worked with since and the comments from colleagues that imply ” I want what he’s having”.. People have asked me what am I doing to succeed and I point them to my coaching from Dr Tim. I highly recommend receiving executive coaching for anyone serious about leadership and if you are fortunate to receive this from Dr Baker, you will be more than successful.“

“On behalf of the Bribie Better Business Inc. I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to you for the excellent presentation you gave last night at our monthly Better Business Networking event.
As you are aware, I have been consulting to SME’s for many, many years, and in all that time I have organised and ran networking events, and I have always had the good fortune to attract some outstanding Presenters and Speakers.
I have no hesitation in stating that you are one of the very best that I have encountered. Your understanding of the needs of people, particularly when running a business, and the down-to-earth manner in the way you deliver your presentation is both refreshing and enlightening.
The message that you delivered on Performance Appraisals was packed with ideas and techniques for getting the very best out of your team, and, as a result, generating more prospects, more clients, more sales and more income. Yet you delivered this presentation in such a professional manner that it was explained in a simplistic step-by-step process understood by all.
I would add that I have never seen so many people taking notes as they did during your presentation.
The feedback from the audience, the requests from so many of them for you to return to give another presentation has prompted me to write this letter of gratitude to you, coupled with the request for you to consider returning again, in the near future, to give another presentation, please Tim”.

“I have known Dr Tim Baker for a number of years and have been so impressed with his Coaching and Leadership development expertise that I have kept on hiring him where ever I have worked. Tim get’s to the heart of business culture and works with staff to bring out the very best in their leadership capabilities. Both my leadership skills and career have benefited enormously from his guidance and I would recommend him to anyone seeking to add genuine business leadership skills to their business or with an interest in their employees development.”

“Tim has been a very successful contributor to QUT’s Executive Education programs. He is a very dependable and gifted facilitator”.

“I have no hesitation in recommending Tim to any organisation. Tim’s knowledge of adult learning is second to none. Tim walks the walk and knows how to get the best out someone without them even realising. Tim can operate on any level without fear. After attending a course with Tim, I tried to add some of Tim’s style into the way I trained. If you’re looking for results, Tim is the person you should talk to.”

“Thanks again for the fantastic training today and also our one on one session. I found our time together extremely valuable, and am really keen to work with you further. I think you are absolutely amazing at what you do and feel very grateful to have you work with my team.”

“I just wanted to take a minute to say a big thank you for teaching the foundations course over the past 12 weeks. I must admit I was less than excited about taking this course when I first heard of it. However, my attitude changed within 30 minutes of the first session. I really enjoyed the course! Thank you for taking time to share your own consulting experiences.”

“Tim Baker is a pleasure to work with, understands our business, has superb knowledge and outstanding presentation skills”.

“Tim Baker’s presentation skills are clearly very good, and he consistently impresses with the enthusiasm, energy and intensity he brings to his work. I can thoroughly recommend Tim in his work as a trainer and consultant involved in change and development.”

“The knowledge and style of Tim Baker as a presenter is excellent – the combination of Tim’s teaching and the material from Stephen Covey’s book has had a tremendous impact on our organisation.”

“Always fair and shared time with everyone. Well presented an clearly spoken.”

“Very approachable, reliable, relaxed, fun, interesting, honest and realistic.”

“Tim Baker has excellent knowledge and understanding, his style is interesting and effective, and he is always very approachable.”

“Tim Baker is an excellent coach with outstanding communication and conceptual skills. The services provided by his company are of the highest standard in the human resources industry and are guaranteed to produce results.”

“By the end of Tim Baker’s coaching sessions, I believe I have improved my management skills in the specific areas of my needs which benefits both myself and my employer.”

“Our respective targets for personal development were agreed with Tim Baker in a climate of mutual respect of professional qualifications.”

“Tim Baker’s knowledge of his topic was excellent and his group interaction skills encouraged open discussion based learning.”

“Tim Baker created a fantastic learning environment, it was completely relaxed and self-paced. I have no hesitation in recommending Tim to any organisation or person to conduct their training and or take care of their training needs.”

“Dr Tim is an insightful and passionate consultant who delivers results. He has the intellectual capacity to find practical, real world solutions for even the most complex issues.”

“This training was excellent, thoroughly enjoyed both the “one on one” and group sessions last week. I have got Stephen who is just great. Not overpowering and demanding just really down to earth and easy to talk to. Looking forward to the next round, this is a great council initiative!”

“I think the group and individual sessions are going really well. I feel I am benefiting from them and I think some people continually like to use the excuses of ‘no resources’ and ‘no time’ without looking at themselves, their team and their current work processes”.

“I believe such leadership training programs can only offer assistance to managers”.

“I have found all of the sessions both individual and group to be beneficial, interesting and though provoking. While some topics are always going to be of more interest to some than others especially with such a large groups there will always be something that you can take away from the session that you might use if not straight away but sometime in the future”.

“Must say that fellow from Dr Tim’s office working with … is a genius and she has really on-board his comments”.

For the betterment of the Infrastructure Planning Unit, this leadership program is clearly working. Dr Tim’s analysis of my 2nd round reviews shows that the changes we are making are having a positive effect both on my leadership and the IPU Team more especially.
The improved review results were in areas where we had applied changed practices and innovations. Some changes will take some time to translate into measurable results but the whole program is a very positive experience.

“I found the Certificate IV in Frontline Management course to be continuously rewarding; I have developed lifelong skills that not only can be incorporated in a professional sense but also on a personal level.
Credit must be given to Dr Tim Baker and his staff at WINNERS AT WORK for their professional conduct throughout the entire course. It was pleasure learning from Tim who has taught skills what I will continue to use throughout my professional career and my life.”

“Tim Baker has endeavoured to understand the needs of our business and has been very effective in the development of our Sales Team. I have no hesitation in recommending Tim to companies requiring effective, honest and reliable training requirements.”

Tim is an excellent lecturer/teacher who clearly has a passion for the personal growth of his students. Having been at university for 11 years now in various capacities, there are only three lecturers that I feel really hit the mark as being truly inspiring – Tim is one of them.

Tim is a brilliant lecturer, very happy to have been taught by him in this subject.

Thank you for providing such a wonderful course Tim. I f eel so privileged to have undertaken this exercise with my cohort. What a wonderful dimension to add to the MBA. Well done.

Really enjoyed this subject and thought I got a lot out of it. Very engaging lectures and content was interesting and informative.

Tim is engaging and passionate about helping ppl grow and become better leaders, but also to become more self-aware in all aspects of life. By far my most favourite subject so far ….

Tim was so approachable and knowledgeable. Great communicator.

Tim is extremely engaging and opening to questions. The materials were very well-presented and well prepared.

I cannot suggest any way to improve this course. It has been the best developed and presented subject I have undertaken in my MBA. Tim has been exceptional.

Tim was a fantastic lecturer. He taught us to be open and vulnerable by doing so himself, which I really appreciated … Amazing.