How to Turn Good Team Members Into Great Ones — Lessons From Day 2017 of Running the World

Day 2017. That is 2017 consecutive days of running in barefoot-style footwear, building towards 40,075km — a lap of the world — to raise £1 million for children's causes including Great Ormond Street Hospital and BBC Children in Need. Today I covered another 10km, bringing my cumulative total to 20,170km. There are 19,905km still to go.

I mention that not to impress anyone, but because it is the same principle I want to talk about today. Turning something good into something great is not about a single heroic effort. It is about systems, standards, and consistency applied over a very long period of time.

On the run today I was thinking about teams. Specifically, I was thinking about the difference between a team that is good and a team that is genuinely great.

I have recruited somewhere between 30 and 40 people across my businesses over the years. That is not a vast number, but it is enough to have learned some hard lessons and to have developed a clearer picture of what actually works. And what I have come to believe — through trial, error, and iteration — is that recruiting the right people is only the starting point. What happens after they walk through the door is what determines whether they remain good or become genuinely great.

The word great matters here. In my view, great does not mean the best individual performer. It means the ability of your people to work together cooperatively, pulling in the same direction, producing consistent and sustainable outcomes to the standards your business requires — without you needing to be involved in every decision. That is the goal.

And the way you get there comes down to three things.

The first is having a clear set of core values or rules of engagement. In my business I call them undertakings — it fits within a broader framework I use called OUTCOME — but the label is less important than the substance. These are the 13 or 14 rules that govern how we do things. They are clear, concise, and easy to interpret for anyone joining the team. They are almost the first thing a new person encounters, because if they do not understand how we operate, no amount of skill or talent is going to bridge that gap.

Core values that live on a wall and are never referenced are theatre. Core values that are embedded into the onboarding process and referenced regularly are a genuine competitive advantage. The difference in team cohesion between having these and not having them is significant.

The second element is a decision-making framework. This is something I feel strongly about, particularly because I do not want to micromanage people. If I am bringing in good people with potential to be great, micromanagement is the fastest way to undermine that potential. What I want instead is to empower them to make confident decisions — without needing to escalate everything to me.

The framework does not need to be complex. In practice it involves a handful of clear questions. Is this consequential or inconsequential to the business? Is it reversible or irreversible? What is the financial liability and does it fall within an agreed threshold? And what is the realistic probability of a positive outcome?

On that last point, I use a simple working rule: if someone genuinely believes there is a 51% or greater chance of a positive outcome, and the other criteria are met, they can proceed. This is not about being reckless. It is about giving people a structured way to think rather than defaulting to inaction or unnecessary escalation. The cost of inefficiency in businesses is well documented — some estimates suggest 20 to 30% of revenue is lost to it. When you are running a million-pound turnover business, that is potentially £200,000 to £300,000 a year leaving through the door simply because decisions are not being made clearly or consistently.

The third element is what I call founder expectations. These are specific to me and how I work. Anyone working directly with me needs to understand the standards I hold — around how information is presented, the accuracy of data, attention to detail, formatting, brand guidelines. These are not arbitrary preferences. They reflect the way I think, the way I process information, and the output I need to make good decisions quickly.

Not everyone in the business will work directly with me, and that is fine. But for those who do, having these expectations documented removes ambiguity. It means that the first time someone presents work to me, they already know what I am looking for. That saves time, builds confidence, and produces better outcomes.

Put those three things together — rules of engagement, a decision-making framework, and founder expectations — and something shifts in the quality of a team. People stop waiting to be told what to do. They start making decisions that align with the business. They produce work that meets the required standard consistently. That is what moves a team from good to great.

I think about this in the context of the running mission as well. What makes a streak of 2017 consecutive days possible is not inspiration or motivation. It is the same principle: a clear framework for how I operate, consistent standards applied daily, and the removal of any decision about whether to go out and run. The decision was made once, a long time ago. Every day since has simply been the execution of that decision within the framework.

That is what I want for every business I build and every team I work with. A framework clear enough that good people can become great without constant intervention, and consistent enough that the outputs hold up not just on the good days, but on the difficult ones too.

The 40,075km goal and the £1 million target for children's causes are both long-term commitments. They require the same thing a great team requires: clarity of purpose, a set of operating principles, and consistent daily execution. There are no shortcuts in either.

If this is relevant to you and your business, drop a comment or get in touch. And if you believe in what this mission is working towards — raising money for children who need it — then subscribing, sharing, and engaging with the content genuinely helps. Every view matters.