Lessons in leadership and high performance from the Sydney Swans

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The Sydney Swans' leadership and culture strategies are focused on building a high-performance team through accountability, feedback and mission clarity

The Australian Football League (AFL) emerged from humble beginnings in Melbourne during the late 19th century to become a national sporting institution. What began as a winter pastime in Victoria's capital gradually expanded beyond state borders, transforming from the Victorian Football League into the Australian Football League in 1990 to reflect its national ambitions. The league's expansion strategy deliberately targeted new markets, particularly in rugby-dominated states like New South Wales and Queensland, where teams like the Sydney Swans helped broaden the game's reach. This transformation required significant investment in grassroots development, infrastructure, and marketing to build awareness and support for the AFL.

Today, it stands as one of Australia's premier sporting organisations with 18 teams competing across the nation. It generates over $1 billion in revenue annually and attracts millions of spectators annually, with matches broadcast to substantial television audiences nationwide. The Sydney Swans exemplify this national expansion success, building a devoted following with approximately 2 million fans supporting their 2024 Grand Final appearance. This widespread engagement reflects how deeply the sport has embedded itself in Australian culture, evolving from a regional pastime to a national passion that connects communities across the country while developing into a substantial business sector providing employment for thousands.

Creating a culture where “everyone sweeps the floor”

For organisations seeking to build high-performance cultures, the Sydney Swans offer valuable insights through their approach to leadership and team development, according to the club's Chief Operating Officer (COO), Drew Arthurson, who was recently interviewed by Dr Juliet Bourke, Professor of Practice in the School of Management and Governance at UNSW Business School for The Business Of, a podcast from UNSW Business School.

At the Swans, he explained that culture forms the foundation of their competitive advantage. His view is that organisational culture functions as a living entity requiring constant attention rather than a fixed asset: “For the Sydney Swans, we believe culture is organic. It requires sunlight and water, and people from the chair to the intern can strengthen that, or dilute that every single day," he said.

The club operates on several fundamental principles that define their approach. "Everyone sweeps the floor. We're indifferent about your role or your tenure, but if there's a job to do you do that job," said Mr Arthurson, who explained that this principle eliminates hierarchical barriers that often prevent organisations from functioning effectively, creating an environment where contribution matters more than status.

Elite performance through a clear mission and feedback

The Sydney Swans have implemented several strategies to develop elite performance across their organisation. They emphasise what Mr Arthurson describes as "mission clarity" – ensuring each team member understands their specific role within the larger organisational context. "What's my role as an individual? Be that CEO of the Sydney Swans, might be a marketing manager, might be someone who's leading our sponsorships team. What's my role?" This clarity, Mr Anderson explained, establishes the foundation for effective individual and team performance.

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The organisation utilises a straightforward model to focus efforts appropriately. This is based on three categories – the first of which is “your absolute core role” at the club, followed by discretionary effort (“how you can apply to support others and add value”). The third category relates to “things completely out of the box that we haven't thought of yet", said Mr Arthurson, who explained that this framework helps team members prioritise their work and understand where to direct their energy.

Feedback represents another essential element of the club’s performance system. Unlike many organisations that rely on annual performance reviews, the Swans embrace continuous feedback, said Mr Arthurson: "One of the frustrations I've had in previous lives is the notion of annual performance review. Why wait 12 months to almost tell me the history of my year?" The club instead focuses on real-time feedback, recognising that delayed feedback becomes less effective and potentially more political over time.

Implementing incremental improvement for sustainable success

Rather than seeking dramatic performance breakthroughs, the Sydney Swans focus on consistent, incremental improvement. "What we're focused on [is] the compounding benefits of small gains each and every day," Mr Arthurson said. This approach acknowledges that substantial organisational progress typically comes through sustained smaller advances rather than revolutionary changes.

To implement this philosophy personally, Mr Arthurson asks himself three questions daily: "Did I learn something new? Am I healthier in some way? Did I help someone without expecting anything in return?" These questions provide a framework for measuring personal development that contributes to organisational goals – so that the focus remains on sustainable performance improvement, rather than unsustainable performance spikes.

Photo gallery: Sydney Swans v Brisbane Lions at the AFL 2024 Grand Final

^{Photos by Adam Trafford/AFL Photos}

The club applies this same discipline to weekly review cycles, creating a rhythm of preparation, execution, review and adaptation. "For every single week, we will either win or lose,” said Mr Arthurson. “And once every four years we'll draw, on average. What happens pre- and post-that for our teams, is that you'll go through a really exacting review process." This cadence creates accountability while teaching team members to process outcomes efficiently and move forward constructively.

Balancing results with process in competitive environments

The Sydney Swans operate in an environment where results appear unambiguous, with matches ending in either wins or losses. However, this clarity creates challenges for team members not directly involved in on-field performance. Mr Anderson said the club works to help staff separate their contributions from match outcomes, particularly following disappointing results.

"For so many of our staff at the Sydney Swans, they're not part of the on-field delivery – so they're not a player, they're not a coach," Mr Arthurson said. "The challenge is separating the disappointing result that we all feel, because we're all part of the Sydney Swans journey, but separating that result from the great work that they've done during the year."

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This separation requires leadership attention to acknowledge both collective disappointment and individual achievement. This balanced perspective helps maintain morale and performance through inevitable competitive fluctuations. "It's reinforcing the fact that their job, their category one, each and every day is not to pull on the boots, it's to do the role we need them to do off-field," said Mr Arthurson.

Recruitment strategy: Finding the right cultural fit

In competitive environments where talent and resources often reach parity, recruitment emerges as a critical differentiator. The Sydney Swans operate in a league designed for equality, with salary caps and player drafting systems intended to level the playing field.

This equalisation creates a recruitment challenge that many businesses face: how to select personnel who will thrive within the organisation when traditional differentiators like compensation packages remain relatively standardised across competitors. The Swans focus on identifying candidates who align with their cultural values and work approach rather than simply technical capabilities. As such, the club’s recruitment strategy extends beyond conventional interview processes to assess how candidates interact with existing team members in less formal contexts. "Firstly, we want to socialise that candidate with as many people inside the business as possible," Mr Arthurson said. This socialisation phase reveals aspects of personality and working style that structured interviews often miss, particularly how candidates might contribute to the collaborative environment.

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The club applies specific filters during this assessment process, looking for three key indicators of potential success: "I think, for a candidate, a new starter, to be successful at a football club, what's their level of authenticity and curiosity? Firstly, that's a massive tell, I think, in an organisation. Are they willing to sweep the floor? Is something you can tell really quickly as people try and embed themselves an organisation, and they'll watch and see what others are doing. And then three is their capacity to engage cross-functionally,” he said.

Interestingly, the Swans maintain a balanced view toward hiring passionate fans. While industry knowledge and passion appear advantageous in recruitment, excessive enthusiasm can sometimes indicate a lack of objectivity. "The alarms go off if someone is a mega fan, because you think, 'I'm not sure you'll have the right level of pragmatism about working for this business'," Mr Arthurson said. This nuanced approach recognises that while commitment to the organisation's purpose matters, professional distance sometimes enables better business decisions.