Inside SOTW Mag: Torrente’s Take—Creating A Winning Culture

Although the word “culture” technically has a few meanings, to me that term, which has unfortunately become even more common place because of the overblown “counter-culture” concept, is about creating and maintaining a level of success, and building habits and tendencies to sustain that success. Or failures even—there are just as many losing cultures as there are winning cultures, especially in relation to sports franchises.

There is no secret sauce, but when it comes to cultivating a successful organization, leadership, discipline and attitude are essential ingredients. Photo of Shaun Torrente by Cole McGowan copyright Powerboat P1.

As a fan of the NBA’s Miami Heat and pretty much any competitive motorsports organization, I’ve always admired the teams that have been able to remain driven and successful. I’ve also come to the realization that those winning cultures start from the top. Take the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team and the continued success of Lewis Hamilton, for example, or a little more relevant, Team Abu Dhabi, the F1 H2O World Championship series team I drive for that is managed by Italy’s Guido Cappellini, the sport’s all-time-winningest driver.

I consider myself lucky to be able to learn from Cappellini.

I also consider myself lucky to be a boat racer, as most of my life lessons have come from racing. I’ve learned that if you don’t prepare, you’re not going to get the results you’re after.

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