EKAITZ SAIES

Long before performance metrics and leadership frameworks, Basque communities had a simple principle that kept them alive and thriving: Auzolan. It was the act of coming together to repair, build, or improve what belonged to everyone, a practice grounded in responsibility, shared effort, and visible contribution. Today, that same principle offers a lens for high-performing teams: by turning collective intention into deliberate action, Auzolan can transform the way we work together and the results we achieve.

For me, the logic of Auzolan has quietly guided my leadership for as long as I can remember. I have always been drawn to clarity, efficiency, and shared responsibility. I dislike inertia, meetings that end without action, and problems left unaddressed. At first, I assumed these tendencies were purely personal or professional. Looking back, I realise they are also inherited: born from a culture in which belonging was inseparable from contribution, and credibility was measured by action, not words. Naming it now gives me a framework to intentionally build teams that act rather than wait to be told what to do.

Historically, Auzolan was the backbone of Basque community life. Villages relied on collective effort to survive in challenging terrain: mountain paths were cleared, roofs repaired before winter, irrigation channels maintained, and roads rebuilt after storms. Participation was expected, and absence required justification. Leadership did not mean command: elders worked alongside everyone else, earning legitimacy through example rather than authority. Decisions could be debated elsewhere, but Auzolan existed for action — for doing, improving, and sustaining what the community depended on.

In modern teams, Auzolan translates into a dedicated space for collective action. It is where issues are surfaced, solutions co-created, and commitments made, not in abstract terms but in ways that can be acted upon immediately. Everyone contributes according to their role and capacity, and everyone leaves with ownership of tangible actions. It turns vision into execution, ideas into measurable progress, and intention into performance.

High-performance sport illustrates the principle vividly. When training standards slip, Auzolan becomes the moment when athletes and coaches define expectations, identify barriers, and agree on concrete improvements. When routines break down on race day, it allows the team to collaboratively rebuild processes, remove friction, and assign accountability. When culture erodes under pressure, it becomes a space to identify behaviours that harm performance and replace them with better ones, collectively and transparently. Even small operational details — equipment, warm-ups, debriefs — benefit when responsibility is shared and visible.

Auzolan is demanding. It requires honesty, courage, and a willingness to take responsibility for real outcomes. Leaders do not preside from a distance; they participate. Authority is reinforced through contribution, example, and follow-through. Over time, this practice fosters a team that does not wait to be told what to fix: it notices, acts, and holds itself accountable.

At its core, Auzolan teaches a simple but profound truth: belonging is inseparable from contribution, and performance is inseparable from action. The work we share — our standards, our culture, our ambition — only endures if we are willing to maintain it through action. By adopting Auzolan as a regular practice, teams create a rhythm that keeps vision grounded, effort visible, and results real. In doing so, they honour an ancient tradition while achieving the kind of performance that is built, not imagined, together.