Success PosersMy wife and I have a daughter that moved out of our house a few years ago to take a job about an hour from us. She works with her favorite thing on earth, cows, every day. She gives tours to classrooms of students and visitors daily, providing her with the opportunity to share her love for the dairy industry with others. She also runs the farm's social media accounts, allowing her to share her passion beyond the walls of their barns. She absolutely loves what she does every day.
Our son is a freshman in college, living his dream of playing college basketball. He gets up every morning, goes to the gym, goes to class, and goes back to the gym. He has coaches, managers, and teammates that share his love for the game. He studies film, invests consistently in his development, and pours into the team and teammates every day in practice. He loves every sweet drenched second of it. My wife and I are extremely grateful for the opportunities both of our kids have been blessed with. We certainly recognize how fortunate they are. As well as things are going for them, it doesn’t equal success. Why Should We Care? Society is full of people jumping at the chance to show you their success. It's easy to do - just present a life others want. It doesn’t matter if you’ve positively impacted others, grown as a result of the process, have a feeling of fulfillment … No, that doesn’t matter. What matters is that we present a life others think is successful. We all know what it looks like: clothes, cars, and houses that we can’t afford; vacations, trips, and parties that we can’t support; relationships, careers, and titles that stir no emotion in us. In the pursuit of this artificial success we don’t become successful, we become posers of success. We present the life we think others want without ever considering what we want. When we really think about it, they rarely align. Not too long ago I overheard an older gentleman put success in perspective for me yet again. He was sharing a conversation with a friend at a nearby table. As their conversation turned to the topic of success, I quietly leaned in. His friend talked about many of his accomplishments, earnings, and possessions. The older man didn’t acknowledge any of them. When his friend had finished, he simply said, “Success isn’t any of that stuff. Success is your kids wanting to spend time with you when they don’t have to.” I was reminded of this while sitting in the lobby of a hotel on the campus of our son’s college laughing and playing Uno with my wife, daughter, and son. We were together. And, if that’s not what success feels like, I’m not sure I want it. REAL TALK - Action Steps The real question for us as leaders is: what does success actually look like? We’re great at answering that question from another person’s perspective, but not so good at honestly answering it for ourselves. Here are a few questions that will help you drill down to what truly matters to you.
Success is a process, therefore it is not a destination. It can't be attained, so trying to “get” it is a senseless act. We can, however, experience success. And, it’s those experiences that make our lives complete. For more information on building excellence in your teams, visit us at www.bluecollargrit.com. We would love to know how we could help!
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Abundance Over ScarcityOne of the many challenges in any team endeavor is convincing your group there is enough to go around - enough time, enough important roles, enough recognition. From the outside, it appears there is a limited supply; and in some situations, on some teams, there certainly is.
“I'm going to get mine” is a phrase so common in the coaching world that it prompts a conversation in virtually every locker room in the country, for every sport in the country, at every age group in the country. It doesn’t always take the shape of that exact sentence, but the message shared by the team member is very clear: There’s not enough to go around so I need to get mine before you get yours. Of course, this mindset is only perpetuated by parents and adults involved in youth sports. If you want to get on the top team you need to score more goals, have more hits, or average more points. Only one person on the team can be the leading scorer. If you want to play at the top colleges you have to be a five star recruit. Only a certain number of players are five stars. This mindset goes far beyond sports. We have the same thing within the majority of businesses throughout the country as well. There is usually only a single CEO, COO, or president. If you want to move up the ladder, you had better increase your sales, sign the next big client, or create a revolutionary product. The mindset of scarcity is alive, and well, in all walks of society. It’s a way, but it certainly doesn’t have to be THE way. Why Should We Care? Scarcity says you’ve got to get yours and there isn’t enough to go around. Scarcity says it’s either you or me and either I win or you win, but we never both win. Scarcity says your salary shines a light on your value and your title shows the world your worth. On the best teams, this simply isn’t true. As a matter of fact, the scarcity mindset is forced to yield to the overflow of the abundant mindset. Abundance says we can all get ours and there is more than enough to go around. Abundance says it’s me and you and we both can win the same race. Abundance says your salary is just your salary and your title is little more than the name of a position. On teams operating out of an abundant mindset, success is defined differently, yet high achievement is the norm. Honoring the process is the mission, however. It’s the relentless pursuit of a full contribution to the process that provides the value to each team member. Success is available to all. All teams claim to value the roles of all team members but the truth can be found in whether they operate from a culture of scarcity or abundance. Cultures of scarcity highlight the top performers, or better said, the most publicly recognized performers. Cultures of abundance recognize that every single team member is equally responsible for and success the team experiences. REAL TALK - Action Steps While we are conditioned to think from a place of scarcity, there are plenty of examples around us in which a mindset of abundance is thriving. Teams with this abundance mindset thrive because we all want to be valued and feel like we are vital contributors to the team. Here are a few ideas on leaning into and growing the abundant mindset on your team.
Being a role player on a team has gotten such a bad wrap over the years. It’s a clear indication that the scarcity mindset is alive and well. However, we are all role players - even the superstars. Our roles are what allow us to contribute the most significantly and effectively to the team. As we clarify, support, and recognize these roles we begin to slowly move from scarcity to abundance. For more information on building excellence in your teams, visit us at www.bluecollargrit.com. We would love to know how we could help! RePost: Giving ThanksThanksgiving is my favorite holiday.
Yes, it’s basketball season, but that’s not the only reason. Thanksgiving is pure, at least in its celebration. Primarily because it isn’t diluted with the expectations of buying, or receiving, gifts. It’s simply a time to share gratitude and appreciation for each other. It seems to me that we need to practice thanksgiving more regularly than once a year. Why Should We Care? As a leader, I think it’s critical to have systems in place that allow team members to openly share their appreciation for each other. If it’s left to chance, expressing gratitude seems to fall victim to ‘I didn’t have time’ quite often. I’m a big advocate for gratitude journals and writing down three things you are thankful for each day. It’s one of my daily routines. I love Thankful Thursdays when our team sends a text of gratitude to three people they are thankful for, reminding them why they are grateful for them. Better than a text is a handwritten letter, of course. However, nothing beats a face-to-face thank you. It’s awkward and awesome at the same time. Saying “Thank You” or sharing gratitude is one of the habits Daniel Coyle identified as consistently appearing in the interactions of elite teams. I believe the reasons for this are numerous, but here are a few that standout on the teams I’ve worked with.
REAL TALK - Action Steps Here are a few systems we have in place to say “Thank You”.
Saying ‘Thank you’ is one of those Slight Edge habits that Jeff Olson writes about in his book. They’re easy to do and easy not to do. Choosing to do it can change your team. For more information on building excellence in your teams, visit us at www.bluecollargrit.com. We would love to know how we could help! ClimbersMost will only have a few and some will only have one.
The number isn’t as important as the awareness of their presence and impact in your life. When most hear the term ‘climber’ they think of thrill seekers traversing the face of El Capitan or shrewd business moguls navigating the corporate ladder. I have a different image of a ‘Climber’. For me, Climber is a moniker reserved only for the most elite members of my foxhole. All Climbers are in my foxhole but not all in my foxhole are Climbers. Climbers need a special designation. I often describe my foxhole as that small group of family and friends that would drive two hours at three o’clock in the morning to pick you up if your car broke down. They’re critical to your safety, growth, and happiness. Your Climbers, however, wouldn’t require a phone call - they would be with you. When you throw out an idea like driving three hours through a level three snow emergency to scout an upcoming opponent, Climbers just ask what time we’re leaving. When you work and work and work and finally achieve something you never thought was possible Climbers celebrate … and cry, more than you do. When you act out of line with who you want to be, Climbers tell you in a way that is impossible to misunderstand. Bystanders would confuse it with judgment or hatred, but you accept it as the love it is intended for. When your kids are pursuing their dreams, the same Climbers that refused to compliment anything they did growing up become their biggest fans. They brag about them and tell more stories than you do - their pride rivals your own. Climbers make life awesome. Why Should We Care? Society calls us to pursue things - job titles, salaries, and recognition. We bite on this just to sprint to the end of a life that we don’t remember living. Only we don’t usually realize it until it’s too late. Climbers push pursuit too. But things literally mean nothing to them. What you wear, what kind of car you drive, how much money you make, how big of a house you come home to is one hundred percent irrelevant to a Climber. As a matter of fact, making too much effort in any of those directions raises a Climber’s antenna and will provoke a question, or jab, just to make sure you aren’t straying from what’s really important. A Climber’s pursuit is pure, much like that of the lone alpinist on El Capitan. There is no comparison, no judgment. There is only challenge and struggle followed by inevitable growth. Adversity is paramount to a Climber. It provides the footholes for the growth they desperately strive for. The struggle is foundational to their happiness. It’s not a normal relationship. Your acquaintances talk to you when you see them. Your friends love and support you no matter what. Your foxhole will tell you the truth and always go out of their way to help you. Climbers elevate you as a human. Sometimes through ridicule and conjoling, and sometimes through tears and heartfelt sentiments. But, always through truth and love. REAL TALK - Action Steps So, do you have any Climbers? If so, who are they? If not, how do you find them? I’m guessing you have one or two in your life - just make sure they know it too. Here are a few ideas for helping you in that quest.
I’m lucky enough to have a few Climbers in my life. I do my best to repay them by being Climbers for them. Appreciate and enjoy them regardless of other people’s opinions of them - most won’t understand and that’s ok - they’re in your foxhole, not theirs. FATH. For more information on building excellence in your teams, visit us at www.bluecollargrit.com. We would love to know how we could help! The ConnectorsMalcolm Gladwell’s 2002 book, The Tipping Point, shares why certain products, behaviors, and ideas spread like epidemics. The focus of the book is not about the brilliance of any specific product, behavior, or idea; but rather about how we can intentionally initiate and tap into the epidemic itself.
Of the many powerful ideas Gladwell shares, one of them has shown itself consistently in my leadership journey and the journey of those I’ve been able to observe. In The Tipping Point, Gladwell describes the three types of people that foster change: mavens, salespeople, and connectors. Mavens know what’s going on, but a lot of people are knowledgeable. The thing that separates a maven is their willingness to share their knowledge. Unfortunately, the willingness to share is not a given. Especially for someone possessing a unique product, coveted behavior, or revolutionary idea. Mavens, however, give openly and they do so with clarity. Salespeople sell. They convince others that what is being sold is not only desired, but needed. Salespeople communicate clearly and have the emotional intelligence to know when and how to best position the message or product being sold. They genuinely believe in what they are selling and are passionate about helping others by including them in the benefits. Connectors distribute and collect information, but more importantly they link one person to another. Connectors know who knows what, where to send others with questions, and how to get the information needed to move forward. They are critical to the spreading of an epidemic because they are the ones that share it with others. Turning our focus to leadership, the importance of mavens, salespeople, and connectors differs slightly from Gladwell’s epidemic application but it applies equally as well to teams. Why Should We Care? Teams are always a dynamic collection of individuals. None are the same and none are simple. The diversity of a team is its greatest strength. That is, when we recognize and support those differences. Mavens, salespeople, and connectors certainly provide a vast array of differences. Most leaders openly recognize the contributions of the mavens. Their wisdom and brilliance is typically viewed as the foundation of the team. In sports, this is often simply thought of as talent. There is no shortage of value placed on talent. The same can be said for most businesses as they are also on a constant hunt for the next superstar. Salespeople are also clearly valued in the team setting. Virtually every business has an entire division designated specifically for sales. As the leader of a team, it’s important to understand that your salespeople are not only those working in that division, they’re also your fans - the people that believe in, follow, and support your team. The connectors are the most undervalued team members because their contribution to the group is not easily measured. It doesn’t show up in new products or clients, like mavens and salespeople. And, in sports, it typically doesn’t show up on a stat sheet. But, it’s connectors that ultimately make a team, a team. Without connectors the group remains a collection of individuals. The connectors are the ones that help everyone appreciate the roles of each individual, celebrate each other’s contribution, and push the prioritization of the team over the individual. REAL TALK - Action Steps The talent, confidence, and unselfishness of a maven fits perfectly with the passion and brashness of salespeople on a team. The connector’s value of the team over all else melds the whole thing together. Teammates with characteristics of all three are what make a team special. Here are a few ideas on how to grow or foster each aspect of those great teammates.
Everyone on our team brings something to the table. Ideally, all possess a portion of the maven, salesperson, and connector Gladwell described. Pay special attention to the connectors. When teams are performing beyond their talent or skill level, it’s almost always a result of exceptional connectors at work. For more information on building excellence in your teams, visit us at www.bluecollargrit.com. We would love to know how we could help! Addition By SubtractionAs a young coach, I always thought the answer was in more - more offensive sets to run, more defensive systems to play, more baseline out of bounds options to call. The sporadic jolts of success were enough to fool me into believing more was the way.
I would attend clinics or conferences, amazed by the success others were experiencing by doing all the things I wasn’t doing. I scribbled down notes, vowing to be better by committing to these new found secrets. Each session led to additions to my approach, and to our program. We read to expand our knowledge. We network to grow our contacts. Progress by expansion is the model we’ve come to accept. The more things we know, the better. The more people that know us, the better. Clearly more is better, right? Society loves to shove it in our faces - more money, more cars, more rooms, more things is how we express our success. It would be hard to argue if it weren’t so wrong. Why Should We Care? If we’re astute, as we travel down this path of more we will notice something that clearly separates the average from the excellent. We have to look below the surface, and know what to look for, but it’s always there. The problem is, we always look at the margin instead of the core. See, the difference isn’t in an offensive set or a baseline out of bounds play. It’s not in a great client or better pension plan. The difference isn’t in what anyone does, it’s in how they do it. Unfortunately, we don’t want to believe the simplicity of how the best do what they do. We want it to be about more, not less. Listen to an interview with someone that has sustained excellence in any field. The best leaders will always talk about the same things: building relationships, serving others, working hard, and being exceptional at the ‘fundamentals’ of their specific trade. Sure, some will say it in their own way with their own clever vernacular, but they all say the same things. You know what we do when we hear this though, right? Sure. We dismiss the reference to the basics as being obvious and cling to any marginal information or examples that provide us with the more we were craving. Everyone does it, everyone except the excellent. For some reason, they hear it a little differently. They see the drastic commitment to the few as the driving force it is. They quickly disregard the margins, realizing that’s a personal choice that can, and should, change from leader to leader. Those on the path to excellence are in tune with the foundation of the process, not the details based on personal preference. They’re examining the core, not the margins. REAL TALK - Action Steps The appeal to make additions to our system is not only significant, but necessary in order to progress and improve. However, we must be careful to avoid addition as our only means for growth. In fact, the opposite, subtraction, is a quicker path to excellence. Here are a few ideas on how to get, or stay, focused on the core rather than the margins.
Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of excellence. Adding seems like the answer, oddly enough, it hardly ever is. By thinking about removing the trivial we free ourselves to commit the necessary time to the critical. For more information on building excellence in your teams, visit us at www.bluecollargrit.com. We would love to know how we could help! Just Getting StartedIt seems everyone in the sports world now is “just gettin’ started”.
The player winning NBA Rookie of the Year this season will likely claim he’s “just getting started”. On a similar note, the 2nd grader winning the Carrysville Southeast All Star Elite Fall White Division Showcase MVP is also “just getting started.” The team winning their first NFL playoff game will surely proclaim they are “just getting started”. But, so will the 3rd grade Wee Tiger Flag Football Silver Division Runners-up. It’s such a popular calling card that there are even a number of songs titled “just getting started”. Country music stars Jason Aldean and Blake Shelton to Christian singer Jeremy Camp to rapper RJAE have all recorded songs titled “Just Getting Started”. There’s even a few movies with the title, one starring Morgan Freeman and Tommy Lee Jones. And of course, who could forget, High School Musical 3: Senior Year, Just Getting Started. That’s correct: High School Musical 3: Senior Year is … just getting started. Why Should We Care? While most people, and teams, seem to be pulled towards the motto we are doing everything we can to distance ourselves from it. I see the hope it attempts to provide and I understand the allure of embarking on a new, promising commitment to excellence. But, that’s not where we are and, I’m guessing, it’s not where you are either. We are not “just getting started”. Not even close actually. We’re still going. I’ll use our morning breakfast club workouts as a quick example. Most of our players began attending when they were freshmen, those beginning before that simply extrapolate the example. With one hundred eighty two days of school, we’ll use one hundred fifty as our number for breakfast club workouts each year. We don’t miss many days but with dead periods, gym conflicts, and personal schedules a few days throughout the year will be breakfast club free. The breakfast club is simply a one hour workout our players perform with a partner. Nothing fancy, or tricky, just consistent. If a player attends for 150 days for four years he will have devoted an additional six hundred hours of work to his game. That’s twenty five full days of development a regular breakfast club attendee gets that someone who doesn’t attend would receive. Now for the team implications. Our breakfast club typically has twenty to thirty players every morning. So, take those extra six hundred hours and multiply them by, we’ll say twenty-five. That’s fifteen thousand hours of breakfast club work for our team. Fifteen thousand hours. That’s not just getting started. We’re still going. (As side note, when we were truly “just getting started” Breakfast Club had one attendee for two straight years - shout out to Joey, our Breakfast Club OG) REAL TALK - Action Steps Don’t get me wrong, we all have to start some time. But, I’ve noticed a significant difference between the people who proclaim their start as a means to seek recognition and approval and the people who just start and seek the benefit of the process that follows. Here are a few ideas on staying fixed on the latter:
We do realize who isn’t saying “just getting started”, right? Correct, the people that have been doing it - quietly and consistently. Those people are still going. And, as long we are always “just getting started” we won’t realize the compound effects of still going. For more information on building excellence in your teams, visit us at www.bluecollargrit.com. We would love to know how we could help! Anonymous FeedbackBasketball season is just around the corner. As I prepare for the start of the season, there are numerous, very important items I have to be sure are taken care of in order for our season to get off to a clean start. As a high school coach you are the CEO of your program, but you’re also the secretary, custodian, and emergency contact.
Among all the tasks that must be completed, one of the most impactful for the development of our team is our practice evaluations. Each season I will invite several coaches, whom I respect, to evaluate and give me feedback on our players and our practice. These people rarely have basketball knowledge, so I often get asked how their opinions and feedback can help. It’s really pretty simple. The people I invite understand the process required to be excellent. That’s one of the best things about excellence, its habits apply to all fields. All of the feedback is useful, but maybe not in the exact way it’s meant or the package it’s delivered in. Why Should We Care? In the last fifteen years, we’ve probably had close to one hundred coaches in to watch and evaluate practice. Their feedback has provided our staff and players with phenomenal insights that we would’ve never recognized on our own. For example, a few personal areas I’ve grown in as a result of these evaluations are the tone of my feedback, where I’m physically standing while coaching in practice, the difference in detail I accept from different players, and lack of interaction between coaches during a session. I’m significantly better and our team has benefited equally from this, and many other, observer’s feedback. However, the changes weren’t immediate growth points - they began as pain points. The criticism of my tone when delivering feedback in practice was delivered as, “you sound pissed off all the time” when you are correcting someone. My initial, internal, response was something like, “yea, I am pissed - it’s the tenth time I’ve told him the same thing”. Though it wasn’t comfortable to hear, nor always true, the observation pushed me to reflect. There were numerous times in which I certainly did not intend to sound angry. I simply wanted to convey information and hope that the player was capable of doing what was expected of him. Fortunately, this feedback offered me an opportunity to move that from intent to reality. The same is true for the others noted above. Where I stand in practice was shared from an evaluator as “you look like you’re distancing yourself from the team”. In my reflection, this was accurate but it wasn’t intentional. There are certainly times in practice in which I feel like I need physical distance in order to see the big picture of our team play. But, I recognize that is not all the time. There are clearly times I need to be right in the mix with our guys - slapping fives, offering encouragement, and giving direction. This feedback simply brought awareness. Awareness that has allowed me to be more intentional with my daily actions and impactful with our team. Likewise regarding the lack of interaction with coaches during practice. The observer viewed this as a negative when he presented it to me. As we discussed it, I was reaffirmed with how we were spending our time in practice. Because our coaches were constantly interacting with the players, there was little time for them to engage with each other. Though, the feedback was perceived as a negative, it served to reinforce the actions we wanted modeled. Although I always know the coaches we invite to evaluate our practices and they write their names at the top of the assessment form, as far as we’re concerned the feedback is anonymous. The observations are what we are interested in - how are the behaviors being observed and interpreted by those outside ourselves and our team? From there, it’s our choice on how, or if, we want to use them. REAL TALK - Action Steps There is a popular clip on YouTube of Kobe Bryant talking about his belief that failure doesn’t exist. He points out that all the seeming failures we experience are really nothing more than data points for our next try. It’s only a failure if you quit trying. Feedback is very much the same way. Regardless of who gives it, feedback is simply data. Data to be used by you in whatever way you see fit. Once it’s delivered, it’s your job to process it. You are the one with the power to use or discard it. Here are a few ideas on maintaining this perspective and making the feedback you give and receive as useful as possible. Receiving
Giving
Feedback is critical to our growth and development. We are best served to treat it as anonymous, focusing solely on the data. All while recognizing that the choice of using, or not using, the feedback lies with one person: the receiver. For more information on building excellence in your teams, visit us at www.bluecollargrit.com. We would love to know how we could help! Love the FightAs part of our preseason conditioning program at Centerville, we will do a number of different workouts designed to physically better our performance on the basketball court. Anything from sprints on the track, hill climbs, weightlifting sessions, and Crossfit workouts could be on the schedule.
Of course, we play a lot of basketball too. We don’t like to make it too complicated. We believe the best way to get better at basketball is to play basketball. As simple as that sounds, it transcends sports. The preseason is obviously a time where we are not only trying to get players into the necessary shape to compete at a high level, but we’re also evaluating. Skill, potential, and possible roles are all things we look at as coaches. However, there is one trait we believe is critical for a player to reach his potential and a team to surpass its ceiling: a love for competition. Why Should We Care? A passion for your craft is no doubt a powerful motivator. A strong enough passion for something helps us view adversity as merely a part of the process rather than as a true obstacle to be overcome. One of the natural problems that arise for passionately driven individuals is that it often ends up being compartmentalized. I may be passionate for basketball, for example, so anything that has to do specifically with basketball, I’m all in for. The problem arises when I realize there are numerous things outside the arena of basketball that impact my performance within basketball. Sometimes this passion is strong enough to spill over and influence other areas of my life, but rarely will it have the ability to sustain my focus, discipline, and personal accountability long enough for me to reach my potential. People who are able to maximize their potential are typically not passionate about a specific thing - sport, occupation, or career. They’re passionate about a process. And, that process is always centered around pushing and challenging themselves. They don’t love basketball. They love the fight to become the best basketball player they can become. This is the mindset that transcends a sport or career. The world has enough people that are great at their sport yet terrible husbands, incredible at their job but absent in the lives of their kids, climbing the corporate ladder at the expense of everyone around them. This is a compartmentalized mentality with a selfish focus on one’s self. It’s also a clear indication of an external comparison rather than an internal competition. When we love the fight, the fulfillment is rooted in the process. When we love our job, our identity tends to get sucked into our position, status, or salary. The fight is the process. The struggle is the reward. REAL TALK - Action Steps Truly enjoying the fight isn’t something that comes naturally to most people. We are so conditioned to seek things that we conveniently disregard how we get those very things we seek. Awareness is the first step to change, so here are a few ideas on where we need to learn to love the fight.
Loving the fight is a form of embracing the process. Everyone loves the accolades and bonuses that go with being successful, but most people don’t love the fight. But, most people are not striving to be excellent either. For more information on building excellence in your teams, visit us at www.bluecollargrit.com. We would love to know how we could help! Questions of a TeamTeams were created for a single purpose: to do things an individual can’t do.
That’s it. From the hunter and gather days to the modern multi-million dollar, Wall Street companies, the purpose of bringing a people together remains exactly the same. If left to our preference, and ego, we would undoubtedly go it alone but we simply can’t. As a matter of fact, that’s exactly what many individuals continue to try to do while a member of a team. In spite of the ‘team’ label, in spite of their teammates, in spite of the urging of coaches - some continue to press against the foundational purpose of a team. Our choices prioritize ourselves over our teammates and our actions communicate our selfish interests no matter how much we try to conceal them. It’s as natural as it is ignorant. What we are pursuing is bigger than we can accomplish on our own, yet we still try. We continue to overestimate our importance to the group. We continue to spill over into the roles of teammates. We continue to attempt to save the team with our own valiant effort. All to achieve something that we knew from the start was only achievable by a team. Why Should We Care? While the purpose of a team is singular, the benefits of one are not. The key to realizing these benefits lies in the questions we ask ourselves. Even as a member of a quality team, most individuals are drawn to the selfish question: what can this team do for me? The answer offers many rewards, but fails to hold the substance necessary to truly support the needs of the team and ultimately ourselves. Teams are powerful, beautiful collections of individuals that exceed the sum of their parts. The whole is greater than the pieces. However, this is only true if team members approach their role knowing the answers to two critical questions: What can I offer? What will I sacrifice? A clear awareness of what we have to offer on a team not only creates a feeling of belonging, but allows us to contribute meaningfully to the group. Both are critical within a team. We must feel like we belong to the group and we must feel like we play an important role within that group. This supports the positive side of the ever-dangerous traits, pride and ego. Equally as important is knowing what we are willing to sacrifice for the team. A vital aspect of the team is the willing sacrifice each member chooses to make for the good of the team. The ‘choosing’ part is important. We can force sacrifices on team members, as long as we accept the limits it ultimately places on the performance of our team. Humility and servanthood blossom only by knowing, and embracing, this answer. From here, we are in a position to appreciate the full impact of being on a team. REAL TALK - Action Steps Since these questions are rarely posed openly, we’ll consider what actions may indicate a team member’s response to them. After all, we can tell far more by what people do than what they say anyway. Here are a few behaviors to keep an eye out for:
If we’re on a team, AND WE’RE ALL ON A TEAM, there are two vitally important questions to consider: What can I offer and what will I sacrifice? From there, and only there, we can truly become a member of the team. For more information on building excellence in your teams, visit us at www.bluecollargrit.com. We would love to know how we could help! |
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