bcg blog

Culture: The Connector

It’s January 2016. I’m in my usual place at this time on game days - hunched over my computer, glued to the only light my cold, dark house has to offer at the time. After some small talk, I send the assistant coaches home, no need to make them suffer again. My family, all keen to the vibe of losing by this point, went to bed hours ago, leaving me some much needed late-night alone time. 

Just a few hours ago we were at Northmont High School playing our twelfth game of the year, almost the exact midpoint of our season. Coming off a school record twenty-three wins a year ago, everyone expected winning to just become the new norm for Centerville Basketball. Unfortunately, no one had taken the time to tell the most important people in that equation: our opponents. 

We are no longer sneaking up on teams. Now we take their best shots - shots we clearly aren’t prepared to handle at this point. Our team has already lost as many games this season as we did all of last year. And, something tells me we’re not even close to being finished … losing that is. 

They say winning leaves clues … well, so does losing. 

I’m well into the fourth quarter of the game film of yet another lackluster performance. There aren’t enough sunflower seeds, my late night drug of choice, to make this feel any better. My hand is sore from the three pages of notes pointing out every technical mistake I can find. My eyes are glazing over as I skip forward in five second bursts combing through each possession for answers. Then I see it. 

The game is almost over and we are headed back onto the floor coming out of a timeout, one that is irrelevant to the outcome of the game - you know, the ones at the end of the game when every fan in the gym throws their hands up and wonders outloud, “What are you doing!” - it was one of those. All of our players stand up, squeeze in tight, reach their hands to the middle of the huddle, and shout “Chop Wood” … except for two of them.

That’s it. The losing clue.

How could I have missed it during the game? The film is clear. At the time of the break, they are sitting down, barely leaning forward, and making no effort to be a part of the team. Worse yet, they were actually IN the game. I’m furious with myself. I’m not only allowing this behavior, I’m honoring it. 

I immediately tear the ‘basketball’ notes out of my notebook and throw them all in the trash. It’s clear to me that none of that matters. Until we get our guys connected enough to care about each other it doesn’t matter what plays we’re running, and we are clearly not connected.

Creating connections between teammates points to one thing for us: culture.

Why Should We Care?
Your culture is your daily behavior. If you allow it, you promote it. So it’s my responsibility to stop allowing it. I share the findings with the team during our film review the following day, remove both players from the starting lineup, limit their playing time, and lose two of the next three games. Not exactly the result I’m looking for … yet. 

But, that’s the beauty of culture. It only rewards the faithful.

Regardless of outcomes, our culture must be honored. This is the bond of our group. It’s the common thread that runs throughout every single person on our team. When a player, or coach, chooses to be a part of Centerville Basketball they are agreeing to adopt the expected behaviors of the program. These unified behaviors not only connect our current team members to each other, but they also connect our current team to our alumni. Only a former player is fully aware of the sacrifices made to be a part of our team.

Our players' unwillingness to stand up, put their hands in the huddle, and join their teammates in our break is a direct violation of our expected behaviors. It’s also a behavior that, if I don’t point out, no one will know about. But, I’ll know it. And, the only thing worse than not knowing is knowing and doing nothing about it. It’s my choice to honor our culture or not. 

I choose to honor it because I trust it - its eventual impact on the player and its lifetime impact on the person.

REAL TALK - Action Steps
This group struggled to fully connect right up to the end of the regular season, losing three in a row heading into the tournament. But, we continued to prioritize and honor our culture, regardless of the result. A gritty first-round win against rival Fairmont galvanized the group and cemented a connection that would allow our 12-10 regular season team to knock off three consecutive twenty win teams on the way to an Elite Eight finish - surprising to most, but not to the guys in our who had been faithful pulling the weeds. 

Here are a few thoughts to keep in mind when trying to maximize the connection of your culture:

• Culture is an all or nothing proposition.
  
  • Culture doesn’t care if you start or don’t start, average twenty points or two points, make a million dollars a year or twelve dollars an hour. If you’re on the team, then it applies to you. One of the quickest ways to rob a culture of its power is to give allowances to team members, especially to those at a perceived higher level. Culture must be applied equally. Any exception compromises connection.
    

• Culture requires clarity to connect.
  
  • It’s impossible to be consistent with behaviors that people don’t know. State them clearly … and often. A culture that connects makes expected behaviors crystal clear. They are discussed and shared openly among everyone on the team. Everyone not only knows what is expected, but that they will be held accountable to those behaviors - first by themselves, then by their teammates.
    

• Cultures of vulnerability build the most trust.
  
  • The best cultures have systems and practices in place where team members become comfortable being vulnerable around each other. Laughing, crying, and suffering together are the foundational pieces of that vulnerability. We connect to people we trust and we trust people who are willing to be vulnerable. 
    

Culture has the potential to take a group of individuals and make them a team. Sure, they may share the same space and wear the same uniform, but until they commit to a set of common behaviors - they’re not a team.

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