Winning Is a Team Sport

What’s your favorite sports moment? Whether you grew up playing or simply watching, most of us can think of an iconic moment in sports history that is etched in our minds forever! Whether it’s the thrill of watching our team navigate the drama of pulling out the last-second victory, or our favorite player concur insurmountable odds to achieve the unthinkable – over several centuries sports have inspired us all. How about the Chicago Bulls of the 90s, led by non-other than the undisputed greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan, and head coach, Phil Jackson? Or the New York Yankees of the ’50s, led by Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra? Or the 2000-2010 New England Patriots – Tom Brady and Bill Belichick (that’s even hard for me to say as a die-hard Broncos fan:)? Or try googling names like – Serena Williams, Michael Phelps, or Allison Felix… their achievements are legendary and will live on for many generations.

 
More than its entertainment value, sports have a way of teaching us some of life’s most valuable lessons. And for me, one of the most valuable lessons that I’ve learned over the last 4+ decades of participating in sports is that success is a team sport! Both personally and professionally, success is a culmination of multiple people aligning around a common cause to achieve something they otherwise couldn’t do alone.

The composition of each team varies depending on the desired outcome, but one thing is true, in order to achieve high levels of success, it 

 necessitates that everyone is aligned and moving in the

 same direction. We must pool the collective strength

 and expertise of each person on the team in order to win! There’s an old African proverb that says, “if you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.” If you’re not experiencing the kind of success you desire both personally and professionally, I want you to pause for a moment and evaluate your team, and your performance as a key contributor.

That’s right, I called you a key contributor because that’s what you are. Irrespective of your role on the team (player, owner, coach, trainer, dietitian, etc.), you are a key contributor to achieving the end goal. So, it's evaluation time… are you winning in life and business?

Are you in the right role that enables you to leverage your brilliance and expertise for the good of the team? Are you clear on where you are going and how you plan to get there? If not, call a timeout, bring everyone together, get clear, get aligned, get back in the game, and GO WIN!