Tributum Newsletter #79

Hello

What a last weekend of September if you are a sports lover. As I have said so many times before you just cannot argue against the realism of sport and the lessons for life and for business. So here were my lessons about teams and players from my two favourites this weekend: Go Bokke over Argentina (or should I say, “Go Sacha”). And go Team Europe over the USA at the Ryder Cup.

Sascha had a great game. His play lifted the Bokke, collectively . On that day, in a team sport, one man made the difference.  The Ryder Cup is the ultimate team event in golf. But in a sport known for its individualism I cannot single out one European player like I could Sascha. Over the weekend and in both arenas, it was all about making the TEAM win.

And that is the thing with being a team – whether it’s a sports team, business team or even just a family unit. Sometimes the collective lifts the individual and sometimes an individual lifts the collective. But it stays about the collective – like it did for Sascha, like it did for Team Europe.

As someone said of the Ryder Cup – the USA teams are normally made up of great players, while the European players normally make the teams great. Subtle difference in words. Massive difference on the field. Great players don’t always make teams great, but often great teams make great players.  

Simon Sinek discusses team performance and selection using probably the most dangerous team environment in the world, where what they do literally affects life and death – the Navy Seals. They call it the performance (skills) versus trust matrix. And Navy Seals would rather breach an enemy compound with teammates that they can trust than teammates with better skills – can I trust you with my life and can I trust you with my wife? Cleary it helps to have both (performance and trust) but that is not guaranteed.  The All Blacks call it “No Dickheads”. Either you are good for the team, or you are just no good. These players may get the job done, but they may also leave a brother behind.

Rewarding high performers is easy. Most tests in life are designed to identify the high performers from an early age – building puzzles, colouring between the lines, other school testing, sport scores, university degrees, performance appraisals. But rewarding trust is difficult – it’s difficult to measure. So, test yourself. Are you the type of player that can be trusted?

In my family – what type of player am I? Do I make the family better, or is it about me?  At the office – do I make the office better or is it about me? At the social gathering – is it about everyone having a good time or is it about me? Even in my army of one – what type of player am I? Is it about me or about my clients? Can they trust that I will do what I need to do when I need to do it.

Being a great performer is, well great. Being a great performer that can be trusted by your team is even better. What’s that joke “There is no I in TEAM, except maybe in the A hole” So, while we practice our skillset, we also need to stick to rule number one – Don’t be a dickhead. Until next month, keep breathing.