David K. Williams’ three winning lessons from basketball that will help you up your game in life and in work.
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We fill our company, Fishbowl, with athletes from all walks of life and unique talents, because they intuitively understand how to work together as teammates to build great things together.
Consider viewing work as a game.
Play wholeheartedly to win, but when you lose, play back the game tapes and see how you can improve. Don’t over-analyze or despair; simply make a few adjustments and prepare for the next game.
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One of the challenges that every entrepreneur must face is fear. The key is to incorporate strategies that empower you to fear less.
Basketball is a notable teacher in rising above fear because there are only five people on the floor at any given time. It is easy to see the imperfections, missed shots, turnovers, and lack of rebounding. We also witness the miraculous three-pointers, dunks, drives to the hole, solid picks, and offensive rebounds.
University of Oklahoma Basketball Coach Lon Kruger said, “Prepare for every game like you just lost your last game.” Can you remember the last time you gave your all in the game of work and played with all your heart for every member of the team?
When a basketball team wins a championship the entire team, coaches, supporting staff, organization, fans, and community celebrate and all are a part of the euphoria of being a champion.
One of the most underutilized strategies that you can employ to gain a competitive edge is to commit to uplifting every single person on the team. You don’t have to particularly like or understand every member of the team; but when you enter the arena you do everything you can to help everyone on the team succeed.
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Here is our entrepreneurial playbook that includes the lessons basketball has taught us to help you up your game in life and work:
1. Study the rhythm of business in the same way you would a basketball game.
You aren’t going to make every basket at work. We all have flaws, there is no need to strive for perfection; simply do your best each day. Individuals with a strong mental game have taught themselves not to take everything personally. A great champion works hard to never blame others because that is a sure sign of defeat.
The great entrepreneurs play seriously for something larger than personal victory in the same way basketball teams work to become championship-caliber teams. They play to honor a concept, a company, and their employees. In fact, they will most likely be remembered as much for their flaws as their successes.
Dave Packard, the co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, said, “Avoid openly trying to reform people. Every man knows he is imperfect, but he doesn’t want someone else trying to correct his faults. If you want to improve a person, help him embrace a higher working goal – a standard, an ideal – and he will do his own ‘making over’ far more effectively than you can do it for him.”
When you can stop going to war with yourself and others regarding imperfections, a new game begins.
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2. Find a great coach or mentor
The coach sees his team clearly; their strengths and their weaknesses. The coach understands the psychology of the team and doesn’t expect or ask for perfection, but he definitely knows which players on the team have heart and which ones simply play for the money or because it’s their job. A great coach knows his players, attitudes and mental state so well that he knows when to mix up the starting five and when and who to rotate in to keep the momentum and control the aspects of the game.
A great coach will put in a player with heart over someone who was simply born with some natural ability because he knows the player with heart will work harder.
Great coaches put players in the game who are committed to their position and create positive outcomes for the organization. They also recruit players who know how to fill in for other positions when needed, even if they are undersized or outmatched in some way. Look for opportunities to cross-train in your organization.
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3. Know now when the competitive edge will matter most.
At the end of your career, do you want to look back on your portfolio of work and see a trophy case that celebrates your achievements, or do you want to enjoy a peace of mind knowing that you played with great people where you developed and grew together and built meaningful products and services?
Think about who really wins the game when you consider the big picture of work. As we mentioned above, we hire people from all walks of life and the most important gift of all is that we became friends and that is the best competitive edge anyone can ever ask for.
Here’s to your best season and to playing the game of work with the heart of an athlete. NBA legend Michael Jordan said, “People ask me if I could fly. I said, ‘Yeah… for a little while.’” Perhaps it’s your turn to soar.
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This column is dedicated to the memory of our friend and co-worker Bryan Byrge who passed a year ago today. Bryan’s motto was Few Men Ever Live…Big. Bryan did and his competitive edge was that he was a friend to all.
Additional reporting for this article provided by Mary Michelle Scott, Fishbowl President. For additional resources: www.fishbowlworkforce.com
This post originally appeared on Forbes.
Photo Credit: Flickr/Chad Cooper