It’s All About Team

“The most important measure of how good a game I played was how much better I’d made my teammates play.” 

Bill RussellBoston
Celtics Hall of Fame

I’ve been thinking . . . about teamwork.

The concept of teamwork seems to be worn out. Maybe we’ve overused the term without fully understanding the intent, process or outcomes. Regardless, I’m well aware that lip service without practical application or personal commitment has bred indifference to this age old concept.

I’m beginning to lean more toward the idea of “team spirit.” Legendary basketball coach John Wooden defines it as “an eagerness to sacrifice personal interests and glory for the good and greatness of the team.” I love that definition.

What would happen if everyone on your team agreed to give up just one of their personal interests for the good of the team for 30 days? What if each person was willing to sacrifice personal achievement or satisfaction for the team’s success? What if “we” rather than “me” guided all decisions for a month? I’m talking more than a token effort here. Let’s think about a full-fledged selfless pursuit of team spirit.

Sound simple? Maybe. There are substantial egos, agendas, selfish interests, personal hang-ups and a host of other issues you’ll have to contend with. Try it anyway. Challenge your team. The potential results are worth the required effort.

Let me illustrate. I’ m normally glued to the Olympics. There’s something about patriotism combined with watching sports I know very little about, cheering my heart out, celebrating the successes and grieving the losses. Personal and team success is undoubtedly magnified in this venue.

Let’s go back in time to the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Michael Phelps was having a wonderfully successful Olympic experience. He was prepared for yet another event. His competition was favored teammate Ian Crocker who had posted the best times in the world for the 100-meter butterfly. It was fabulous race. Spectators were engaged. The television announcers called the event with unguarded enthusiasm. Somehow Phelps managed a last second surge and touched the wall 1/100th of a second ahead of his competitors, in route to another gold medal.

Everyone knew nineteen-year-old Phelps entered the Athens games intent on chasing Mark Spitz’s record of seven medals. The quest was still within reach. But then, Phelps shocked everyone by producing one of the most unexpected and memorable moments of the 2004 Olympics.

Immediately following the butterfly competition, Phelps and teammate Crocker sat together for a television interview. They both talked about the importance of team and how happy they were for each other. It was unusual display of team spirit especially in light of some egotistical showboating and boasting on the part of other American athletes. Phelps and Crocker genuinely shared the spotlight and unpretentiously shared the glory of the moment. It was heart warming and probably unprecedented.

Shortly thereafter a special announcement shocked the Olympic world. Michael Phelps had decided to step aside allowing Crocker to swim in his place in the upcoming 400-meter relay. Phelps told the media Crocker was better in this event than he was and the team had a better chance to win with Crocker than with him. You’re kidding. Even though he had earned the right to swim this event, he decided to give Crocker an opportunity to earn his own gold medal. When the buzzer sounded and the relay began, Phelps was in the stands, enthusiastically cheering on Crocker as the U.S. team went on to capture the gold.

Phelps’s decision rocked the Olympic world. His concession made headlines around the world. Why? Because this display of selfless team spirit is so rare in the athletic world. Or is it just the athletic world. Could it be rare in your world as well?

Team spirit is all about understanding that we succeed only to the degree we help our team succeed. G.K. Chesterton is credited with saying, “There is the great man who makes every man feel small, but the really great man is the man who makes every man feel great.” It could also be said the really great team player is the one who knows how to make the other person successful.

Team spirit. . . the realization by each team member that they are only as good as their team’s ability to succeed. That’s powerful stuff.

When it comes to your teammates, you want to compete in such a way that instead of competing with them, you are completing them. Those are two different mind-sets.

John Maxwell