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Saturday, August 24, 2019

Are Our Basketball Values on the Same Wavelength?



Bill Parcells says, "you are your record." Maybe in the NFL, but really we are our work - the sum of mental and physical effort. 

I went to the park and shot some hoops, alone. An Asian kid, maybe ten, came along working the craft. His Mom watched from the sidelines. He did okay, but I explained that I coach and could show him a couple of things. So I shared hand position shooting the ball and simple box drills with pivoting teaching to get separation. He did a great job incorporating the skills; sharing gave me some satisfaction. Win-win. Share, teach, learn. 

What are our teams' values? Have they ever thought about it? Have we asked them? 

Chuck Daly reminds us, "I'm a salesman." We could generate some massive list (e.g. Eastman *Bility Branding) but how about a short list of values to buy into?

Get ideas from corporate America. Starbucks has the acronym LATTE. 
  • Listen to the customer. 
  • Acknowledge their issue 
  • Thank the customer for sharing it. 
  • Take care of the problem.
  • Explain the problem and solution to coworkers. 


Ford preached, "Quality is Job 1." Southwest is "the low cost airline." We immediately recognize "the Energizer Bunny." We work to be TIA, not thanks in advance, but "Teamwork, Improvement, Accountability." 

Seek understanding not validation. Investment manager, Vitaliy Katsenelson shares a quote from Dale Carnegie about winning arguments. "You can’t because if you lose it, you lose it; and if you win it, you lose it. Why? Well, suppose you triumph over the other man and shoot his argument full of holes and prove that he is non compos mentis. Then what? You will feel fine. But what about him? You have made him feel inferior. You have hurt his pride. He will resent your triumph." If we have to be "right" all the time, we choose to be unhappy.

Influence our team's mindset to be "do the work." Take care of what we control at home, in the classroom, on the court. Katsenelson informs us, "When our values are internal and process-based, then we are in the driver’s seat of the bus." Share great values. 

Lagniappe: via @John_Leonzo  Dribble pitch into hammer screen.