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HiLevel Observations: Team

· HiLevel Observations

A solid Team effort always involves a shared sense of confidence, the energy to get the job done and the ability to recover and make good decisions.

This weekend I have experienced several references to the power of Team.

“They have my back”

The star player on the team acknowledging his teammates for the contribution they made to the success of the Team.

My Perspective: The star players’ performance clearly won the game. What’s also clear is that he could not have done what he did without the support of his teammate.

Team, by definition, requires that all of the players have each other’s back and give each other the confidence they need to excel.

“He taught us to trust each other”

This player is acknowledging the coach for teaching the individual players on the Team toincrease the level of communication and cooperation to ensure positive regard, shared presence and mutual commitment.

My Perspective: A team effort requires strong leadership by the coach and complete “buy–in” from the players.

Trust in yourself and each other is like peak physical conditioning – hard to build and easy to lose.

“It takes a village”

A father was thanking a coach for the support he gave his son to deal with the frustration related to a serious injury.

My Perspective: The father was open to the contribution the coach made to help his son reframe a difficult situation. The “reframe” was made possible by the existence of an already beautiful father–son relationship.

The coach and the father worked together to help the son recover and make a series of good decisions that resulted in a complete recovery.

“We accepted our situation and made the adjustments needed to win”

This was a coach acknowledging his team for being able to stay open to his leadership in a very difficult situation and then be able to work together to get the job done.

My Perspective: The coach has taught his players to focus on what is happening right now, to have a positive attitude and be engaged in the process of putting forth the best effort possible.

A solid Team effort always involves a shared sense of confidence, the energy to get the job done and the ability to recover and make good decisions.

“We are grateful for the injury that brought you home to us.”

A dear friend helping his friend to see how a serious injury (that was truly devastating at the time) actually turned out to be the catalyst for a wonderful turn of events for all involved.

My Perspective: Both of the friends in this situation are operating at acceptance. They have been able embrace the challenge of learning and growing from what was an extremely difficult experience. In this sense, the terms “Team” and “Friend” can be synonymous.

Both are capable of producing a safe environment where feelings are shared, issues identified and resolved.

"The Huddle as it relates to being 'Team' is the one place where we learn that our differences do not matter. Where a guy from Amityville, New York will care enough about his teammate from College Park, Georgia (at a time when people from the North and South were not supposed to care for each other) to drag him off the field to safety because he was dehydrated."

My good friend Bill Curry gave me this quote. He is from College Park.

This is all HiLevel!