Super Stars Don't Make the Team
I was watching an interview with Charles Barkley. His basketball career was being discussed. He was asked to rate the great players during his 1985-1990 years.
Charles declared Michael Jordan #1 and Barkley #2. The commentator, to clarify the statement, asked Charles if he thought himself better than Magic Johnson. Charles replied, "Yes." The commentator then asked Charles if he thought of himself as better than Larry Bird. Charles replied again, "Yes."
Barkley went on to explain why. He felt that both Magic Johnson and Larry Bird belonged to better teams, so they seemed better because they were playing with other great players. I would disagree. The title "great player" or "super star" doesn't mean anything if their team is not involved.
I left the interview and watched a segment of Mr. 3000, a feature film starring Bernie Mac. In the movie, Bernie plays a one time great player, who has returned to Major League Baseball after a discrepancy in his hit totals was found. He joins his old team at the end of a season to get a few more hits. He's having a hard time fitting in and the team is almost out of contention for the play-offs.
After a losing game, T-Rex, the current super star of the team is being interviewed in the locker room. T-Rex blames the loss on his teammates. He believes that he did his job. He's about to make even nastier comments when Bernie steps up and draws the reporters over to himself and away from the new super star. He meets T-Rex later in the parking lot and explains that Bernie wasn't looking for glory, but rather protecting the super star from damaging relations within the team.
So often in sports we see super stars hired for their names. They come in and get their stats and a bigger name for themselves, but do nothing for the team. They think they are the team, they ignore the team, or they look down on the individual members of the team. It's the same in business. Headhunters supply hotshot executives and turn-around experts who come in and make bold moves, increase stock prices or public confidence and move on.
Super stars in sports and business are great, if they can communicate with team members. Teambuilding begins with knowing our roles, forming mentoring relationships, building trust, and improving the team.
In Mr. 3000 Bernie finally gets a hit, T-Rex joshes him and begins to show leadership. The team begins to think like a team, act like a team, and play like a team. They rally for the play off run.
If the super star works without team members, team members gain nothing. If the super star works in spite of team efforts, then the organization gains nothing. If the super star works only for himself, then the team members, the organization, and quite possibly even the super star gains nothing.
Super Stars Dont Make the Team - To learn more about this author, visit Don Doman's Website.
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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