January 30, 2010
Are you protecting your teammates?
Standing united against the competition increases your chances of winning
By: Mark Eaton
Trust is essential in today’s business world. Every day people talk about how important trust is, yet few know how to create it. Trust comes when people know they can count on you. Trust comes when people know you’re there for them. When people protect each other, there is trust — it’s that simple. When you’re committed to others and their well-being, you can expect an extraordinary commitment in return.
In the NBA, basketball players follow the concept of “sticking together.” They know that by protecting each other, working collaboratively, and standing united against the competition, their chances of winning are greatly increased.
In business, the only way you can do your job effectively, be creative, and be innovative is when you know that someone has your back. When you’re confident that someone is watching out for you, you’re more willing to take risks to increase the bottom line. Unfortunately, in most companies, people are just there to collect a paycheck. There’s no creativity, no innovation, and no risk-taking, all because there’s no sense of trust among team members. After all, if you know that no one is backing your ideas, why try to implement them? The chance of failing is too great.
The world of professional basketball offers the perfect learning example: In basketball, one person’s job is to guard the basket. As long as that person is doing his job, his teammates up the court can take risks and try to steal the ball from the other team. If they’re unsuccessful with the steal and the competition happens to get by them, they can count on the person guarding the basket to protect the team and keep the rival from scoring.
If the team members can’t count on each other, they’re not going to take risks. They’re going to play it safe. They’ll stay in front of their man, do their best to not let him score, and stay in a defensive mode rather than taking an offensive position and going for the score.
The same is true in business. People may have some good ideas, but they don’t voice them because they don’t feel protected. They don’t feel that sense of trust or appreciation, so they stay under the radar and do just enough to not get fired. They become clock watchers who only care about themselves and their own agenda. As a result, you have a company filled with people who know only how to complain and whine rather than take action and responsibility. Now you no longer have a team; you only have divisiveness.
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