Why Bringing Your Best Matters

One of my favorite examples of a leader galvanizing a team involves UCONN Women’s Basketball head coach Geno Auriemma. One year, early in the season, Auriemma took the players to a Broadway Play. The following day at practice, the coach asked each player what they thought of the experience. As you can imagine, the young women waxed poetic about the fantastic performances they witnessed and how incredible the entire production made them feel.

After everyone spoke, he stated: “You know they performed that show the night before, right? And the night before that, and on Wednesdays and Saturdays, they have afternoon and evening performances. Auriemma explained that most theatergoers will likely see the play only once. So, everyone involved in the production, no matter their role, approaches every performance with the mindset that it’s their responsibility to create an unforgettable experience for that audience (every audience), no matter how many times they perform the show.

We’ve built a winning tradition here at Connecticut, not because it was our goal to win games, whether we’re at home or on the road. The bar we set for ourselves was for fans to leave the arena after every game, saying, “We just witnessed something extraordinary. We just saw something special.” UCONN’s practices are renowned for their rigor, efficiency, and for practicing a play not until they get it right, but until they are no longer getting it wrong.

UCONN may compete with other schools on the basketball court, but they are playing a different sport than most of their competitors.

The Power We Begins with Each of Us  

Poetic Voice Sekou Andrews illustrates this concept, as only he can, with the following quote: “There is an incredible power that comes from surrounding yourself with communities in which you feel small among them, and they look at you like a giant.”

How many of you have entered a room as a new member of a board, team, forum, or committee, and as you meet everyone, you start to think, “Whoa, these people are really impressive. I wonder how I am going to add value.” Meanwhile, they are looking at you and thinking, “Wow, this person brings some special gifts to this ensemble that we don’t have right now. How lucky are we that she is joining us.”

What Does This Mean for You? 

1. You know you’re with the right people when you experience the healthy tension that comes from being around intelligent, thoughtful, and passionate individuals who challenge you with different perspectives, yet are also open to learning from the gifts you bring to the collective.
2. See yourself as a giant, too. I’ve watched many otherwise confident CEOs fade into the background of meeting conversations without contributing their unique viewpoints. They are either afraid to voice their opinion in the face of potential headwinds or don’t realize how much their voice matters to the overall dialogue. This hesitation to engage robs the group of having the kind of complete conversation you (and the others) are there to facilitate.
3. Even when we bring our best, it doesn’t mean we’ll always perform at our highest. Using the Broadway play metaphor, while everyone involved puts their best into each performance, they’ll also tell you that Wednesday night’s show was better than Tuesday’s, and neither of them matched last Saturday’s matinee. Imagine the audience experience that would result from everyone deciding to take the night off, so to speak, and just phone in their performance. If they can’t pull it off, why should we think we can?

The power of we begins with each of us. If you believe that to be true, then as you start the second half of this year, it may be time to create a new level of clarity about what you expect of yourself, your teammates, and your leadership, and start living up to those expectations.

Then, be sure to apply your specifically redefined standards of excellence to anyone who seeks the privilege of joining your team, clearly identifying the ways they can add value – the ways they can be a giant, too.  It’s not difficult; simply decide whether you want to continue breathing for the rest of the year or raise your game and take people’s breath away.

Summary   

At the risk of mixing metaphors, groups and teams are like jazz ensembles. If you have instruments missing or your contribution is lackluster, it will never produce the same sound. The audience won’t experience a show’s “wow factor” if the Broadway cast can’t give it their best effort. And a UCONN women’s basketball program didn’t win 12 national championships by walking the ball up the floor on every possession.  These are just three reasons among thousands that bringing your best matters.

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