Teams Win Championships
Teamwork, sacrifice, commitment to each other and a shared goal led the Milwaukee Brewers to their first World Series title in franchise history. Those same traits were behind the New York Knicks’ first NBA championship in 53 years and the Carolina Hurricanes’ first Stanley Cup championship in 20 years.
All three teams had outstanding players. What I appreciated was how those players contributed in different ways, supported each other and put the team’s success first.
After winning the World Series, Brewers manager Pat Murphy described that commitment: “when it’s about each other and it’s a team, you can accomplish anything.”
The Brewers don’t have the spending power of baseball’s biggest markets. They can’t depend on a superstar free agent signing to put them over the top. They have to build a team rather than assemble a collection of highly paid stars. They’ve been competitive for years, and this time it brought them a championship.
As a Knicks fan, watching their first championship in my lifetime meant more than I can put into words. I spent years watching them chase big names and hoping the next player would finally put them over the top. To see this group win, with contributions throughout the roster, made it even better.
One moment in Game 4 of the Finals captured what I loved about this team. Josh Hart missed an open layup late in the game that would have given the Knicks the lead. After the next play, his teammates helped him off the floor and encouraged him to keep going.
Jalen Brunson later recalled his message to Hart: “Get up. We’re good. Just get up.”
The Knicks went on to win. But their response to Hart’s mistake was worth remembering, too. At a moment when frustration could have taken over, they made sure their teammate knew they still believed in him.
There’s a lesson in that for business owners.
We spend considerable time finding talented people. We don’t always give the same attention to helping them become a team.
Employees can perform well individually while creating problems for each other. A department can meet its goals at another department’s expense. A strong producer can undermine coworkers and get away with it because of their numbers.
If we tolerate that, people notice. It becomes difficult to convince them that the team comes first.
Coaches have to manage those expectations, too. Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour gets players to embrace roles that may be smaller than those they could have elsewhere. That takes trust in him and confidence that their contribution matters.
Knicks coach Mike Brown showed a willingness to adjust his approach, including bringing back some of his predecessor’s defensive principles. He didn’t need every idea to be his own.
The same applies to business owners. We can’t expect everyone to put the team first while insisting on our own preferences or making ourselves the exception.
During my baseball career, our most successful front offices bought into a shared vision of what we were trying to accomplish. I asked for input on our goals and how to reach them, then explained how each person’s responsibilities contributed to our success.
The roles weren’t equal. They differed based on experience, position and responsibility. But I wanted everyone to understand why their role, no matter the size, was critical to our success.
The best evidence of teamwork was usually something a fan would never notice.
I would see someone anticipate when a teammate needed help and be there before anyone had to ask. People felt the joy of success and the disappointment of failure, even when it didn’t pertain directly to their responsibilities.
In those moments, nobody cared who got the credit. They wanted the team to succeed.
That’s what I appreciated about these championship teams. Different people stepped up at different times, and everyone’s contribution mattered. They supported each other through mistakes and shared in the success, regardless of who got the credit.
We should expect that same commitment in our businesses. As leaders, we have to make the goal clear, explain why each person’s role matters and recognize the people who help others succeed.
The Brewers, Knicks and Hurricanes gave us something worth remembering: having talented people matters but getting them committed to accomplishing something together is what makes them a champion.
Comments