A while back, a video was posted on my Facebook page related to a rant from former Bear Mike Singletary, from his coaching stint in San Francisco (if you’re interested, it’s easy to find on YouTube).  The context was apparently the 49ers having taken a beating in the game and the coach carrying his frustration into the pressroom for his post-game interview.  What I find compelling about the video is the point where the coach says he’d rather play with 10 people than have 11 where one of them isn’t in it for the betterment of the team.  He goes onto say that he “wants winners.”  Between his obvious personal passion and the emphasis he places on people being invested in success, it’s hard to miss the point being made on the importance of a functioning team.

On a separate note, I also take a certain amount of ongoing inspiration from watching the Chicago Blackhawks.  Certainly, being a hockey fan doesn’t hurt, but I’m referring to the leadership from Coach Joel Quenneville.  Rarely do you see an interview with Coach Q or the players where they aren’t focused, echoing the same messages, etc.  If it were a “normal business”, likely it would be held up as a great example of alignment across a relatively diverse set of people with various roles.

While I’d generally stay away from drawing sports analogies where business is concerned, the underlying messages from these two examples are relatively thought provoking.

In the former case, attitude means a great deal when it comes to both individual and team performance.  One person with a negative attitude can create a very toxic environment for everyone else and draw a lot of focus away from actual priorities.  If it’s the manager of a team, it can be exponentially worse, and one can only hope that someone higher in the organization is paying enough attention (and soliciting sufficient input) to remedy the situation.  Having had the benefit of working with and restructuring various teams over time, it’s amazing how the same or even a smaller group with the right attitude and focus can outperform the original team, even with less physical “capacity”.  It’s counterintuitive, but does speak to the productivity lost when people are distracted away from the conditions that create high performance.

On the second example, part of what makes the Blackhawks compelling from my perspective is the focus and commitment you see throughout the entire hockey season.  In a simple example, when the Blackhawks win a game, it is rare that you’ll hear the coaches (or players) talk about all the things they did right.  The normal post-game discussions are related to things they could do better.  It’s quite different than many organizations with regard to how they handle success.

Having won two championships in the last four years, one would reasonably expect some level of complacency or arrogance to leak in, but it’s not what comes across, and it creates a sense of competence and credibility that could well produce successful results again in the next few years.  That type of commitment is not something you see often in the “working” world, where short-term success is often the worst enemy of long-term sustainability, because the hunger and drive (and arguably luck, favorable market conditions, etc.) that created initial success are lost the minute anyone assumes they’re smarter, better, or more equipped than their competition.

In this respect, both examples do have a common theme that resonates with me.  Winning starts with the right attitude and a shared commitment to success, but it also takes a focus on continuous improvement and a large measure of organizational humility if it’s going to be sustainable.  Circumstances can and do change, and there are many organizations that have learned that lesson the hard way… for my part, I hope I can find myself in ones that want to create the right environment for success over time.  While that demands a lot of leaders, it also pays the greatest rewards in terms of what you’re able to accomplish…

Some food for thought on a Friday night…

-CJG 01/03/2014