source
I’m sure this is just a problem that I have with my teams, but we sometimes lack the initiative necessary to solve a particular issue. It’s not that they aren’t aware of the issue…everyone is chatting about it in the background. It’s not that they don’t see it as problematic…if asked, they’ll describe the problem in detail. And it’s not that they don’t care…our athletes are passionate in their commitment to their teammates.
It’s just that someone else will solve the problem…right?
If everyone thinks someone else will handle the issue, then that means no one is working on the problem. So how do we get our athletes to ask themselves: Why not me?
I got the idea for this post from the TEDtalk, How To Step Up in the Face of Disaster. The talk is about a community’s reaction to a tornado. Of course, I’m not comparing the problems our teams will face to a natural disaster which displaced people from their homes. But I do think that we have an opportunity to follow their lead. If you watch the video (it’s only about nine minutes long), you’ll see the bulk of the talk is about problem solving.
3-step problem-solving plan
- Someone has to step up. After their disaster, everyone was looking for someone to step up and organize the masses. It didn’t matter who, just someone to take the lead. Isn’t it the same way with our teams? Whenever we’re suffering a leadership crisis or the team is slumping, I don’t think it matters who takes the team by the reins…it just matters that someone does. Are we empowering our players to take this step?
- Create systems for problems. One of the things that the speakers found was problematic was that everyone wants to help, but the help is not organized. I think it’s the same on our teams. Everyone is concerned when the team encounters a problem, but there isn’t always a role for everyone. How can we make sure that each team member, from the newbie non-starter to the veteran starter, has a role? We have to prepare for it.
- Prepare for disaster. I certainly don’t think we can prepare for every disaster, but just like folks here in Wisconsin are prepared for a blizzard in January, we can be prepared for typical team issues. What will your team do when players aren’t getting along? How will you address playing time complaints? How will the team pick each other up when they’re not playing well?
While our team problems don’t qualify as true disasters, we (and our teams) certainly invest enough time and energy into finding success that we should try to be as prepared as possible.
