Being on a Team

Everyone was on their feet, not one person in the gym was sitting down. He drove right down the center of the lane, released the shot and as the buzzer sounded the ball bounced off the glass and went in the hoop! The crowd went wild, and it was a day that our small town and high school would never forget.

It still is one of the greatest upsets in our high school basketball team’s history. Our team was down by 17 points in the fourth quarter against a top 10 team in the state of Michigan and we scored the final 18 points completely unanswered to win by one as the buzzer sounded. I remember standing on the court as a player, just taking it all in. But believe it or not, it wasn’t the conclusion of that game that stuck with me the most.

What Does it Mean to be on a Team?

After the game, we were in the locker room still coming down from the incredible high we were on moments earlier. Our head coach gathered us around and simply said “There are very few things better than being on a TEAM”.

He explained, in detail, the events of the final five minutes and how we successfully scored those 18 points. He said, “If that one steal hadn’t happened, or that one rebound, that one assist, that one block, that one loose ball…” He explained that every single member of the team was needed to win, and if just one person wouldn’t have done their part, we would have lost by one, or three or more.

So, what is the actual meaning of the word team? Cambridge Dictionary defines team as “a number of people who do something together as a group”. The key word there is together. You’re not working alone. You are relying on other people to help you accomplish the common goal or outcome. And guess what? They’re relying on you too!

To be on a team is a great thing! Whether it’s in sports, the workplace or somewhere else. That kind of unity and togetherness is a culture that is extremely difficult to create and even more so to maintain.

Winning and Losing Together

It takes a special kind of leader to be able to maintain that kind of team for any period of time. If you have a team or have had a team with great culture and a selfless mindset, then winning or accomplishing goals can be a fairly regular thing. On the contrary, if people aren’t invested, losing may seem to be the only thing in sight at every turn.

Missed sales quotas, delayed product launches, and missed profit goals can seem to be inevitable. When a team is pulling together and share a laser focused vision, the goals they can accomplish are off the charts.

That kind of team doesn’t come natural though. What is natural then? It’s natural to want to walk all over others to climb the Corporate Ladder. It’s natural to throw others under the bus to preserve your image and reputation. It’s natural to deflect responsibility and blame. It’s natural to do whatever it takes to look the smartest and be the most desired.

Knowing that a great team doesn’t come naturally, we need to ask ourselves, what does it take to have a great team? What practical things can I do as a leader to foster that kind of environment? The list is endless, but I want to focus on one thing that our team does and the results it has given us. The Team Outing.

The Team Outing

At my current organization, Stephens Insight group, LLC, we have a great culture and are very intentional about investing in the team and having team outings. I’m talking GREAT team outings, FUN team outings. We don’t have the kind of outings that feel boring or like an obligation, the kind that you try to find every excuse possible to skip out on and then try to convince everyone that you really were bummed that you couldn’t make it.

Yeah, that’s not us. Our outings are the highlight of the entire quarter. Why is that? It’s because joy is found in people! It’s not found during the highs and lows or on commission check days. Joy, and I’m talking about true joy, is all about people! Our CEO, Dr. Josh Stephens, is one of the greatest leaders I’ve ever met and the best leader I’ve worked for, and no I’m not saying that because this is his blog and as a team member I and was asked to “make him look good”.

I am passionate about people and so is he and that’s why we find ourselves here in this post. I’ve been with the company for two years and in my current role for most of that time. Josh and I both realize that if you don’t have a solid team, you have squat, hence the investment into the team. Specifically, the team outing.

The Objective of the Team Outing

The objective of the outing is very clear. It’s to connect! All humans have a need to connect. We are not meant to be isolated. You may think “I’m certainly not isolated, I work with these people every day”. You are working with them, but you are not connecting with them. I don’t know about you, but I want to actually like and enjoy the people I work with. I want to have empathy for them. I want them to have empathy for me! I want to genuinely care about their needs and hope they feel the same about me. When we connect, we get to actually know them, their family, and their life.

I’m not talking about every detail of their personal life, let’s not get weird. I’m just saying when we know our peers, we understand in a real way how our decisions as leaders affect them. I think we forget sometimes that as leaders, our decisions can have a great impact on people. Don’t miss that! Let me say it again, our decisions affect people. In most cases they have spouses, they have children, and they have needs. Our decisions affect people we don’t even know. The objective is to connect with them and if possible, connect with their families.

Things we Don’t Do on the Team Outing

This is where it gets really tough and intentional. Don’t take the time to invest into people, plan an event and then mess the whole thing up by doing a couple of big no no’s. So, what do we not do? We don’t discuss work. What? We don’t discuss work. But I thought it was a team outing? Yes, but to connect, not to work.

Don’t try to do something fun and then fall into the trap of discussing the project deadline that is due later in the week. We are not discussing performance or what a schedule looks like. This is really hard because work is the thing we have most in common with them, so it takes a lot of intentionality to avoid it.

We don’t try to impress others, and you might even be doing it subconsciously at times. It’s really easy to use leadership verbiage or share how much you know. Don’t do that. Just be you, no mask or frills. You want to see them for them and for them to see you for you. If a team member, or anyone for that matter, gets the feeling that you aren’t authentic or even faking it, you are doomed from the start.

All in all, set work aside for the day, relax and be intentional about your team members experience. Be genuine, and you and your team members will leave feeling encouraged and full.

Things we Do Well on the Team Outing

We discuss them. We ask about their family. If their family is there, we talk to their family. We ask questions. What are your hobbies? What do you guys like to do on the weekends? Ask relatable, fun, and inviting questions. Don’t be to over the top and weird, just be normal. I know that sounds crazy but as leaders sometimes we can speak leadership talk. Don’t ask questions about the economy, or political events, or policy, just be relatable.

Another thing we do well is engage. Speak to everyone that is there. Don’t speak with your direct reports 5x as much as the entry level guy or gal. As a matter of fact, talk to them more, because you don’t know them very well. In some cases, maybe you’ve only met those individuals a few times. You are still trying to connect with your closer peers and direct reports, but you probably know more about them.

So, was our Team Outing a bust or a slam dunk? What did we do and where did we go? In my next post we are going to discuss our specific outing, and the result it had on the team and each other individually. I will also share some things that I noticed about our CEO outside of the office. I will say this, we are a close-knit team, but it brought us much closer and gave me a great opportunity to get to know some wonderful people, and their families, much better.