Team Culture- Words

Jon Gordon has had several very good motivational books. In one of his books, he talks about the power of words. He encourages people to pick out one word which will be the person's focus for a day, a week, or a year. People should pick out a word which captures what a person wants to be about. The concept is that the mind needs our focus to be simplified. Everyone can remember key words which will be their focus.

We ask our teams to formulate goals for the season. One season, we asked them to do two things in putting their goals together:

1- Make their goals focused on the process not the outcomes. In other words, don't put down the wins or championships you wish to attain. List what you need to do, or what you need to be-  to be successful.

2- Try to keep it simple. Pick out 8 words, which capture what you want to be as a team.



The players then made a poster to hang in the locker room with those 8 words. Based on their discussions, I made the following sheet with the key words, plus their thoughts about the words.

The use of these words turned out to be a very effective tool that season. When we had a bad practice, a bad game, or conflicts on the team-- it was simple to look at our 8 words and see where we were falling short.

I would say this was simple and effective. I also encouraged each player to pick out 2-3 words from our team list (or add one of their own) to be the focus of their season.

Streaks Culture

·      Vision- Together, we seek to be champions.

·      Inspire- Each of us seek to be leaders in practices and games. Each day we seek to practice and play with an energy and intensity that inspires our teammates. We say positive things to our teammates to build them up, we never say things to hurt or tear them down.

·      Compete- In everything we do- individual shooting, weights, practice, and games- we compete from tip off to buzzer.

·      Toughness- No obstacles get in the way of our vision of being champions. When working individually on our game, working in the weight room, playing with bad refs, competing vs. great teams- nothing causes us to lose sight of our vision of becoming champions.

·      Team- We support each other, and we are willing to sacrifice individual desires for the good of the team. Our behavior on and off the court shows that we care about our teammates.

·      Reliable- Our behavior on and off the court allows our teammates to be able to rely on us. Our behavior on and off the court reflects positively on our team.

·      Energy- Individually and collectively we bring enthusiasm and energy which allow our team to work at a championship level.

·      Every Day- Every Play- Our focus, commitment, and effort remain the same every day and every play. Being a champion is a habit. Champions don’t take days or plays off!!