March Madness: Learn To Give Up The Ball

Healthcare Leadership

with Dan Nielsen dan@americashealthcareleaders.com

 

In an interview with Brian Taylor before he retired as Founding Partner of MDSI, I asked Taylor to share one of the most significant and impactful lessons of his life and career. His immediate response was about how he learned to “give up the ball.” He shared how as a youth he played basketball and always wanted the ball and a chance to shoot it himself. He went on to explain how he initially carried that same trait into leadership:

 

“When I became a manager and leader at age 25, I was horrible. I didn’t think I was horrible at the time, but looking back I see it, because I couldn’t give up the ball. I would do things myself instead of trusting my team. So one of the things I’ve really learned and makes me really proud is I’ve learned to give up the ball. And I get great pleasure from that now, to give an assist instead of a shot. That’s what empowers your people.”

 

This weekend, millions of enthusiastic basketball fans all across America and throughout the world will watch the 2016 NCAA March Madness Sweet 16. The teams and individual players who make it to the Sweet 16, then to the Elite Eight, then to the Final Four, and ultimately to a National Championship understand the powerful wisdom and results of learning to “give up the ball.”

 

Great basketball coaches teach, reward, and applaud their players for “great assists” just as much as “great shots.”

 

Great leaders teach, reward, and applaud their team members for “great assists” just as much as “great shots.”

 

As you watch the 2016 NCAA March Madness tournament play out, pay particularly close attention to the great assists, just as much as the great shots. Then, go back to your organization and teach, model, and mentor the wisdom and brilliance you will see in the next two weeks—great assists resulting in great shots, resulting in great wins!

 

Teach your team members the incredible importance of giving an assist, not just in making the shot. Brian Taylor is absolutely correct. “That’s what empowers your people!”

 

Copyright © 2016 by Dan Nielsen – www.americashealthcareleaders.com