The Law of the Edge

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The Difference Between Two Equally Talented Teams Is Leadership

Observe

Teams are always looking for an edge. You’ve seen it. A football team recruits new talent or develops new plays to beat a tough opponent. Hoping to improve their productivity, businesses invest in new technology. and companies fire their ad agencies and hire new ones to launch campaigns, hoping to make gains on their competitors. The more competitive the field, the more relentless the search for an edge.

What is the key to success? Is it talent? Hard work? Technology? Efficiency? To be successful, a team needs all of those things, but it still needs something more. It needs leadership. Personnel determine the potential of a team. Vision determines the direction of a team. Work ethic determines the preparation of a team. Leadership determines the success of a team.

Everything rises and falls on leadership. If a team has great leadership, it can achieve at the highest level.

Look at any team that has achieved great success, and you will find that it has strong leadership. What empowered the Chicago Bulls to win six NBA championships? Most casual fans would say that Michael Jordan was simply more talented than everyone else. His talent certainly played a role, but those who followed the Bulls know it was more than just talent. The leadership edge of Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan pushed those teams to excel. The difference between two equally talented teams is leadership. That’s the Law of the Edge.

Learn

With good leadership, everything improves. Leaders are lifters. They push the thinking of their teammates beyond what was thought to be possible. They elevate others’ performances, making them better than they’ve ever been before. And they raise the expectations of everyone on the team. Although managers are able to maintain a team at its current level, leaders are able to lift it to a higher level than it has ever reached before.

1.    Leaders create an environment where each team member wants to be responsible. Good leaders know how to read people and encourage them to take responsibility for their part on the team. But they also remember that they are responsible to be their teammates.

2.    Leaders push their teammates to fulfill the promises of their potential. The team can only reach its potential if each of the individuals on the team reach their potential.

3.    Leaders learn quickly and encourage others to learn quickly also. Leaders lift themselves to a higher level first, and then they lift the others around them. Modeling comes first, then leadership. If everyone is improving, then the team is improving.

The Law of the Playmaker

Playmakers are what we call “get-it-done-and-then-some” people. When a teammate is losing motivation, a playmaker brings the drive.

How do you spot the playmakers on your team? A true champion exemplifies these characteristics:

  • Ambition: A playmaker has high goals, hates to lose, and puts goals above ability.
  • Coachability: A playmaker takes advice and is easy to coach. His humility gives him an eagerness to learn, and is easily approachable amidst scrutiny. He is willing to follow rules and directions.
  • Aggressiveness: A playmaker is assertive, and will do anything to be the best. He is a great competitor.
  • Leadership: A playmaker sets a good example. His fellow team members respect him because he mixes well with everyone. Others follow his lead and take his advice.
  • Take-Charge Attitude: A playmaker will take over when something goes wrong. When under pressure, he does resolves problems.
  • Hard Working: A playmaker is the first at practice, and the last to leave. He does extra work to improve. He never misses the workouts or gives excuses. He is a self-starter.
  • Physical Toughness: A playmaker develops toughness through hard work. He leads in conditioning. He takes training rules seriously and trains year-round.
  • Mental Toughness: A playmaker never has a give-up attitude. He ignores heat, cold, and pain. He has no excuses for obstacles.
  • Psychological Endurance: A playmaker stays with the task until it is finished. He will give his best against top competition. He is reliable and accountable to his team.

The profile of a playmaker makes for a sound leader. He brings a level of intensity that is electric. A playmaker finds energy in making things happen, stirring up the team, and doing whatever it takes to push it to the next level.

A true playmaker leads a team with humility. Arrogance is not a part of the description. Every move made by a playmaker is not for his success, but for the success of his team. He will, above all, model a willingness to serve the big picture rather than improve his own game.

When looking for the playmaker on a team, remember that a true leader knows there is something greater than himself. His leadership creates a unity of trust and reliability, because without trust, there is no team.

Mizzou Football: The Law of Accountability

Character+Competence+Commitment+Consistency+Cohesion=Accountability

1. Character

Character is the first step in this equation, but it’s important to remember that every member of the team must embrace all five of these qualities in order to achieve accountability.

Character makes trust possible. Trust makes leadership possible. Accountability begins with character because character is based on trust. Trust is the foundation for all human interaction; it determines who we surround ourselves with. If you can’t trust someone, you won’t count on him or her when it counts.

2. Competence

Competence boils down to getting the job done. While character is the root of this equation, being trustworthy or being a good guy can only get you so far. Think of it like this: if you were having surgery for a life-threatening illness, would you rather have a good surgeon who was a bad person, or a bad surgeon that smiles a lot?

Competence matters, plain and simple. When you put someone in a vacuum and eliminate all other qualities, can they perform? If a person is going to be on the same team as you, you want both competence and character.

3. Commitment

The common cliché about teams is that they’re only as good as their weakest link. Great teams are filled with players who refuse to be the weakest link. Great competitors refuse to lift less than their teammates. They refuse to study less tape, to be less prepared.

Showing commitment outside of the lines, when the clock isn’t running, is the best way to demonstrate to your teammates that when the going gets tough, they can count on you. It’s important to remember that every member of your team must be committed to the same goal. It just takes one person to topple the harmony of a team. Lou Holtz once said, “You can’t win without good athletes, but you can lose with them.” Talent is a terrible thing to waste, and a dedication to commitment is the best way to avoid the path to failure.

4. Consistency

Consistency is the synthesis of the previous three qualities. You have character, you’re competent, and you’re committed. Demonstrate those traits every day. Consistency isn’t easy to achieve. Willpower is necessary. You must have the perseverance to put in work every day to create a routine that will allow you to be successful.

By making yourself more successful, you are benefiting your entire team. You ensure that you aren’t the weakest link. You act as a role model for other teammates. You engender a culture of constant work and a commitment to excellence. Do this consistently, and you will see marked improvement in your entire team.

5. Cohesion

Cohesion seems a little redundant at this point, doesn’t it? If every member of the team embodies the previous four qualities, then your unit is already cohesive. Alas, nobody’s perfect, and if a teammate slips up, the rest of the team has to be there to catch him, brush him off and go back to work.

Through all of the trials and tribulations, the team must stick together. Adversity is not only inevitable, but also necessary. The strongest steel is forged in the hottest fire. After overcoming adversity, the team will have a collective pride that will create a unifying, sinewy bond. Take pride in the fact that the collective group can function at a higher level than any individual could. The unit doesn’t shine because you’re a member; you shine because you’re good enough to be a member.

There’s an old saying when it comes to teams: “Either we’re pulling together or we’re pulling apart.” Without cohesion, you can’t pull together. With cohesion, you can achieve the highest level of performance possible.

Accountability

When a teammate looks at you in crunch time to perform, a feeling of pride swells up knowing that all of your hard work and dedication has paid off. Your teammates believe in you and hold you accountable to perform. Reciprocate that in holding your teammates accountable, and they will feel that same sense of accomplishment.

When you add these five C’s together, you end up with accountability, and by association, success. Finally, it’s important to remember that the Law of Accountability is a workout plan, not a weight-loss pill. Now, get working.

Mizzou Football’s Law of the Bad Apple

Winning is more than just talent. You could have a team full of incredibly talented athletes, but if even one has a slightly sour attitude, the team’s performance will suffer. This is the Law of the Bad Apple.

Law of the Bad Apple = Rotten attitudes ruin a team

  1. Attitudes have the power to lift up or tear down a team.

Some might think that talent is the end-all be-all of sports. But the reality is, a talented team is nothing without a positive attitude.

  1. An attitude compounds when exposed to others.

Unlike talent, attitude is contagious. People have a tendency to adopt the feelings and characteristics of those around them. If a teammate is humble, hardworking and upbeat, his teammates are likely to follow suit.

  1. Bad attitudes compound faster than others.

Unfortunately, bad attitudes are more contagious than good ones. Even if some teammates have positive attitudes, it only takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch. If one teammate is selfish, bossy or conceited, those negative sentiments will quickly spread to the rest of the team and hinder success.

  1. Attitudes are subjective, so identifying a wrong one can be difficult.

Bad attitudes can be hard to identify. You don’t have to be a criminal or immoral to have a negative attitude. Attitude is really about how a person feels, which gets translated to their actions. Here are six common bad attitudes that can ruin a team:

  • Inability to admit wrongdoing
  • Failure to forgive
  • Jealousy
  • Selfishness, or a desire to take all the credit
  • Critical of others’ performances
  • Talking negatively about others
  1. Rotten attitudes, left alone, ruin everything.

If left unaddressed, bad attitudes can cause dissension, resentment, combativeness and division amongst a team. It’s best to approach any bad apples and try to help them improve their attitudes.

These five truths should form the basis of your team’s positive attitude. But remember: Good attitudes don’t guarantee a team’s success, but bad attitudes guarantee its failure.

The Law of the Chain

The Law of the Chain

The Strength of the Team is Impacted by Its Weakest Link

 

OBSERVE

As much as any team likes to measure itself by its strongest people, the truth is that the strength of the team is impacted by its weakest link. No matter how much people try to rationalize it, compensate for it, or hide it, a weak link will eventually come to light.

 

LEARN

When it comes to teamwork…

  1. Not everyone WILL take the journey

For some people the issue is attitude. They do not want to change, grow or conquer new territory. All you can do with people in this group is kindly thank them for their past contributions and move on.

  1. Not everyone SHOULD take the journey

Other people should not join a team because of their agenda. They have other plans and where you are going is not the right place for them. The best thing you can do with people in this group is kindly thank them for their past contributions and move on.

  1. Not everyone CAN take the journey

Often those who cannot take the journey cannot keep pace with other team members, do not grow in their areas of responsibility, do not see the big picture, won’t work on personal weaknesses, won’t work with the rest of the team, or cannot fulfill expectations for their areas.

If you have people who display one or more of these characteristics, you must acknowledge that they are weak links.

If you have people on your team who are weak links, you have two choices: train them or trade them.

Your first priority should always be to train those who are having a hard time keeping up. Give them hope and training, and they usually improve. However, if this fails to encourage said team member to meet expectations and grow, you need to give that person an opportunity to find his or her own level somewhere else.

If you are a team leader, you cannot avoid dealing with weak links. Team members who do not carry their own weight not only slow down the team, but they also impact your leadership.

These are some of the things that happen when a weak link remains on a team…

 

  1. The Stronger Members Identify the Weak One

A weak link cannot hide. If you have strong people on your team, they always know who is not performing up to the level of everyone else. A weak link always eventually robs the team of momentum and potential.

  1. The Stronger members Have to Help the Weak One

If your people must work together as a team in order to do their work, then they have two choices when it comes to a weak teammate: They can ignore the person and allow the team to suffer, or they can help him and make the team more successful. If they are team players, they will help.

  1. The Stronger Members Come to Resent the Weak One

Whether strong team members help or not, the result will always be the same: resentment. No one likes to lose or fall behind because of the same person repeatedly.

 

If your team has a weak link that cannot or will not rise to the level of the team and you have done everything you can to help the person improve, you must take action. As long as a weak link is part of the team, everyone else on the team will suffer.

The Law of the Big Picture

As a member of a team, it’s not all about you. The end goal is most important, whether it’s learning a play, converting a pass or winning a game, and everything you do as an individual should be in pursuit of achieving that goal. This requires some perspective.

The most successful people can thoroughly understand and apply the Law of the Big Picture, which says that the goal is more important than the role.

In other words, they constantly keep a vision of the end goal in mind and act in a way that will further that goal. For example, it doesn’t matter if you’re dying to catch the winning pass and be the star of the game if that strategy isn’t what’s best for the team’s overall approach. You should play to your own strengths, but be willing to be flexible and do whatever it takes to make the team successful.

Living by the Law of the Big Picture takes practice, focus and often sacrifice. It requires that all members of a team are committed to visualizing and understanding a common goal and working in sync with each other to make it happen. This is no easy task, but there a few steps you and your teammates can follow that will lead you down a path toward embodying the Law of the Big Picture.

Mizzou Football on Consistency

Consistent play is as critical to increasing the number of wins in the team’s W column as it is to potentiating the success of your individual career. Consistency allows you to continue winning each step of the way after initial triumphs as well. Yes, you can still win without consistency, but don’t expect a fruitful career if you don’t bring your best everyday. If you do not exhibit consistency, you will go through a tiring valley of winning and losing, peaking and plummeting throughout the game, your season and your career simultaneously. Choosing a streaky work ethic is more exhausting than anything else.

With that said, know brining anything less than your “A” game will make you vulnerable, and with your “B” game, anyone can beat you. This is why Mizzou athletes should always hope to bring their best to all they do. Because of this, you should also know bringing your best is an investment. You must make deposits into the bank of your “A” game every morning when you wake up. However, consistency is not something you just turn on or make happen over night. Bringing your “A” game means fighting the battle within you everyday that rigorously demands you to never give anything less than your greatest effort.

This requires practice.

Some days you will fail in your efforts, falling flat on your face in humiliation, embarrassment and even shame. But being consistent is not about being perfect—not at all. It has nothing to do with impossible standards. No, being consistent is about continuing to fight again and again and again, and as unpleasant as it sounds, the person you will fight is yourself. But in the end, this is the only method that is truly rewarding. In the end, this is the only method capable of realizing self-improvement. As you grow, you will look back at your old self, and see how far you have come. Your coaches, friends and family will see this, too. When they do, no one will be more proud of you, and this is when you will know it was worth it.

Mizzou Football Discipline Philosophy

“Do it right, or do it again!”

Mizzou Football Head Coach Gary Pinkel says discipline in football is executing fundamentals and techniques the right way under pressure.

Discipline is what you do when no one else is looking! It’s being considerate of the other person. Having good personal habits – you are polite, on time, and take care of business with pride. We must be disciplined as individuals first, and then as a team.

A Disciplined Student-Athlete…
1. Knows the importance of being on time.
2. Has learned the value of regular hours and good training habits from working hard in practice.
3. Has learned that the team comes before him. This strengthens his character as he is sometimes called upon to sacrifice for others.
4. Has learned to take orders; in taking orders, he learns how to give them.
5. Knows that discipline is the essence of every successful organization; as a member of the team, he understands the need for it.
6. Has learned that many of these things establish a degree of self-discipline.

Discipline is a quality of a champion. If a student-athlete needs to dedicate time and energy to becoming disciplined. If you don’t do it right the first time, do it again!

Mizzou Football’s Preparation Philosophy

Hard work is what separates the best from the greats. Talent alone is no assurance of success. The only way to reach the top is through long hours of hard work and preparation. Very few are willing to put forth an all-out effort to succeed.

The most impressive point in a person’s life is when he has worked his heart out for a good cause and lies exhausted but victorious on the field of battle. This is the person you want to be, the one who puts in all of himself in his work. As a result of the strenuous practice, he gets everything out of it. Everyday you fail to practice, you practice to fail, and you miss an opportunity for improvement. Practice the things you cannot do three times longer than the things you can do. Convert your weaknesses into strong points. Go all the way through. Doing a thing entirely right and doing it exactly right is often the difference between winning and losing.

There might be areas where your opponent has an advantage over you, but he should never be in a better condition than you. Never let your defeat come at your own hands—over something you can control. The only real way for you to get in good condition is to never get out of it.

Anything you can do that will harm your body is going to reduce your physical condition and cut down your chances for success. Stay fit. Stay prepared. Stay practicing.

Mizzou Football Family Sacrifice

“I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion.” – Mia Hamm

These words apply to the goals and standards of the Mizzou Football Family. In order to achieve team success, your desires must be secondary to the team’s goals. Just like in a literal family unit, you must be flexible and aware of your family’s needs. If teammates cannot sacrifice their schedules and comfort for the family, they will not be able to contribute to the team’s success.

Here are the standards that constitute the Mizzou Football Family Covenant:

You are committed to excellence, not only as an athlete, but also as a student-athlete. Your success and achievements are for the family.

All individual goals and accomplishments are secondary to the family’s success. Jealousy, selfishness, and individualism are extremely destructive to the family.

A Missouri Tiger football player gives his all—all the time. He never gives up and he never gives in.

You must have a winning attitude.

In a family, rules are in place in order to foster trust, care, and responsibility. A great organization does not thrive without standards, and a family cannot flourish without strong bonds and clear expectations. The Mizzou Football Family finds true Tigers through commitment to the program. When a player upholds these standards, he is meant to be a member of the team.

How do you know when you are giving your full effort to the family’s success? Here are some identifiers:

Teammate trust: Can your teammates trust you? Communication between players and coaches is crucial. When you have effective communication, you build trust, which produces relationship and accountability.

Commitment to the Player Development Program: True Tigers are enthusiastic competitors. They know their assignments and know how to complete the task at hand in an effective manner.

Family care: You must care about winning and make personal sacrifices so that your family can win. It is not easy to be selfless. If it were, everyone on every team would be doing it.

Above all, Mizzou Tigers know that being a part of the family is a privilege, not a right. Their commitment to the Missouri Family Covenant means time and self-sacrifice, and they are willing to do it all for the family.