In Straight Talk for Monday Morning,
Allan Cox observed, "You have to give up something to be a member of a
team. It may be a phony role you've assigned to yourself, such as the guy who
talks too much, the woman who remains silent, the know-it-all, the know nothing,
the hoarder of talented subordinates, the non-sharer of some resource such as
management information systems (MIS), or whatever. You give up something, to be
sure, such as some petty corner of privilege, but you gain authenticity in
return. The team, moreover, doesn't quash individual accomplishment; rather it
empowers personal contributions." People who've never had the experience
of being on a winning team often fail to realize that every team member
must pay a price. I think some of them think that if others work hard, they can
coast to their potential. But that is never true. If everyone doesn't pay the
price to win, then everyone will pay the price by losing.
2. The Price Must Be Paid All the Time
Many people have what I call
"destination disease." Some people mistakenly believe that if they
can accomplish a particular goal, they no longer have to grow. It can happen
with almost anything: earning a degree, reaching a desired position, receiving
a particular award, or achieving a financial goal. But effective leaders cannot
afford to think that way. The day they stop growing is the day they forfeit
their potential—and the potential of their organization. Remember the words of
Ray Kroc: "As long as you're green, you're growing. As soon as you're
ripe, you start to rot."Destination disease is as dangerous for a team as
it is for any individual. It makes us believe that we can stop working, stop striving,
stop paying the price—yet still reach our potential. But as Earl Blaik, former
football coach at the United States Military Academy, observed, "There is
no substitute
for work. It is the price of
success." That truth never goes away. That's why President Dwight D.
Eisenhower remarked, "There are no victories at bargain prices." If
you want to reach your potential, you can never let up.
The Price Increases If the Team Wants
to Improve, Change, or Keep Whining. Have you ever noticed how few
back-to-back champions there are in sports? Or how few companies stay at the
top of Forbes magazine's lists for a decade? Becoming a champion has a
high price. But remaining on top costs even more. And improving upon your best
is even more costly. The higher you are, the more you have to pay to make even
small improvements. World-champion sprinters improve their times not by seconds,
but by hundredths of a second. No one can move closer to his or her potential
without paying in some way to get there. If you want to change professions, you
have to get more education, additional work experience, or both. If you want to
run a race at a faster pace, you must pay by training harder and smarter. If
you want to increase earnings from your investments, you either put in more money
or take greater risks. The same principle applies to teams. To improve, change,
or keep winning, as a group the team must pay a price, and so must the
individuals on it.
4. The Price Never Decreases
Most people who quit don't give up at
the bottom of the mountain, they stop halfway up it. Nobody sets out with the
purpose of losing. The problem is often a mistaken belief that a time will come
when success will suddenly get cheaper. But life rarely works that way. When it comes to the Law
of the Price Tag, I believe there are really only two kinds of teams who violate it:
those who don't realize the price of success, and those who know the price but are not willing
to pay it. No one can
force a team member to have the will to succeed. Each member must decide in his or her own
heart whether the goal is worth
• Sacrifice: There can be no success
without sacrifice. James Allen observed, "He who would accomplish little
must sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much."
When you become part of a team, you may be aware of some of the things you will
have to give up. But you can be sure that no matter how much you expect to give
for the team, at some point you will be required to give more. That's the
nature of teamwork. The team gets to the top only through the sweat, blood, and
sacrifice of its team members Time Commitment: Teamwork does not come cheaply.
It costs you time—that means you pay for it with your life. It takes time to
get to know people, to build relationships with them, to learn how you and they
work together.
• Personal Development: The only way
your team will reach its potential is if you reach your potential.
That means today's ability is not enough. Or, to put it the way leadership
expert Max DePree did: "We cannot become what we need to be by remaining
what we are." That desire to keep striving, to keep getting better, is a key
to your own ability, but it is also crucial for the betterment of the team.
That is why UCLA's John Wooden, a great team leader and the greatest college
basketball coach of all time, said, "It's what you learn after you know it
all that counts."
• Unselfishness: People naturally look
out for themselves. The question "What's in it for me?" is never far
from their thoughts. But if a team is to reach its potential, its players must
put the team's agenda ahead of their own. And if you give your best to the
team, it will return more to you than you give, and together you will achieve
more than you can on your own. Certainly there are other prices individuals
must pay to be part of a team. You can probably list several specific ones
you've paid to be on a team. The point is that people can choose to stand on
the sidelines of life and try to do everything solo. Or they can get into the
game by being part of a team. It's a trade-off between independence and
interdependence. The rewards of teamwork can be great, but there is always a
cost. You always have to give up to go up
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