Tag Archives: teamwork

The big news from the athletic world this week came from the NFL. We had one player – Martin – accuse another player – Incognito – of bullying him. Because of the bullying, Martin left the Miami Dolphins team.

Since the initial accusation, more information has surfaced, so we don’t know what really happened. Only the two athletes and possibly some teammates know what occurred.

If it were just hazing, I don’t think there is any doubt that hazing can advance to bullying. Bullying is never acceptable in any way, in any venue! In our forty-four years of coaching, we allowed no hazing.

I don’t believe most leaders encounter hazing and bullying in their organizations. But they do deal with humor, and just as hazing can lead to bullying, humor can lead to hurt.

Leaders have to use their words and their humor carefully. What the leader may think is humorous has the potential to cause hurt in the recipient and affect the entire organization negatively.

I once worked with a leader who would use what he thought was humorous toward one of his subordinates. We all liked and respected the man he singled out fairly regularly and lost respect for the leader. What he thought was funny, we thought was ignorant.

As coaches and as leaders we do want to see some levity on our teams. Striking the right balance between levity and seriousness is a healthy thing for organizations. However, we always have to be careful that the humor never crosses the line resulting in something hurtful. Respect cannot be compromised.

A story that circulated in Chicago during the Bulls Jordan era was very insightful for leaders.

Tex Winter, a Bulls assistant coach, reminded Michael Jordan that there is no “I” in “TEAM.” Jordan’s retort was that there is an “I” in “WIN!”

The irony of that exchange is that they both are right. The best “I’s” – the “I’s” being the leaders – have the ability to turn “I” to “we.”

In the first of Jordan’s six NBA championships the Bulls had to beat Magic Johnson’s Lakers in the final round. As a 34-year college basketball coach at the time, I was at the first game and watched Jordan score 37 points, only to have the Bulls lose 93-91. They had to play the very next day and as I drove to the Chicago Stadium, I wondered how Jordan would approach the game.

Jordan, the “I”, the leader, I believed, could have scored 50 points against the Lakers. Instead, he began the game by taking only one shot in the entire first quarter.

He knew the “I” – as great as that “I” was – could not beat the Lakers by himself. He had to involve all his teammates. He had to turn the “I” to we. The Bulls won that second game 107-86 and went on to win the next three in a row in their run to the championship.

The attitude of the leader does make a difference and the great “I’s” have the ability to turn their “I” into an organizational’ “we”….just as Jordan did.