Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Draw Up a New Play

Draw up a New Play
 
In basketball, football, or any team sport, often coming out of a timeout, quarter break, or halftime, the coach draws up a new play.   

It’s usually designed with purpose, to achieve a specific outcome.  The obvious desired outcome is to score points.


While that’s often the case, great coaches peel back the layers of the onion and draw up new plays for other reasons, which add value in other ways.

New plays, coming out of a timeout, can be the spark that:

·      Ignites a slumping player
·      Unleashes the talent or extraordinary potential in an emerging star
·      Catches the opposition off guard
·      Builds confidence among the team when executed flawlessly
·      Proves to each player involved that ‘’they matter” & “they CAN do it”

New plays keep everyone, on both teams, on their toes…keeping the game fresh, exciting, and most importantly, FUN.

2012 is in the books.  Chances are, we’ve learned a great deal about our own strengths and opportunities for improvement…as well as those of our colleagues and maybe even our competitors. 

OneMoreStep Challenge as we’re well on our way to discovering what 2013 may hold, we should draw up a new play. 

Draw up a new play for our teamswhose strengths should be utilized more in 2013? 

Draw up a new play for our partnershow can we renew their confidence in us?

Draw up a new play for our CoWorkershow can we inspire or encourage them?

Draw up a new play for our familieshow can we let them know how much we really do love them?  That just may be the “pick me up” a ‘slumping’ family member needs.

Draw up a new play for our friendswe care about them and want the best for them, but we often fall short in showing them that we do.  Potential magic to be made there...

Draw up a new play that catches our competitors off guard, in such a way that allows our team/our company to realize a much-needed advantage…in a creative way.

You may be thinking this sounds like all of those New Year’s Resolution posts you read last week.  The difference, however, between drawing up a new play and making a New Year’s resolution is that drawing up a new play is for the benefit of someone else rather than ourselves.

Making magic for people in our lives, enriching a relationship, or inspiring someone to be great are all compelling reasons to draw up a new play. 

As for Resolutions…most of us have already given up on those already anyway.   Since drawing up a new play is usually designed with purpose, to achieve a specific outcome...If/when we’re intentional, committed, and passionate enough, we’ll certainly be more likely to follow through with a new play vs. a self-absorbed resolution.

My bet is that we’ll feel better about the impact we made on the person for whom the new play was designed than we’ll ever feel about the failure of our own resolution that only lasts two weeks into January.

Go make some magic…it’s just way more fun.

Have a great day.

Taylor


1 comment:

  1. Thanks Coach! I needed a relevant New Years Pep Talk! Miss you bud!

    ReplyDelete