The Excitement Progam!...educate, motivate, appreciate daily

Steve Sarkisian "Best of the Best" passion, fun, energy

In the past week, the University of Washington football fan base has gone from the depths of unfathomable mediocrity to a week of "buzz" about the program no one in the region could have anticipated. The community has gone from watching a team that lost every game, having the worst record since it began playing football, and posting the worst record in the history of it's conference (Pac-10) to believing it has an exciting future.

In his article, No shortage of ideas from Sarkisian, in the News Tribune, Don Ruiz covers some of the desires and beliefs of the new coach.

His goal is to win games, qualify for bowls and win championships.

“It’s about time for us to get back to the Rose Bowl. It’s about time for us to get back competing for conference championships; it’s about time for us to get back competing for national championships, and that’s what our goal is.”

The goal is the "Best of the Best."  Many football coaches claim the same desire, as do many business team leaders, but few actually accomplish their goal. They don't have a system for creating an entire team of people as passionate as they are about winning.

“There are some guys that will join on board here very quickly. … We’re shooting to get the best coaching staff in America assembled here, and I don’t want to settle just to put a staff together as quickly as possible.”

The best in America! Why not? They a huge part of a successful team. Building an exceptional team of assistant coaches in college football is key to a high-performance team. As important as Assistant Store Managers are to training, motivating, leading, and retaining a great team of frontline achievers. Don't settle for anything less than the best of the best in people performance or Store performance.

“Whatever has gone on before I wasn’t here, we’re starting off on a brand new foot, with me, with the program. I think, for a lot of guys, it’s a chance for a new beginning. … We’re going to do this thing together, we’re going to compete together, we’re going to battle together and we’re going to become a football team together. And we’re going to have fun doing it.”

This is what it is all about. Team chemistry, total engagement of all personnel, and having a lot of fun. This is the essence  of the Pete Carroll system, the Steve Sarkisian System, the Dave Sovde System, and the OneByOne Team Achievement System.

Coach Sarkisian: "passion, emotion, and fun."

The new University of Washington football Head Coach, Steve Sarkisian, is going to bring an energy and passion to the team that will be way beyond what most fans expect. While he has no experience as a Head Coach, he has lots of experience as a winner on the gridiron.  

Molly Yanity states it well in her Husky Football Blog.

"My initial impressions? Exactly what this program needs. I don't know how things will translate on the field, but the Huskies need a shot of adrenaline, a dose of toughness -- both mental and physical.

He told the gathering of fans, alumni, staff and media that his practices will be open, and that he demands -- along with hard work and dedication -- passion, emotion and fun."

Energy, emotion, passion, and fun.

The same ingredients required to create a great sales and service team. He  is bringing a history of enthusiastic leadership and a passion for both winning and developing young men.

He has had exceptional mentors prior to his time with USC, but being a part of the Pete Carroll system has been an extraordinary opportunity to learn from the best.

His hire couldn't have come at a better time  for  Dave Sovde and the launch of OneByOne Team Achievement. Of the many coaches II could use to discuss the similarities of sales, service, and sports teams, Pete Carroll was at the top of my list. He has been replaced by his protege, "Sark," in the past week. Oh happy day!

The goal is an entire team of happy top achievers...

In consumer sales and service, just as it is in sports, the goal of every organization is an entire front line team of achievers. Every major league baseball team is currently  assembling a team that has the potential to be the the best of the and bring the World Series Trophy to their city. Through recruiting (trades, the annual draft), attracting (free agents), or developing (minor leagues) they build teams focused on daily success.

In sales and service, it is no different. The team with the best front line team usually wins the sales or service game. The skills, of course, are different as athletic skills are replaced with people and persuasion skills. But the goal of creating an entire team of winners is the same.

The biggest difference, however, is that in sports creating an entire team of top talent happens much more often than it does in consumer sales and service. The problem is that, while having such an extraordinary team should be the goal of any sales or service organization, it seldom is. Leadership doesn't even bother to try to create one because they think it would be a failed project. They are certain it can't be done. 

I have done it several times. It is surprisingly easy because it is more about creating a partnership culture than an entire team of top performers. A culture that focuses on employee input and involvement has no problem coming up with the strategy required to execute the creation of such an extraordinary team.

Just imagine the size of the customer base, or the customer base of any sales or service organization, if the sales environment in every store had the contagious energy of an entire sales or service team with:

• Exceptional personalities
• Extraordinary team skills
• Extra-effort work habits
• Excellent sales and service skills

It would be a customer experience guaranteed to inspire customers to remember, return, and recommend.

In it to win it? You'll need extraordinary team chemistry...

In an interesting article, "Team chemistry and winning share symbiotic relationship," in the Seattle Times, Ted Miller (once again) tries to define team chemistry and how to create it.

"Of course, assessing team chemistry is subjective and imprecise. Some insist good chemistry is a product of winning, not the reverse. It's sort of like arguing which came first, the chicken or the egg.

So which comes first: chemistry or winning?

"Chemistry is always great on teams that are winning," former Mariners reliever Norm Charlton said. "When you're winning, the little BS things get overlooked. If you're losing, those things surface and become a problem."

But good chemistry is more than getting along. It's more than a pleasant atmosphere. There needs to be a spark. There needs to be genuine joy over playing baseball for a living. There needs to be accountability that clicks in at the first hint of complacency or self-absorption."

In sports and business, exceptional teams have great leaders with a system for acquiring (recruiting, attracting, developing) an entire team of achievers, instilling extraordinary teamwork, training their teams daily, and creating team chemistry.

Team chemistry is said to be an uncommon, elusive, and  difficult to create intangible, yet top coaches do it every year, year after year. A few years ago a head football coach who will eventually prove to be a great assistant coach, but not a great head coach, said what many not-ready-for-prime-time coaches say, "If I knew how to create team chemistry, I'd write a book about it and become a millionaire."  (I hope he is right because I'm writing a business book about creating great teams that does will cover the creation of extraordinary teamwork in depth, but it will not offer much that extraordinary sports team leaders are already doing in their team achievement systems.

Tony Donovan does it every year. Locally Mark Few at Gonzaga and Lorenzo Romar at Washington do it annually. All top echelon coaches have a disciplined firm, fair, and fun approach that focuses on the development of exceptional team chemistry. They are respected for their character and the character of their teams.  One by one, player by player, they  make certain all  players are working daily on "doing things the right way."

The formula for team achievement is simple. Leadership, talent, teamwork, training, and team chemistry. I write and speak from experience, not theory. I have created team chemistry many times.

Which comes first, chemistry or winning? Neither. In sports and in business the team leader comes first. Leadership makes it happen. Top flight team leaders do not have laissez fair management styles, they do not hope their staffs will create chemistry. They emphasize it and manufacture it, day after day, year after year, team after team.

Florida repeats with a team-focused mindset...

In his article, Repeat defines 'team' in the Tacoma News Tribune, Don Ruiz focuses on the tremendous commitment of the Florida team to the team, the team, and the team. Which is no small accomplishment with a team that has so many talented achievers.

“I think this team should go down as one of the best teams in the history of college basketball,” Florida coach Billy Donovan said. “Not as the most talented, and not on style points, but because they encompassed what the word ‘team’ means. They did it the first year with no expectations, then they did it again with all the expectations.”

As Coach Donovan said in his TV interview after the game that Florida, won because of how they had handled the intangibles of creating a great team, not the talent on the team. I agree, but for the record, once again the winning team was the team that had recruited, attracted, or developed the most top achievers.

Billy Donovan's team leadership system, his team achievement system, covered all the bases. The team's mindsets were focused on making certain the team was unselfish, committed to helping each other improve and excel, and having a great time doing it. They knew they had the talent to repeat, but only if everyone was willing to celebrate the accomplishments of their teammates the team.

Business teams, should have the same team-centered focus, as team skills are the key to a great team. But few team leaders have learned how to motivate their staffs to work in unison with a common goal. More often a business team is a group of individuals competing with each other more than they are the competition.

The team achievement system Coach Donovan used to join the best of the best would do the same thing for a sales or service team. Any business team. The only significant difference between a sports team and a business team is the type of achievement skills they require to become a winning team. In sports, the achievement skills are athletic skills. In sales and service, the achievement skills are persuasion skills that sell both products (or service) and customer service.

In sports, the highly intensified competition drives a team to do what is necessary to compete with their competitors. In business, few organizations have a "competition system" effectively installed to make daily motivation, daily training, and the creation of an entire team of achievers who enjoy working together and helping each other succeed a part of a team leaders job description. This is especially missing in most sales and service businesses. (It's not missing at Nordstom.)

When I see a frontline sales or customer service team, I see a sports team that is either winning or losing depending on the number of top achievers on the team.

The Final Four: "Passion for Achievement"

I thought UCLA and Georgetown would win, but I really didn't care. The intensity, focus, and passion of the players and coaches is exciting. Competition drives teams to perform at their best, but few do over the course of the year. So tonight we saw the "Passion for Achievement" winners.

It takes a great team leader. A coach with a team achievement system that inspires players to have exceptional attitudes, extra-effort work habits, extraordinary team skills, excellent athletic skills, and maintain exciting team chemistry.  But most importantly, these four head coaches instilled a passion for achievement into their teams.

For months, probably a year, they were on a mission to win it. And they believed the would. Getting to the Final Four is a challenging mental experience as much as it is an athletic one. It takes  "Best of the Best" motivation, mindsets, methods and a mission that everyone buys into, but the number of coaches who succeed at it are few.   

The Florida, Ohio State, Georgetown, and UCLA basketball organizations have a passion for achievement that is seldom found in a consumer sales or service service organization. They don't have the management system that creates great teams.

As the Washington State coach, Tony Bennett said after being named The Coach of the Year in college basketball, "It wasn't me, it was the team, they bought into the system." Good behavior, a desire to grow as a person, and the team, the team, the team. "One for all, and all for one!"

The only difference in the formula is that athletic skills are replaced people skills. But the difference in the way the each part of the model is executed. Especially in the "Training." In sports you work on improving yourself and the organization daily. Everyone is focused on learning how to do their job better. Just like every team you saw in the Final Four."

How many employees in our favorite company (BTW the covert mission is on track) thought about how to better sell or serve (persuade) their customers even once, much less their entire shift? How many in any company? How many sales or service companies train daily like athletic teams? How many train their front line managers and their front line staff daily?

How many sales and service teams train themselves daily?

The organizations with a passion for achievement. The companies competing for a "Something Special" Trophy.

Super Bowl: "Best of the Best" Mission Accomplished

Finally the Conference Champions meet. Both have survived through skill, luck, great leadership, daily preparation, and weekly tests of talent and character. Both teams are led by head coaches who are excellent examples of what it takes to get their players (employees) to respect and follow their direction. Low-key, no ego problems, exceptional leadership systems, and truly nice guys. Tip of the hat to extraordinary leaders!

Someone will reap the rewards of winning the game, but both teams are big-time winners. Both had the motivation, mindsets, and methods required to accomplish their "Best of the Best" missions.

My guess is that Indianapolis will win due to an extraordinary Quarterback, but "on any given Sunday..."

"We came here to win a national championship."

Last night's upset of Louisville was all about team pride, spirit, and chemistry. story

"When we came to Rutgers, we came here to win a national championship," said Rutgers fifth-year redshirt senior Anthony Cali, a former Northern Burlington standout. "That's all Coach Schiano talked about when he recruited us and that's all he's talked about all throughout these five years was becoming the best."

The best of the best. Rutgers is on a mission.

With a team motto of "Keep Chopin' Away," they came back from a huge deficit to dominate the fourth quarter. They keep chopping away at the lead and finally over came it with a few seconds to go in the game.

All night long the announcers praised Rutgers for its extraordinary focus on teamwork and team chemistry. As one of them said, "For those you who don't buy into the team concept, Rutgers is all about teamwork." An interesting comment, but true. Despite the overwhelming evidence that all great sports teams require teamwork of the highest degree, there are people who discount its importance.

It's the same with a business team, yet few businesses focus of creating extraordinary teams. Few focus on teaching their team leaders and managers leadership and management skills. Few have a "Best of the Best" team leadership system. Motivation. mindsets, methods, and missions that create teams that are in it to win it.

They don't do it because they don't know how. The criticize it because they have no idea of how much of a difference it makes.

Immediately after the game, in an attempt to interview and praise a running back who had made a huge difference in the game, the player would have nothing to do with talking about his performance. "I can't do nothing without my teammates. I love this system, " he shouted with glee into the microphone.

All great team leadership systems would generate similar comments from the participants.

Teamwork makes the dream work.