With the end of another football season getting close (and the end of the college football season already) we’re getting to know who might be the winners and losers this year and already seeing lots of changes in the coaches for the teams. There’s been lots of talk about some of the changes with the coaches, of course the biggest news coming out out of New England. I don’t know that it’s a surprise to anyone that the iconic sweatshirt-wearing coach is out after some rocky seasons and few wins, and the biggest block of discussion is around how much he actually contributed to all those successful seasons, especially with his star quarterback going to another team for a 7th season-winning year while the coach he left behind couldn’t get much done (I do believe he played a role in the success all those years, how could he not?!).
Personally I’ve been part of teams that were just plain magic from top to bottom, and I hope you’ve been able to experience that at least once in your life or that you will. The top leadership, the other leaders and even the team players/followers/customers were all part of the magic. I’ve also worked with people who despite bad leadership or tough followers/customers were able to make the work move smoothly and successfully, and when we worked together magic still happened, but not to the degree that it did when the whole team was on board.
The story is a reminder that we can do great things individually, even when the team around us isn’t always supportive or anywhere close to magic. It’s also an encouragement to choose whenever possible to work with teams that make magic together, and to remember that any group of people can make magic together if they work together and are in the right mindset (I could point to a bunch of different sports and business teams where this was true at one point or another). I also believe that you’re never too young or too old to start working on being a magic-contributor rather than being a magic-killer. And the best way to make sure that more teams of all kinds have magic is to believe it’s possible and encourage your kids and family to believe the same. What magic have you seen created within teams?