Page 143 - How to Create a Winning Organization

It Takes 10 Hands to Score a Basket
Do we move him to another “position,” restructure his current 125
job, or make other fundamental changes that would amplify
that person’s contributions?

Should that person be removed from our team?

The marginal producer who may elicit these questions, however,
is usually the exception to the rule. For the majority of others, those
who labor hard in near anonymity, I was conscientious in recog-
nizing them both in public and during practice.
My policy of making sure that players who didn’t receive much
attention were consistently recognized—made to feel valued—was
actually tabulated during an independent study done many years
ago that measured the amount of praise I gave out during practice.
It showed that individuals in lesser roles received compliments,
support, and acknowledgment—praise—at a much higher rate
than so-called superstars. That was exactly my intention.
The results raised some eyebrows, however, because they sug-
gested I was ignoring the contributions and impact of the top per-
formers, almost overlooking their efforts. This was not true. What
the study failed to record, because it wasn’t evident on the court
during practice, was the ample praise I gave to our top performers
privately, away from the other players.
There was no way I was going to let a Lewis Alcindor, Jr. feel un-
appreciated or neglected. I simply felt it counterproductive to add
to the praise heaped on him by others. Consequently, my compli-
ments and supporting comments were offered most often in
private.
Of course, with Alcindor and Walton, to name just two, I was for-
tunate to have individuals who believed in a team first philosophy.
For example, Alcindor could have been the greatest scorer in college
basketball history, but he was willing to forgo that personal glory to
do what best served our team. Walton was the same. These were two