Page 66 - How to Create a Winning Organization

Wooden on Leadership
48
Just as Enthusiasm ignites Industriousness, Team Spirit is the cat-
alyst for enhancing Condition, Skill, and all the supporting blocks
of the Pyramid to extraordinary levels. It is so because it creates a
deep desire on the part of each individual to do everything within
his or her power to improve and strengthen the organization.
Team Spirit has the potential to increase the productivity of your
organization exponentially: Your team becomes greater than the
sum of its players; the organization greater than the number of em-
ployees on its payroll. Each individual revels in the glory of the
group rather than the glory of the individual. “What can I do to
help our team today?” replaces “How can I get ahead?” (Of course,
I believe the answer to the latter is found in the former.)
Team Spirit was difficult to teach when I was coaching, perhaps
even more so today, although I doubt it. Television has made
actors—stars—out of many players, coaches, officials, and refer-
ees. In similar fashion, in recent years some CEOs have become
media personalities whose own star, they seem to believe, shines
brighter than the organizations they lead.

HIRE AND REWARD THOSE EAGER TO PUT
TEAM INTERESTS ABOVE THEIR OWN

If you only remember one thing from this book, the following
point is perhaps it: The star of every successful team is the
team. Individuals don’t win games, teams do. Finding the right
players who put the interests of the team ahead of their own
involves probing for the qualities discussed in this and the pre-
vious two chapters. It also requires finding mature individuals
who understand that what helps the organization ultimately
helps them.