Accountability, NBA Style

For a team to be effective, it must be accountable. This doesn't mean that the players or team members are only accountable to their coach or leader. This is one-way accountability. True accountability flows in all directions, with players and team members accountable to one another. There is a good example of this in the Atlanta paper from last month. Al Horford of the Hawks in only his second year is holding his team mates accountable for their effort and performance. He is becoming a true leader way beyond his 23 years. Oh, and he isn't the best player or the biggest scorer. He's just a leader.

He’s different because he’s a second-year pro and leading this team —- often by example, sometimes by his words, even in the face of a veteran teammate.
How many second-year pros do that?
“I did it at Florida when I felt I had to,” Horford said Thursday. “I did it in high school. Here, I’ve done it a couple of times.”
Anticipating the next question, he quickly veered left: “I’m not going to name names. But if I see that somebody is not necessarily putting in the effort or is slacking off and it’s noticeable, I’m going to say something. Usually I’m very mellow. But sometimes I think something needs to be said, even if I put it out there in front of the whole team, even to the point where the guys might be mad at me for a day or two. I think it’s for the best."

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2009/03/20/schultz0320.html

Frantic Family

The schoolteacher of my fourth-grade son paid my wife an amazing compliment today. She said, "You know what I really admire about you and your family? You're not one of those overscheduled, hurried families who involve their kids in every single activity."

While it felt good to get this kind of feedback, she had to give a lot of credit to a book, "3 Big Questions for the Frantic Family." It helped us define what makes our family unique, the most important thing we have to accomplish together as a family, and how we are going to keep communicating these priorities. Has really helped us avoid the "well, everyone else is doing (fill in the blank activity), so I guess we should too." We led a small group at our church based on this book, and I know it helped many other families as well.

Pat discusses the book in Success Magazine: http://www.successmagazine.com/dynamic-family/PARAMS/article/665

"Take Your Passion With You" (Excerpt from "Ordinary Greatness")

"It's surprising how many people come home from relatively 'clean' jobs at the end of the day feeling bitter and miserable. Whereas the people I meet, by and large, seem really content with their lives, and happy with their dirty jobs. " -- Mike Rowe

Mike Rowe, host of TV’s “Dirty Jobs,” was asked by Fast Company magazine to share some tips and some life lessons he has learned as he has gone around the country spending time with people who do some of what most of us would refer to as the most disgusting jobs. Number one on his list was: “Never follow your passion, but by all means bring it with you.” (http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/122/seven-dirty-habits-of-highly-effluent-people.html) This struck us as great advice. Some say, “Follow your passion.” Dumb advice. If I simply followed my passion, I’m afraid most days I wouldn’t stop tossing the football around the backyard with my sons. I’m most passionate about spending time with my family, but of course, that has to be balanced with a need to make money, fulfill other obligations, etc. So we love Mike’s advice – take your passion with you wherever you go.

Just watching Mike’s show gives some insight to this concept. While everyone he visits is doing a dirty job, and for the most part, it seems, not getting rich doing it, every person he works alongside of is engaged and showing passion for the work. Can someone really be passionate about collecting chicken manure or scrubbing the inside of cement mixers? I doubt it. Instead, I think these people have brought their passion with them, and no matter what they were doing, they would be passionate about it. They just would be. Now, does it help to do work we find interesting? Of course. But we’ve also met executives who work in much nicer surroundings and make more money but who are miserable and exhibit less passion for their work than Mike’s friends. They have a great job, but they haven’t brought their passion with them.