Success Advice
The 5 Main Components of Winning
When Jerry Krause was General Manager of the Chicago Bulls, he once said to Michael Jordan the oft quoted expression, “There is no I in TEAM.” Jordan retorted by saying, “But there is an I in WIN.”
What does it take to win? I believe there are five components that must be present to win in athletics. I believe these five ingredients are present in winning in all areas of life. They are especially important to the success of leaders in any endeavor undertaken.
1. Talent
I coached basketball for 44 years – 10 at the high school level and 34 at the collegiate level. There is no question in my mind that you need talented players to win.
Coaches who think their teams win because they are geniuses are dead wrong. In fact, they are certifiably crazy! A coach can take mediocre players and make them competitive, and many coaches do just that, but winning championships takes a higher level of players.
There is one disclaimer about talented players. Talent alone will not win championships. It’s only talented players who are willing to play together that win at the highest level.
When I was coaching at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois, we had three outstanding players who came to us at approximately the same time – Billy Meyers, Paul Stachowicz, and Dave Wilhelmi. All three of them were terrific players and could have played at a level higher than ours. We also had talented players who complemented them.
In an instant, I became an okay coach! It’s funny how that works! I believe we won 19 of our last 21 games, beat a Division I team at their place, were runners-up at the National Catholic Basketball Tournament, beat two teams that won about 25 games each in the first two playoff games, and ended the season one game away from the NAIA National Tournament.
Could we have won at that level without our three arrivals? NO!
2. Sacrifice
It takes special people to be on a championship team. Most, if not all of us, appreciate recognition and awards, but great teams must have people who are willing to sacrifice their individual glory for the team glory.
This sacrifice can be very difficult for some athletes. However, winning big will not happen if these athletes do not buy into unselfishness, into the team-first concept.
We had a stretch at St. Francis where we finished first or second in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference in fifteen years of an eighteen-year period. We vied for the championship in each of these fifteen years.
We were blessed with talented players who had the desire to win, and I cannot remember ever having to address unselfishness with any of those teams. From their high school athletic years, they already knew it was about “we,” not “I.”
Recently, ten of our players got together to support a teammate who lost his wife. Their commitment to TEAM, which happens often in athletics, has lasted long past their playing days.
3. Practice
Winning teams prepare. I have always believed in the 5 P’s – Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. In the athletic arena, you play as you practice; you win when you prepare to win. It is all about the preparation.
I made numerous errors in my coaching career, but one stands out above the rest. I was a young coach at the time and thankfully learned a valuable lesson, albeit the hard way.
I was coaching at Providence High School in New Lenox, Illinois and we got off to a great start, beating schools much bigger than we were. I believe we began the season 10-1, losing only to the previous year’s Iowa State Championship team by 2 points.
After this start, we had a weekend coming up where we were going to play two opponents whom we were better than. We simply had better players than they did. So, mistakenly, I told our players I had pushed them hard the previous 5-6 weeks and I was going to let up some in our practices.
The first team came to our gym, totally outplayed us, and gave us a sound beating. We had to play the next night on the road, did not recover from the previous night’s loss, and lost again.
What a lesson for Coach Sullivan!
Winning doesn’t always mean being first. Winning means you’re doing better than you’ve ever done before.” —Bonnie Blair
4. Gameplan
Coach Jack Ramsay, the outstanding college and pro coach, used to stress, “Defense is the great equalizer.” We believed that and spent considerable time studying opponent’s game videos. We were looking for the “little things” we could do to disrupt their offensive execution. It can be one small change that can make the difference between victory or defeat.
We had to beat a very good team to advance to the national tournament. They had an excellent offense and used their post play both effectively and extensively. After many hours of study, we found one “little thing” that could eliminate fifty percent of their entries into the post. I doubt that many people at the game noticed the change we made, but it was that adjustment that led us to the nationals.
Our game plans were based on numerous hours of video study. This work was done only by the coaches because of the exhaustive time it required. We then broke down only the key points where we could disrupt our opponent’s offensive rhythm. These key points were what we showed to our players because we did not want to inundate them with a lot of tape.
Our game plans were organized in five segments. We first gave the players a written game plan. We then talked them through the plan. This was followed by walking through the opponent’s offense and showing our players where we could stop their offensive flow. This was followed by a short segment of film work, again emphasizing our pressure points. Finally, usually the day before the game, we reduced the plan to one page.
Basketball was invented after the life of Benjamin Franklin, but he sure got to the essence of a game plan, or all planning, when he wrote, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”
5. End of game strategy
You must be prepared in your end of game strategy to win. Football calls it their Two Minute Drill and some teams, especially teams with outstanding quarterbacks, can gain a lot of yards in that short time span.
I have seen two interesting concepts in basketball at the end of the game that can prevent a team from winning. One emanates when you are winning at the end of a game and the other when you are losing.
When winning with little time left, I have seen teams not be able to inbound the ball after an opponent’s score followed by their time-out. Great teams have set plays with different alignments to inbound the ball at these crucial times. They want to protect the lead and gain the win.
Conversely, when losing at the end of the game, you must have a strategy that can turn a potential loss into a win. After you score, your players must know how to create a 5 second call, how to steal the inbound pass, and when and how to foul. You must follow these points with an alignment and set plays after your opponent makes or misses a free throw.
I have seen potential wins turn to losses and losses turn to wins based on how prepared teams are with their end of game strategy.
Conclusion
I believe these five strategies transcend athletics. They can be used by leaders in any organization.
- TALENT – Leaders must surround themselves with talented people.
- TOGETHER – Leaders must work with their talented people to buy into it’s all about “us,” not “me.”
- PRACTICE – Leaders must instill the 5 P’s in their group – Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.
- GAME PLAN – Leaders must organize strategic planning for their organization.
- END OF GAME STRATEGY – Leaders must develop back-up plans, especially when losing at the end of a quarter.
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How to Alter Your Business Approach With Technological Advancements
Keeping up with technological trends has become a challenge for almost every business owner.
Technology’s evolution has impacted everything, and business is no exception. Keeping up with technological trends has become a challenge for almost every business owner. Entrepreneurs unable to do so are being wiped out of the market.
There is no doubt that AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) have taken over the business world. These technological advancements are impacting decision-making, success percentages, and other entrepreneurial aspects.
Adapting to these developments is integral to business success. Let’s explore how you can accomplish these milestones.
Embed the strength of AI and ML.
AI has modified business operations in major ways. For instance, companies have employed bots for customer support. These bots go through an effective learning process via Machine Learning before being able to answer like humans.
Bots can also perform detailed data analytics and make business moves with high success percentages.
ML is used more for the analysis of data chunks and generating successful predictions. This simply means that business owners do not have to worry about large-scale financial losses.
In terms of deployment and usage, a reputed company like Netflix employs machine learning for decision-making.
Blockchain is increasing the count of business opportunities
Tampering of financial transactions is quite common and causes severe monetary damage to customers. With the rise of digital payments, this risk has increased.
Blockchain is used to elevate your experience for monetary transfers. It combats penetrating events to extract confidential customer information.
Most business sectors are using block chain but finance and supply chain management sections have a higher count. These two corporate sections have several monetary deposits and withdrawals taking place.
In terms of percentage, approximately 72% and 5% of finance and supply chain firms have implemented block chain successfully.
Dedicate Yourself to Continuous Learning and Individual Development
You invest in learning some of the very important skills, including digital marketing, financial management, and how to gain customers as an entrepreneur.
You need to set up your knowledge base about doing business on Coursera and Udemy with the basics that are necessary for the business, building further by networking with experts through webinars.
Besides, Agile methodology will introduce elasticity to your company: this review and feedback system with further correction regularly will allow for enhancing efficiency and promptly reacting to the market.
Developing key skills to achieve goals
Running a business successfully is not only about having niche/domain knowledge. Business owners need to have communication / soft skills as well in addition to niche information.
Here are some key technical/domain-related areas that business owners should have a strong grip on.
Data Storage on Cloud: These days, companies do not store their data on physical servers. Therefore business owners should know how data is stored/edited/removed/updated via AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and other platforms.
Data Analysis/Interpretation Qualities: These days, data is as precious as gold. Business owners with data analysis abilities make correct predictions. As a result, their ventures grow in volume.
Development/Coding Knowledge
Programming knowledge gives business owners an edge whether the application is developed in-house or outsourced. It assists in getting updates deployed and handling application underperformance without getting professional support every time.
Hacking proof framework
There is no benefit of having an advanced automated system if can be penetrated. Successful business owners have above-average knowledge of cyber security and hacking attempts. They are able to choose top-notch anti-hacking software without much of an ambiguity.
Communication Abilities/Soft Skills
Here are some key communication qualities that business owners should have:
Communication/Conversation: Business owners should use to-the-point sentences in both written and oral communication.
Issue Resolution Abilities: Business owners should be able to drill down to problems and solve them. This is done successfully only if an entrepreneur has in-depth business domain knowledge.
Agile Implementations
It is mandatory for business owners to have knowledge of iterative/agile models. With such a competitive environment, it is impossible for business owners to succeed without adopting an agile framework.
Create a productive well-crafted Business Strategy
A productive business venture starts with a clear vision. The first factor making a business successful is the idea behind it. It helps with endless growth and combating competition successfully. Katherine Philips once mentioned that business goals are inevitable if goals are set concretely.
- Goals should be based on smart achievements instead of complexity. Focus on the value that each one of them adds.
- Business objectives should not be vague. Key indicators should be constructed to measure the success/failure of each milestone.
- Be realistic when setting goals. Do not aim at impossible milestones since they can be demotivating.
- Milestones/goals need to be time-bound. Set a completion deadline for each one of them.
- Business goals should not be alien. Owners can think out of the box but not be obsolete / unrelated.
Create a productive well-crafted Business Strategy
Business owners cannot succeed without having a network. Some tips help in this case. Attend conferences and professional gatherings to connect with other entrepreneurs.
Here are some other related points business owners should pay attention to.
- Attend meetings and conferences to stay updated with trends and meet business owners who already have well-set ventures. This helps in enhancing the learning curve of new / growing entrepreneurs.
- Being a part of business communities/groups is very productive. When one shares opinions and discusses decision-making tactics, it helps in preventing errors and enhancing success rate.
- Even the most experienced business owners have mentors as learning never stops. Take part in mentorship programs so there is an assurance that you are following the correct roadmap.
Conclusion
There is absolutely no doubt that business dimensions have evolved with technological advancements. Successful entrepreneurs have grabbed these changes in due course of time and continue to evolve. On the other hand, people following old paths and conventional steps fade out of competition. In a nutshell, keep an eye on the processes and practices you follow as these factors decide success rate.
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