What does this man have to say about MVXC team spirit and success?
I believe that being connected to other people matters a lot, and not only for the quality of our lives. Being connected to others also contributes to the success of individuals and teams in many professions.
I was listening to Bill McDermott talk about success. You most certainly don’t know who Bill is—Bill is the CEO of SAP. That information probably does not help you much—SAP is a giant software company (the name may be familiar because the Sharks’ arena is the SAP Center).
Bill told a story about when he was running a regional sales organization for SAP, and Bill asked all the people in his team to allocate 10% of their time to helping other team members to reach their goals. If you were having problems, you could ask the rest of the team for help on anything. Bill remembered one day the entire team went to one person’s territory and called on customers. Bill insisted everyone helped, and no one complained. Everyone contributed to each others’ goals, along the way they realized they were all learning new things.
At the end of the year, every person on Bill’s team made the President’s Club—which is a big deal. If you are in President’s Club, you and your family are flown to Hawaii for a week, you all stay in a luxury hotel. You get a massive bonus and you are honored in front of everyone, President’s Club is a huge event. Bill found out that this was the first time in the history of SAP that every person on a team had made President’s Club the same year.
So even though Bill required every person on the team to allocate 10% of their time to working on someone else’s goals, every team member also achieved their own personal goals.
I listened to Bill talk and I was completely inspired. As I thought about what Bill asked from his team, I realized this is almost exactly what I am asking MVXC to do—help each other be better this summer, while you work on your own goals, too.
Here are some things you might do for your teammates this summer. This is a list of ideas off the top of my head, you can add to this list yourself; I know you are more creative than me and you know what would help your teammates!
- Run with people who are slower (or faster) than you for a mile or two, talk to them about how they are doing, before you continue at your own pace.
- Say ‘good job!’ to people you notice are working hard. Compliment your teammates.
- Ask new team members about themselves, introduce yourself, talk to them, tell them you are glad to see them.
- Introduce new team members to your friends.
- Organize runs with teammates. Be there for them, and be dependable. Show up when you say you are going to show up, so that others know that they can count on you.
- Be upbeat and positive at group runs.
- Organize a bonding event. Host a game night or a movie night after a run. Coordinate a breakfast run.
- If you need help with something—advice on a shoe store, suggestions on some core exercises to do, learn a new run, get a ride someplace—ask for help! Your teammates want to help you.
- Teach someone something new—a new run, a better way to do a drill, a core exercise, a leg exercise.
- Take someone to your favorite running store, you both can shop for new running shoes or a tech shirt.
- If you have not seen a teammate for a while, drop them a text and ask how they are doing. Make sure they are running, and offer to run with them.
- Stay in touch with runners on different schedules from you. Staying in touch does not mean you are simply posting to FB back and forth. Call them or text them and ask how their summer running is going. If they post something on FB that impresses you, send an individual text and say ‘Wow saw your text on <whatever> and that was great! Good job! Can I do that with you next time?’ or whatever. Make the communication personal, don’t assume that your teammate knows you are impressed or proud of them.
- Find people who might be shy about running with the group and get them involved—seek out incoming freshmen, some of the sprinters who are thinking about joining cross country but are nervous about it, maybe soccer players who you think should try cross. Invite new people, push them a little if necessary. If they are a little shy about running with experienced distance runners, help them get over that shyness or self-consciousness. See how can get the most new runners to join a summer run.
I want you all to have a good summer of running. I know we are going to have a great cross-country team next Fall, I can feel it, and I want each of you to have successful and rewarding individual seasons. I want you to be feel like you are a big part of the season coming up. Along the way, I want you to learn habits that will help you throughout your life. Getting in the habit of helping your teammates will be valuable not only this summer, but will make your whole life better and more successful.
All of Bill McDermott’s team members made their personal goals, while helping each other, and Bill became his company’s CEO. Reach out and help your teammates, you will not give up a thing–you will get back much more yourself. You and your teammates can achieve PRs next Fall, and together your cross-country team will have a fantastic season.
We are always stronger when we are together.
People don’t reach out and help each other enough in this world. We need to be better about showing love and caring for each other. If you practice these habits with MVXC, you will be helping yourself and your team. Your thoughtful and mindful habits will make you a better person and the world a better place.
(By the way, you can inspire me too. Send me photos of your runs over the summer, particularly when you are running in groups. I already miss MVXC so you will help me feel more connected to you, too!)
