Dysfunction. I see it everywhere. This frustrates me as a fan of great teams. And it affects more than just me; it affects society.
Before looking at top fundamentals for being a great “team,” it is good to understand that we can substitute the word “team” with “marriage” (small team), “high school community” (larger team) and even society in general (an even larger team). Dysfunction is affecting all of the “teams” above.

I just read an Associated Press story about the University of Florida football coach. After three straight losses, he is being relieved of his duties. In passing, the story says he and his team (and family members) have been receiving death threats. The story, in my mind, is the death threats, but other than the sentence I just referred to, the article went on to talk about the financial possibilities of a buy-out, the poor rank of the offense and other nonsense. 

Death threats for poor football performance. Seriously? More evidence of dysfunction in our society and our teams. My list of evidence is large, and yours probably is, too.

On to my keys for great teams, both small and large. Our White Bear Lake High School girls’ hockey team will be hearing most of these keys this week.

There is a Far Side cartoon I have saved.It shows a scene from Hell. Two devils look over the condemned. The fellas doing the devils’ work, sweat from the hard work of breaking rocks with pickaxes and a hot environment. However, the guy in the middle pushing the heavy wheelbarrow full of broken rocks is smiling and whistling while he works. The caption reads (one of the devils says to the other), “You know, we’re just not reaching that guy.” This fella’s great attitude can’t be broken even in the face of the worst possible scenario.

First the devils. We all face ‘em. These two devils are both on our own team(s). That’s the problem. We don’t often see them or recognize them.

Forgiveness, not living in the past.
That first devil is within each of us. Our ability to focus on the wrong thing. Our ability to not forgive ourselves for our mistakes. Our ability to want to please others at the expense of the focus needed to stay in the current moment and conduct our responsibilities to the best of our abilities. These all can be problems.  

Like the whistling worker in the cartoon, if we focus only on our job in the current moment (and stay in the current moment), we have little time for having a bad attitude. If we learn from a mistake and not dwell on the mistake, and move on with a good attitude and new knowledge, we grow.  

The second devil, is your teammates. And for all the reasons above. If they fail to live in the moment, or fail to show a great attitude and/or forgive themselves for their mistakes, they will likely portray negative energy which will affect those around them. And this energy, this chemistry, has an effect on everyone.  

And when it comes to forgiveness, we all have to forgive those around us for their mistakes. Teammates and coaches are going to make mistakes. Both teammates and coaches will say things imperfectly. We all need to forgive together, learn together, grow together and move forward together. 

The definition of a great player: A player who makes those around her/him better.  
You know you are doing well when those around you are excelling. All of us as teammates need to remind ourselves that our job is to utilize the talents possessed by each of us, to make everyone around us better. Understanding how our talents can best be utilized by teammates is an awesome skill. In the end, it is about giving – sharing our skills with our teammates.