Price Points
If a team doesn’t
reach its potential, seldom is ability the issue it’s rarely a matter of
resources either. It’s almost always a payment issue.
1. The Price Must Be Paid by Everyone
In
Straight Talk for Monday Morning, Allan Cox observed:
You have to give up something to be a
member of a team. It may be a phony role you’ve assigned yourself, such as the
guy who talks too much, the woman who remains silent, the know-it-all, the
know-nothing, the hoarder of talented subordinates, the non-sharer of some
resource such as management information systems (MIS), of whatever. You give up
something, to be sure, such as some petty corner of privilege, but gain
authenticity in return. The team, moreover, doesn’t quash individual
accomplishment; rather it empowers personal contributions.
“If everyone doesn’t pay the price to win,
then everyone will pay the price by losing.”
2. The Price Must Be Paid All the Time
Many people have what I call destination
disease. I describe it in my book The 21
Indispensable Qualities of a Leader.
Some people mistakenly believe that if they
can accomplish a particular goal, they no longer have to grow. It can happen
with almost anything: earning a degree, reaching a desired position, receiving
a particular award, or achieving a financial goal.
“As long as you’re green, you’re
growing. As soon as you’re ripe, you
start to rot.”
Destination disease is as dangerous for a
team as it is for any individual. Earl Balik, former football coach at the
United States Military Academy, observed, “There
is no substitute for work. It is the price of success.” Dwight D.
Eisenhower remarked, “There are no
victories at bargain prices.”
3. The Price Increases If the Team Wants to
Improve, Change, of Keep Winning
The higher you are, the more you have to pay to make even small improvements.
World champion sprinters improve their times not by seconds, but by hundredth
of a second.
4. The Price Never Decreases
Most people who quit don’t give up at the
bottom of the mountain; they stop halfway up it. Nobody sets out with the
purpose of losing. The problem is often a mistaken belief that a time will come
when success will suddenly get cheaper. But life rarely works that way.
