Part 1 - Team Building

THOUGHTS AND WAYS TO ACHIEVE TEAM AND PERSONAL EXCELLENCE

• Your role and your goals. Your role on the team needs to be clear to you because your contribution is based on the extent to which you fulfill it. Although your role may change over the course of time with consultation with Gary or your captain, in a team mission the goals you set for yourself for each challenge, game, or situation must relate to how you can best help your team reach its goals.
• Accountability. You are responsible for your own performance and partially responsible for the team's performance. You have the power to influence your own performance and the team's performance through your attitude, commitment, mental and physical preparation, focus and intensity. You are the captain of your own performance. Being accountable means that (1) your are honest with yourself, (2) you recognize that you have some affect on the outcome, (3) you act on the lessons drawn from each day and each performance.
• Preparation. To mentally and physically prepare yourself for each challenge or performance, ask yourself these two question: What do I need to focus on to get the best out of myself in my next game? What do I need to do to help our team perform its best? Think about your best focus, best attitude, best reminders, and best game plane. Remind yourself of the specific things you can do to fulfill your mission or perform your best in this event, in this situation, or against today's opponent. Go through your game plan in your mind enough times to give yourself and your teammates the best chance of having a great performance.
• Performance Focus. Focus on executing your game plan right from the start. Concentrate on doing the little things that allow you and your team to perform well. Perform with confidence, discipline, praise and an appropriate level of emotion. Be the best that you can be.
• Performance evaluation. The purpose of evaluation your performance is to help you and your teammates perform as well as you possibly can on a consistent basis. Each of you has an important role to play on your team, and your teammates need you to perform to your potential. Evaluating your performance individually and as a team will help you move toward your potential. Your performance affects the team's performance. Everyone benefits when each of you consistently fulfills the role expected of you.
• Respect. Respect yourself and your capacity to contribute. Respect your teammates and your opponents. Respect your need for good nutrition, rest, relaxation, recovery time and simple joys with loved ones.
• Action. Every time you work on something to become a little better, wiser, stronger or more focused your team improves a little. Every time all the members of your team work on something to become a little better, wiser, stronger or more focused, your team improves a lot. Every day, every game, and in every performance there are flashes of brilliance. Your collective mission is to work as individuals and as a team to extend or prolong those flashes of brilliance, to make them more consistent. This is what is requires for individual and team excellence.

Resource: Terry Orlick, PhD (1998) Embracing Your Potential

Alan Mantle BAppSc (2004) Enhance Mind Performance