“My responsibility is to get my 25 guys playing for the name on the front of their uniform and not the one on the back.”
– Tommy Lasorda
The Harvard Business Essentials: Manager’s Toolkit lists the following six characteristics of an effective team:
- Competence
- A clear and compelling goal
- Commitment to a common goal
- Every member contributes; every member benefits
- Supportive environment
- Alignment
Tommy Lasorda’s words of wisdom certainly support these characteristics. After 50 years in major league baseball, Lasorda knows the challenges of team-building.
Team members who are only concerned with themselves do not show commitment to the common goal. Sometimes, that common goal is an individual team member – everyone devoted to getting the football to the running back or, all members of the Discovery Channel Tour de France cycling team geared towards getting Lance Armstrong to the winner’s podium. But these micro-goals culminate in the common goal of an overall team win. When every member contributes towards that common goal, each member benefits by being on the winning team because of how it enhances their personal resumes.
