Learning, learning, and more learning…

Yesterday was practice 39 with a team of 24 and it represented a milestone of sorts. BTL has never had a team practice 39 times with us.

Never.

This team is going where we’ve always wanted to traverse with every team we’ve engaged. Most teams quit practicing before it gets good. Most teams are led by impatient, vision constrained, and proud, control freaks. The discipline of practicing beside their teammates and allowing an outsider to lead them, throws most leaders into a tailspin. They get what they want eventually; a team that complies and thinks less.

Not true for this leader or this team.

Yesterday during practice 39 we celebrated a record year produced by this team. A record that will be broken in 2013 and most likely again in 2014. A record in revenues and profits. Good stuff, for certain and worthy of celebration.

And, we celebrated four hours of intense learning. We tried to read from the playbooks while performing wall sits. We learned that you don’t hear well when in a little pain and NOT at all when in a lot. We learned that feedback is over-rated and somehow still “the breakfast of champions.” We learned that most of us send feedback that is too general, too wordy, and too late. We learned that most feedback is noise and simply a distraction. Wise leaders listen for the nugget they can use and ignore the rest. And, these same leaders broadcast their learnings to the team.

We learned that mastering our craft must be a part of our life’s task and that impatience is enemy number one. We learned that Charlotte mastery plan will include a typing course. We learned that our default demeanor and default facial expression are what they are. We can more easily change our habitual use of our limbs and torso. And, as we build our internal CORE ever stronger and firmer, our facial expressions will somehow soften and soften some more. We learned that our identity is complex, often rooted in our childhood, and for many a constant source of pain.

We learned that crying makes a man more masculine, NOT less.

We learned that clarity of vision cannot be over-rated. We learned that Lisa believes that we are becoming ONE. I learned that she is. And, she wants a new name. We learned that real empathy begins with understanding what another is thinking, FIRST, before you attempt to travel down the slippery slope toward guessing how they’re feeling. We learned that we now laugh about what we once loathed…

We learned that the more we practice, the more we have to practice; not less. We learned that Churp has a really big dream for this team. We learned that many of you share that dream and a few of you are creating your own. We learned that some of you don’t love what you’re doing and that’s alright. We learned that the best way forward is to acknowledge our own pain, understand its roots, push it to the recesses of our mind, and busy ourselves with specific, concrete, actionable baby stepe that make us a better performer in our current position. As we improve our own performance we may start to likee, we may even start to really likee. And, if we don’t, we will be in a position of strength to choose others…

Yesterday we fried some brains during practice 39. Practice 40 will be the last for this team in 2012. January 2,2013 will bring in the new year with practice 41. A happy new year celebration of learning, laughing, growing, struggling, fighting, repairing, understanding, challenging, and performing. Performing as ONE, distinct and deeply connected, that is BUILT TO LEAD. I, for one, can hardly wait…