Yesterday, during practice 104 with a team beginning to believe, I pushed a few right out of the gate. I told this team they practiced like a bunch of babies who had only been together for 20 practices or so. I told them they acted like we were in the Board Room instead of the locker room. I reminded this team what great performers on great teams miss the most once their time on the pitch, field, or court has come to an end. They miss the locker room. You see, a virtuous locker room, is where unity soaks into the system as tired, spent, teammates soothe their wounds, together.
BTL practices aim to create the locker room in the pristine, but bullshit filled Boardrooms, conference rooms, and endless offices of the corporate world. So, yesterday, in a beautiful setting with beautiful people, I ripped into them and I meant it. I want more from these faux-mates after practice 104. And, they brought it…
As I listened to Joy share her why with Z, the magic began. I pulled up a chair and told her to “drop the disclaimer.” Joy immediately starting to speak. I stopped her. “Slow down Joy,” I reminded her and for a brief second I played her as best I could. I repeated what I had heard her say about being cared for here and wanting to pass it along to her residents. FM, baby. She got it. She doesn’t have to play somebody else. She is enough. Her eyes filled with tears as her heart soaked in this truth.
You are enough.
Do you believe this? Or, are you always trying to play somebody else or be something you’re not just so you can fit in. Remember, you are meant to “belong and become.” You are meant to belong to someone and some tribe and you are meant to become the original you already are. It is really hard to be who you are, isn’t it. Yes, yes it is; until it isn’t. Once you get comfortable in your own skin, you’ll know what I mean. Kinda like a well worn pair of jeans, you won’t wanna change into anything else.
You are enough, Goalie. Yes, yes you are. Dan, you too. Hear the bids from your teammates. Bid in the locker room. No bullshit. Instead, bathe in truth. Truth aimed at making each other better. Truth, my friends, in LOVE.
Yesterday, I kicked some strong teammates. I pushed them out of their comfort zones, into their challenge zone. They didn’t panic. Instead, they performed. Yesterday was this teams best practice yet. For a brief while I felt like I was in the locker room with ’em. kman felt it too. I could see it in his eyes. He is loving this work and this team. And, like me, he’s beginning to love the team and then the work. That’s the power of the locker room. That’s the power of practice. That’s the power of getting tired together after performing work that you love. It is good to leave it on the field knowing you and your teammates have a haven that feels a bit like Heaven. It is good to have a locker room. Your job, if you’re a leader, is to build ONE.
Practice 104 was real, raw, and one I won’t quickly forget. Practice 104 tasted like a locker room in the making. Powerful. Thanks, mates, for beginning to trust who you are becoming. Drop the disclaimers.
You are enough…
BUILT TO LEAD 