Play Your Game

The United States Hockey team was slacking off. Coach Herb Brooks could see it; his team was not taking this seriously. Each man was born to be a hockey player and this series of games was the most important of their life. To say Brooks was frustrated was an understatement.

After that exhibition game against Norway, U.S. Coach Herb Brooks, played by actor Kurt Russell in the 2004 movie Miracle, had his assistant coach line the players up at one end of the rink. At each whistle the athletes were required to skate hard the entire length of the rink. This drill, which is known as a “bag skate,” is basically a wind sprint on ice. It ain’t easy even if you’re in tip top shape.

The bag skate went on for a couple of hours till one of the players, out of breath and desperate for a break simply blurted out his name. Then the coach looked at him and said, “Who do you play for?” The player responded: “The United States of America!” Brooks headed off the ice and dismissed the group, saying “Gentlemen, that is all.”

My wife Karen and I watched the movie recently for some positive mental nutrition. Coach Brooks is full of wonderful advice. Watch the locker room speech on You Tube if you get a chance…simply amazing.

At one point in the movie the team is in competition on the ice and Brooks yells “PLAY YOUR GAME!” He didn’t say play the game. He challenged each individual to play their own game. Very smart.

I’ve been thinking about that advice to Play Your Game for a few days now. How can we put that sentiment to work in our chosen career in light of the crisis around us?

Well, I can’t tell you how to skate or how to hold your stick, but there are some themes I see for service providers supporting clients during this crisis:

Creative

We are all immersed on calls addressing our specialty and issues pertinent to what we do for a living. Don’t take your specialized knowledge shared on these calls for granted. As hockey great Wayne Gretzky famously said: “Skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” Bringing new ideas in this fast-moving pandemic environment can be helpful for service providers and game changing for clients. Be intentional about being a thought leader.

Courage

Remaining calm and being a leader is always in style, but now more than ever. As a service provider you can take a somewhat dispassionate view of business problems. Hard decisions are coming in corporate America and you are in a unique position to help decision makers and firm their resolve.

Caring

I start every call now asking about family. I end every call talking about the individual on the other end of the line. Authentically listening and caring now is so important. Stress and panic are still rampant. People generally assume you know what you are doing…what they really care about is how you make them feel.

Hustle

One of the formative Harvard Business Review articles of all time is “Hustle as a Strategy.” The article was written in September of 1986 but the sentiment is still very valid today. Getting out of bed and getting after it every. single. day. is critical.

“The only way to make the vision real is through superior execution. That’s the key. It’s the resulting hustle that outlasts…and wins against unremitting competition.”

Hope

Every storm runs out of rain. I love that saying. Reminding decision makers of this fact can give them important perspective. When you are pointing the firehose at a structure fire, it’s hard to see the future. We’ve been through wars, pandemics and all manner of crisis before. We will get through this.

Play On

If Coach Brooks were here with us today, I can hear him saying with his Minnesota accent: “The name on the front of your jersey is far more important than the one on the back. You were born to be service providers and this is YOUR time!”

Every morning as you step into your virtual office, you can yell to no one in particular, "Put me in Coach!" I'll know exactly what you mean.