By Jon Ellmann | Head Coach
Focusing on my regular day-to-day tasks has become increasingly difficult. When I have a clear list of big rocks I can usually sit down and knock them out but a couple things keep bogging my processing power down.
The list is long so I will keep this post about two of them:
The first, in terms of chronological order, is that I have been thinking a lot about how proud I am of the young women that make up our UWOVB squad. I’ve wanted to write a blog post specific to our team for a few weeks now. I keep thinking of more to talk about during all of those moments in life where the old brain goes idle for a minute or two.
Second are the myriad of emotions that have ultimately been triggered by the murder of George Floyd. I can’t even begin to accurately express what I’m feeling. From anger and disgust about what happened in Minnesota (and has happened countless times prior) to confusion about what my role is and how I can help move a needle that has been stuck for decades.
As a result of internally processing all of this it’s become harder to compartmentalize. Everything is becoming intertwined in a way. It’s like I am looking at the systemic racism with a positive team qualities transparency overlaid like some kind of an answer key or map. By answer I don’t mean to claim I have the answers. I simply mean that I have perhaps found a way to take something that is familiar to me and use it to help myself (and maybe others) take some positive steps forward. Because right now I’m a bit stuck.
Now that you’ve taken the scary tour of my mind I want to start back in the beginning. I originally wanted to post about our new mantra #WeAre. That hashtag has been in the top spot on my to-do list for at least a couple weeks. So, with no further ado, let me try to bring it together and make some sense of it all, the way a coach does, by turning everything into an analogy about a team:
In this current moment we all have positive qualities. We also have areas where we can evolve. Simply put, #WeAre is a statement of pride and evolution. It’s a reminder to take positive inventory, to be where our feet are, and yet stay Relentless in our Pursuit of becoming the absolute best version of ourselves. It’s a reminder of the work we have put in to build relationships and a team culture that we are proud of. It’s also a reminder that we all have differences that vary in their level of visibility and that we need to identify and talk about those differences so that we can become a high functioning team.
The best teams use both their similarities and differences to fuel the machine. If our cars were made of just a few similar parts it wouldn’t be able to run. It takes diversity in components to get the wheels turning. It takes quality components that work well together and have defined roles to get the machine operating at peak efficiency. I honestly don’t know how I worked myself into a car analogy but I’m going to stick with it — It works.
Once we know each other… Really know each other, we can make progress. We can also change the focus from ourselves and start to dedicate more energy on Making Others Greater.
If we only focus on making ourselves as great as possible, we become too self-focused and have little to no connection, understanding, or trust with those surrounding us. When our house burns down, we run to save ourselves or even worse, maybe we’re the arsonist. If we shift the focus to those around us, we become more understanding, empathetic, caring, and committed to the group. When the house burns, we run back in to save the others.
Knowing that the people around us care about us, want to get to know us, will hold us accountable, and will push us, regardless of our similarities and/or differences helps us feel like we belong and contributes greatly towards the belief that we have a greater purpose. It’s simply empowering.
There are some direct parallels between what is common practice in teams and what our world needs more of. I am by no means saying there aren’t racial issues within teams because there surely are. I’m simply saying that the concept of identifying similarities and differences and finding ways to be as productive as possible through understanding, emotional intelligence, and ultimately love for your fellow humans is what we need more of. Not everyone in the world will hold hands and sing songs but we can surely look each other in the eye and have conversations about tough topics.
I heard from a coach recently that, “everyone is okay hearing the truth, not everyone is okay telling it.”
I surely don’t have an answer to the issues that have and continue to plague our country but I can say that we all have implicit biases that we can become more aware of and we can all find ways to support systemic changes that create equal opportunities. Whether we know it, feel it, or even understand it — We are all a part of the same team. Heck, in terms of DNA we are 99.9% the same. That’s one hell of a stat! Whether you can see it or not, find that .1% and talk about it, learn about it, and celebrate it! We will all be greater as a result. Here’s to figuring out who we are and who we want to be.
Here’s to being on the same team,
-Jon
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