For those of you who worked with me, you are likely familiar with my sports analogies. Advising companies on their sales strategies for decades and leading sales teams in Fortune 100 companies, I often talked about sports teams and their similarity to how high performing sales teams should operate. Know your position and play it well. Be accountable to your team. Learn your competition. Compete fiercely. Accept coaching. Lose and win with grace.

With all the talk of sports, one would think I am an incredible athlete. Anyone who spends a bit of time with me quickly learns I am not! I do love sports, though, for so many reasons, likely the same reasons that most humanity rallies around them.

Who doesn’t love seeing the underdog succeed? Rocky, The Karate Kid, Slumdog Millionaire, and Rudy collectively grossed over $600M in worldwide revenue (per boxofficemojo.com), proving that we like the underdog to come out on top!

Don’t we all love winning? Regardless of your passions (sports or otherwise), wouldn’t we all secretly want to achieve the highest recognition in our trade: a Pulitzer Prize, an Oscar, the Stanley Cup, or the Iron Skillet? Yes! The winner is awarded an Iron Skillet in the SMU versus TCU game in Texas.

Isn’t it great when we are a part of that team that simply has something special? Who doesn’t love seeing hockey teams dog pile their goalie or baseball teams hoist their pitcher when they win!? The absolute joy of teams with great camaraderie exhibited when they win together is undeniable. It’s almost like the audience who cheered them on isn’t even there in the stadium while they celebrate as one!

As a mom of boys, one old enough to play on sports teams, I absolutely love that they love sports. The Mayor and Boom Boom love watching them. The Mayor also loves collecting memorabilia and dabbling in different activities. Like me, he will likely grow up talking a lot about sports versus hoisting a coveted trophy.

The Mayor’s sport of choice is hockey. This couldn’t make me any happier! His passion for hockey all started when Fun Uncle gave him a knee floor hockey set for Christmas when he was five. Let’s be honest: it was a “pre-Christmas” gift because Fun Uncle wanted to start playing hockey games the minute he and his family arrived at our ranch for winter vacation.

For hours every day of our vacation, grown men (yes, Bogey jumped into the action) played floor hockey on their knees with a five and an eleven-year-old. They would come upstairs from the basement dripping in sweat from all the action.

The Mayor was officially hooked. Mullets, stinky hockey bags, missing teeth. He wanted it all!

Finally, at six, The Mayor got to try out for a hockey team. I had no idea how the tryout process worked. I put him through it because I thought it would be an opportunity for him to potentially fail and learn to work harder to make the team next time. Leading up to tryouts, we talked a lot about how it would feel if he doesn’t make the team.

Well, The Mayor made a team. Little did I know, everyone makes a team. Sure, he started on the beginner squad with kids his size and ability. The seven- and eight-year-olds played on the intermediate and advanced teams. I never told him everyone made the team. I also never mentioned that there were different abilities across the various teams. I just let him relish the success of working for and being part of something.

Somewhere along this initial hockey journey, The Mayor decided he wanted to be goalie. He spent time learning all about the great ones: Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy, and Dominik Hasek, to name a few.

He watched YouTube videos to learn their moves and then practiced them on his own. He was obsessed with hockey, hockey goalies, and all the things hockey goalies do.

Another year of tryouts came around and somehow the stakes felt higher. He was older (middle of the pack for his age group), had already played one year, and we knew more of the parents, which made us all feel more comfortable sharing our observations. People started speculating at tryouts about who would make the advanced, intermediate, and beginner teams.

When the teams were formed, the parents of kids who made the advanced team made it very well known. I guess if I were one of them, I probably would have too – they were proud of their kids and their accomplishments at seven and eight years old.

Then, I stopped and reflected on the situation. This isn’t about me and my pride. It is about The Mayor and what makes him happy.

I asked him how he felt about making the intermediate team. He was excited. He made a team, playing the position he loved, and getting access to coaches and players in one of the best college hockey programs in the country. I am not sure he understood (or cared about) the difference between “advanced” and “intermediate.” For him, it was about getting to do what he is passionate about.

The experience made me reflect on the countless teams I was a part of throughout my career. Looking back, some of the teams (and the results of these teams) stand out head and shoulders above the rest. I can still feel the camaraderie that formed when a group of diverse individuals came together and found a way to do something amazing. In fact, many of my team members are still some of my best friends today.

So, what made these teams special? I chalk it up to the following elements.

• We pushed each other to do our best. There was some friendly competition amongst the team members. This competition pushed us all to grow and get better. We had to operate at the same level (or better) than our teammates if we were all going to succeed. If we saw someone do something great, we upped our game to do the same.
• We relished having the best talent. When our teammates were contributing and doing amazing things, no one got jealous. Instead, we were proud that we were working with really smart, talented people. Who wouldn’t want a Tom Brady or David Beckham on their team to catapult the likelihood of success?
• We coached each other. We always gave the “atta boy” praise that is expected. However, the best teams I worked on went further. We really gave feedback – what I call candor. We coached one another to elevate the good stuff, improve the not so good stuff, and remove the things that didn’t add value. We were committed to making one another better. Of course, some of the conversations were hard; however, the individuals on the team had a desire to learn and grow.
• We had fun. When things got stressful, we would stop and find ways to lighten the mood. When we did something great, we would celebrate our success. We worked hard. We played hard.

So, as The Mayor’s coach off the ice, these are the elements I am trying to focus him on, ensuring that what he gets from his experience in sports is more than trying to make the advanced team. It is about being a part of a great team.

I want him to practice hard and put forth his best effort every day for himself and for his team. Recognize who he is playing with, find what makes them great, and appreciate the opportunity to play with different types of talent. Accept and apply coaching and feedback from his trainers, teammates, and parents. And, to have fun.

Sure, maybe one day I will be the mom who can say she has the best athlete on the team who made the varsity squad. For now, I am enjoying the process of helping my child learn how to be a great contributor to a team, which will take him a lot further in life than simply being the guy that has the best stance in front of the goal.

Trust me, in job interviews I never asked candidates with sports experience how good they were as an athlete. Instead, I tried to understand how good they were at being a stellar teammate.

Let’s hear from you!

What made teams you were on high performing?

What can you do to be a better teammate?

Who is the best talent you want to surround yourself with?

Have you asked for coaching and feedback lately?

Have you helped someone else become a better athlete?