Posts tagged teambuilding

Team Dynamics

Sep26
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

Have you ever just sat back and taken an assessment of your team? Thought about how well they work together (or not)? Tried to figure out how to get the team more productive? As managers, that is our biggest role in really getting our team to perform better. The better the team performance definitely demonstrates a better manager. Some would argue that maybe the manager does not play a big part in the overall performance of a team, but I do. All it takes is to look at a failing team and how quickly is it blamed on the manager. Sports usually fire the manager before it rids itself of players. Same holds true for business types, just not in the news as much. Give credit for good managers having performing teams.

So what all goes into a solid team? What can you as a manager do to have the greatest impact? For me, there are a number of web based tools out there that can help you walk through an assessment of your team’s dynamics. Do a Bing or Google search – I have used many different types. There is not one that I have found that is a great one stop shop that I would recommend over the others. Each assessment tool is just that a tool to help you identify areas of potential work that needs to be done. First and foremost, you as the manager, need to find a quiet spot and clear your head of everything. You need to really be honest with “your” assessment of your team. Remember the end goal is to make your team perform better, rather than making you think they are better. Once you are ready, grab one of those assessments and walk through your team’s dynamics.

What did you find? I have written my Leadership Checklist to help me (and others) to help make sure that the manager (you) are doing your part in the process. Look it over, hopefully you are doing those and everything else.

One of the areas that I want this post to focus on is something that most assessment really struggle to cover. It centers on how tight the friendships are with your team. I want you to think back when you were growing up with your friends. When there were two friends working together was fairly easy. Do you have only a two person team? Normally not. So, when a third friend came in, how did that go? Usually after awhile stuff ended up two against one. Do you have a three person team? Probably not. Add more folks to the mix and the team starts to break up in to smaller sub teams. Something to watch out for. That is not always a bad thing, if the team is working for the good of all…

Friendships have its positive effects:

  • Friends usually communicate better together. Drawing others into the discussions. Gives the team a good “social” feel. People usually enjoy working together. Which has an impact on behavior and results.

There are negative effects as well:

  • With a team of 3 or more there is a feeling of being excluded. Remember growing up… Maybe it was not you feeling excluded, but did someone feel excluded? Causing not all of the team to participate in decision-making. You can easily start to have sub-groups forming. Causing communication to further breakdown. Now information will not flow freely among the team. The teams overall performance will suffer, count on it.

When you are sitting down thinking about your team and that assessment, remember to revisit the natural factors of friendship and how it will influence the overall team. With the positive you would rather have inclusion… Exclusion is just plain wrong.

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Need a Leader Checklist?

Sep08
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

I started looking over my leadership and managing teams blog posts and started to notice that I probably should put an overall leader checklist to it. I have had the extreme privilege of leading many different teams and organizations. When I first started out, I used to think about what I would want to see… Since I was an ace-doer that was promoted to supervisor – I had a good feeling what I as a member of the team would want to see from my supervisor. Over the years, I have expanded my reach and experiences. No longer was an ace-doer for the organizations that I belonged. I was hired not for doing the work, but leading the team to get the work done. I needed to change and add to my start up of those teams. Reflecting back, I started to see that checklist come to me.

Here is that leader checklist:

  1. Articulate a vision: Formulate a clear and persuasive vision and communicate it to all members of the team. Most organizations may already have a vision statement or mission statement. Look it over. Ask your team to communicate it back to you. See what is missing and come up with that vision that fits the team, organization and you (as the leader).
  2. Think and act strategically: Get ready to make your vision a reality. Time to set up goals that achieve that vision, both is the short and long term. Don’t forget to consider all the players and anticipate reactions and resistance before they are manifest. Being prepared is key to success.
  3. Honor the team: Frequently express your confidence in and support for those who work with and for you. Use your team to help with every step you take.
  4. Take charge: Make sure to set up a workplace environment that is about action (getting stuff done).
  5. Act decisively: Make good and timely decisions, and ensure that they are executed.
  6. Communicate persuasively: Communicate, communicate, communicate. Easier said than done. Look for ways to insure that communicate happens and people never forget. This is one area that I have experimented everyday of my life. Just make sure that how you do it is simple and the messages are clear.
  7. Motivate the team: Set up a workplace environment that your team can not wait to come to work. Enjoys getting their work done.
  8. Embrace the front lines: The one thing that I remembered before I was a supervisor was how most supervisors did not spend anytime with the team. They did not let the team do anything other than run the equipment. I promised myself that I would never do that. Including the team is something that I feel is necessary for success.
  9. Build leadership in others: Develop leadership throughout. Have no fear in losing your folks to higher opportunities.
  10. Manage relations: Build enduring personal ties with those who look to you and work to harness the feelings and passions of the workplace.
  11. Identify personal implications: Help everybody appreciate the impact that the vision and strategy are likely to have on their own work and future with the firm.
  12. Convey your character: Being yourself. Make sure that in everything you do (communications and actions) should point to who you are. Your team should get to know you – through you.
  13. Keeping it real: Make sure that you never let over-optimism pop into your team. Success breeds success, but watch out threats, unresolved problems and taking unwarranted risks.
  14. Build a diverse team: Leadership is a team sport.. Make sure that your team is willing to be leaders in their particular area. Make sure that your team is not clones of yourself, get and welcome a diverse team.

Walking into a new situation or team can be a little scary. New anything gets the heart pumping. I look forward to these opportunities. Makes me think back and reflect (and practice) my checklist… Try it!

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Motivating

Aug23
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

image from Flickr via jk_photos

I have been thinking about his topic for awhile, motivating your team. When I was asked in an interview about how I motivate more team, I tried to answer it this way. “Motivating the team is a bit tricky. I don’t think that the manager has the responsibility to motivate their employees. They need to create an environment that is motivating to their team. Motivation is more internal. I like to insure that my team has the work environment that helps them be motivated to do their best.” Okay, before you go and attack that answer – there is more to the answer – just coming a bit later on. When I think of it is the manager’s responsibility to motivate his employee’s – I think of my time as a coach of youth sports and my time as a company commander in a training company.  We all have seen coaches that are in your face – either cheering you on or screaming instructions to help get you to do what you want. I got some up close and personal experience watching drill sergeants motivate their trainees (see picture). Is that motivating? Would you like to have that be your manager’s style at the office? I believe that the successful coaches are the ones that have instilled an outstanding work environment that helps the player to motivate themselves. Much like my answer.

Getting back to my answer.. I really think there are some fundamental items that I like to insure that my team environment has…

  • Open and Direct Communications : How many times have you heard, “I didn’t know that?” Or maybe, “if they would just communicate with us, we could get that done?” Old school management.. Tell your employees just what they need to know, nothing more, nothing less. Well, that does not work! Never really did.. Be very open and direct in your communications. Tell them everything. What harm is there in doing so? This also will help your employees see that they can tell you stuff as well. There have been many times I have learned something from them that I did not think of – just because we had a open and direct communications.
  • Set a Good Example: As the manager, you really are out front and your team is watching and listening to you. It may sound silly, but how you present yourself in the beginning of the day will set the tone for your team the rest of the day. I know that not everyday is going to be perfect.. There will be something that happens (either at home or on the way to work) that will challenge you to be positive. You have to check all that before meeting your team.
  • Saying “Thank-You”: Doesn’t cost a lot to say thanks for a job well done. Times are tough this days, not everyone has a budget to help out with giving away cash, gifts or raises. Saying “thanks” goes a long way. I learned early on, that I truly perked up when I was given a thank you. Hand written notes, email or just hearing the words worked for me. I started insuring that I did the same for my folks (they like it too). When times get better – or when the time is right – step up that thank you to something more (gift cards, cash, lunch).
  • Give your time: What do you really have as a manager – your time. So, give that time to your employees. Work with them to build a solid working relationship. Help to understand what their passions and goals are. Help them develop and grow professionally. Your time will be well spent!
  • Get dirty: I used to really enjoy getting in there and helping out from time to time. When I was in manufacturing, we had a senior manager that made it a priority that all supervisors and managers would work on the manufacturing line at the end of the month. Clear your calendars, get trained and do the work that your teams do! I looked forward to it. Watching the senior managers work along side the team – was a eye opening experience for all. Roll up your sleeves and do what the team does.

When I left the interview, and was driving home, I thought of a couple of more items that I do that just did not come to me.

  • Look for some fun volunteer activities: I had this one time, that really rallied around one cause. We happened to have a team member that had a child with a disability. We wanted to help – so we decided to step away from the day to day work – to help out with the school that this team members child went to. Everyone was excited to help out. We had a great day! You could see your team in a different environment and watch their interactions. It was an eye opening experience for everyone. Plus we helped out a school in need. I am always looking for those opportunities.
  • Tie everything to the big picture (without losing sight of the little picture): Making sure to tie the work that the team is doing to the companies big picture. The little picture is really the team as a whole. We all like to know that we are working on something bigger than ourselves. Make sure to paint those pictures!

There is no silver bullet for motivating your employees. Don’t look for it. Spend time working on your team environment and maybe that will help you to increase the internal motivation of your employees.

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My Manager Musts

Apr06
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

Over the years, I have learned some important things to do and not to do. Managing people has been a learning experience. When I was a new manager, almost every situation I encountered was new. I stumbled through them sometimes, but I can safely say, I learned something from each situation. Some of my managers were good sources of my experiences. Some of them offered the “don’t do this” variety, but those are key lessons to take with me. So, what are the major things I have learned in all these years of managing people? What have I shared with other managers? I have written on almost all of them (see hyperlinks). Here are the things that I have in my toolbox of managing people:

  • Your job is to remove roadblocks for your staff. This is one key that many managers forget. What do you really offer your staff that they can not get on their own? Roadblock remover! Sometimes the manager gets in the way. If that is true, get moving.
  • Set expectations. Giving your staff the opportunity to help set expectations is very powerful. Giving them the end point, gives them vision into what needs to be done. Don’t tell them how to do it. See the first one…
  • Empower them. I know this one is a lot of lip service. Truly empower them is giving them the authority, confidence and the space to get the job done. Sounds easy… Make it happen, you will be rewarded more from your staff with this one.
  • Never give someone a task, you wouldn’t do. Let’s face it sometimes there are crappy tasks that need to be done.. Don’t be afraid to say that, “I know this is a crappy task. I am sorry, but I really need you to get it done.” Helps..
  • Problems occur, address them ASAP. In a previous post, I wrote about conflict. Well, those problems don’t usually go away. Stand up and acknowledge there is a problem. Respectfully address it.
  • Praise in public. Critique in private. If you must critique, make sure that it is about the professional part of the job. Stay away from the personal. Everything must tie to what is happening back on the job. Your behavior in this situation caused this to be missed, that to slipped or whatever happened  in their job. Setting the stage is critical.
  • Let them speak (or vent). Give them the opportunity to let of some steam if necessary. Listen, you could hear something that is going on, that you were unaware of. Too many times, I have heard a managers voice and not my own. Those don’t work well.
  • Respect their time. I had a manager that was late to everything. His time management was terrible. For me, I felt that my time was not important. My time and their time is important!
  • Don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know.” I don’t know everything.. The worse thing you could do is make something up. A simple, “I don’t know, but let me find out” works best.
  • No surprises. Don’t blindside your staff members. A performance appraisal should not be the first time someone hears there is a problem. You should be communicating all the time. Here is more deeper thoughts in this area.
  • Never micromanage. Again, another past post of mine. For me, micromanaging is the worst behavior any manager can do. Give your people room to work!
  • Finding the “right” people to work in your team. Your team is key to your success. Finding the right people to work together is critical. Sometimes the person with the most experience is not the best fit for the job
  • Mistakes happen, just not the same mistake over and over. No one is perfect, so when a mistake happens, learn from it and don’t let it happen again. I always use the first one is on me… Have a positive outlook and control
  • Blame is useless. I have had managers that are looking for the “who” to blame. I would rather find out what happened and make sure that it doesn’t happen again. See the above one.
  • You set the example of your staff to follow. Your staff is a mirror of yourself. You don’t like what you see, then you change.
  • You are nothing without them. It is a funny thing, when you go on vacation or are out sick, the work gets done… If you staff is all out on vacation or sick – nothing gets done.

There probably are more to add.. Everyday as a manager is a learning experience. Take this list, use what you want and add some of your own. Either way, your staff will appreciate it.

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New Managers – Where to Focus?

Apr04
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

I read a survey the other day that just hit home with me! It was CareerBuilder’s survey that says 26% of managers feel untrained in their new position. Am I surprised? Maybe a little. Why? I wonder if the sample size really reflects the true percentage. I would think it maybe higher… I have to think back to my days as a new manager or supervisor (that is how long ago it was for me). We had no formal training program. See if this sounds familiar with anyone. I spent my time working during my shift - getting to know my people, helping to make sure that we were meeting expectations and learning the culture of the organization. I was spending my free time reading how to be a good manager from books and magazines. Today, I bet many new managers are using the Internet to get their additional information to get them up to speed. Look at all of the blogs and material that is out there…

So, what are the areas that new managers are struggling with? From the survey:

  • Dealing with issues between co-workers on my team – 25%. I have written about that one already, in fact the titel was New Managers -Learn this one Early! - see more here!
  • Motivating team members – 22%. Read more here!
  • Performance reviews – 15%. Read more here!
  • Finding the resources needed for the team – 15%. Read more here!
  • Creating career path for my team – 12%. Read more here!

I was lucky enough my last year of working at Intel, to spend it training new managers. I can definitely say that this list is pretty spot on with all of the topics that the new managers brought up during the training. What I was happy about, was that I got to share my experiences to over 200 new managers. I am no longer working at Intel, but I still get an email a week from students with questions. New managers are looking to do well, but just need to have the tools to help them.

Are you a new manager? Are these familiar? I hope that my information is valuable to you!

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New Managers – Learn This One Early

Mar24
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

Looking back at my experiences as a new manager and some of the difficulties that no one can prepare you for I remember one in particular. It center on getting your people (team) to work as a team. My very first gig was on graveyard shift working in manufacturing with 20 direct reports. I was the new manager and had been doing “their” job on day shift. I pretty much was an expert or “ace doer” within that particular area. I could run anything well, I exceeded my goals and had superb quality to boot! I didn’t lack in confidence either. Well, I was promoted to manager… Yeah! I was looking forward to the challenge of making graveyard shift #1. Well, that task was definitely met with some resistance. I took over a shift of people that I did not hire, did not know and was challenged by them everyday. One of the very first things I noticed were the shift was not functioning or acting as a team. In fact, they had more conflicts or personality clashes than I had ever seen before. I wanted to get out and help train and coach each employee in being the best at what “I” did as one of them, but could not get that started until I get them to work as a team first.

The amount of time that I spent on working on personality conflicts or conflicts in general was high. These discussions take time and sometimes the benefits of that time are very low. As a new manager, you want to demonstrate to those that promoted you, that you can deliver. Getting through the conflict hurdle was going to be tough. What do you do? Here is what I did…

  • Timing – as a new manager it is tough to know when you should step in. Some conflict is okay. Knowing when to step in is critical. If you step in for every little thing – your people will just use this as an opportunity to have you run in circles. Don’t step in and your risk having the situations go too far and never be repairable. Over time, as a new manager, you will get better at it. Just keep notes on how you handled each situation and how you could do better next time.
  • Start Up Meetings – time away from running your equipment in manufacturing is limited, but you need that time. I used to have daily start up meeting to communicate what was hot, what the focus was and to have one employee share something about themselves. I called it, what do you like to do away from work? What is important to you? 2 minutes of sharing went a long way for people to get to know each other. After the first month, we would just do a quick round robin on what the weekend brought to each other or anything important! It worked…
  • Find the “few” that are the real issue – I think we all know that there are a few folks that are the majority of the problem. After watching, learning and coaching the team – I was able to find those folks that were the real problem. Now you can spend quality time on the “real” issues. Through coaching, discipline  or flat out removal – whatever it takes to show the team you mean business. Do it! Sometimes a good termination will have a very long lasting effect. At the very least the team will see that you are willing to do what it takes to keep the team a team.
  • Hiring – One thing a manager can do (when the opportunity is available) is bring in the best people for their team. Part of my interview process was to insure that I had a person that would fit into the make-up of my current team (with a few things that will move the team forward). If you bring in a loner or a disruptive force to your team, get ready to be back in the conflict resolution business.

Let’s face it, people will always have some sort of conflict. Tight schedules, working closely together for long periods of time, bad days or whatever can easily help add to conflict. You as the manager just need to act, when necessary and effectively to keep the team working together. Your success as a manager is tied to your team. Don’t ever forget that!

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The Teambuilding Outcome!

Jan13
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

Here is the outcome of the teambuilding exercise that I wrote about on yesterday!

Quick summary:

Team one was the old school – paper and pencil. Watching them passing notes back and forth (writing as fast as they could) – looked a lot like grade school. Quick the teacher is not looking – pass it on! Their exercise was centered around Riddles to decipher.

Team two had email only as their communication vehicle. Viewing their progress was quite different. Many of them were either completely heads down (reading/typing) or sitting waiting for their next message. Their exercise was unscrambling 10 US cities. This team had a team member that was not from the US… (No, I did not do that on purpose)

Team three had Instant Messaging only. Like the email folks the view was the same. Their exercise was to sketch one charade phrase out of the two that was given to each of them. By the way – we did a quick review of the sketches at the end – and the staff was able to get 50% right.

Outcome:

Team three – the IM team. Had no chance! The leader of the team, had his laptop freeze up! Had to reboot. How many times have we attended a meeting just to hear someone say – sorry me system has locked up and I have to reboot? After the reboot was completed – he was unable to connect wirelessly (he received a request for a wireless driver patch – that he could not complete that day). While this was going on the other team members tried to make due by communicating to each other – multi-tasking (doing their email, etc). Many were just sitting waiting… Have you ever noticed that when you are in a meeting – and someone asks a question – you get sorry “I was on mute” or what was that question again?? Multi-tasking were they? Once the team got going, the complaints of way too many IM’s was pretty common. Trying to juggle 2 IM conservations was a bit tough (lost some focus). This team did complete their tasks – just about 20 minutes from the winner.

Team two – email team. Came in second! Discussion with them – highlighted the overload of emails. Trying to make decisions or get information – they must have had about 60 emails total over the exercise! They found that they answered one – when the answer was already sitting in their inbox. How many times has someone answered an email – in the string – that if they looked at the last one – they would have seen the answer. Since the exercise was set up just for them to email with one person – limited the email traffic some. Think if they had set up a group distribution and replied to all. What a mess that would be – about 240 emails for each! They took more time to read, react and answer. The team was about 10 minutes behind the winners.

Team one – paper and pencil – the Winners! If you ask the team why – they would simply say – “they were the strongest team.” They did not have to worry about connecting. They simply jumped into the exercise and kept working till they were completed. No one ran out of paper and the pencil did not break. They did find that they were overloaded with notes and at times it was difficult to keep up. But, they just kept plugging away. What helped them the most was they were able to get to the instructions the fastest…

What does this tell us?  Team one was probably the closest situation to being a face to face. Our technologies, have helped in many ways – but, we probably may not always pick the right capability for the situation we are in. Instant messaging is great for that quick question that needs an answer (problem solving – maybe not the best). Email is used quite heavily  – and we just don’t know what to do when it goes down… We always hear about email overload.  The phone is a wonderful capability that has been around for quite some time.. Look at audio conferencing, I wonder how many minutes your company consumes! We have all of the capabilities at our fingertips – it all comes down to apply the right capability, or set of capabilities, for the solution that you need.

I can’t wait to update this exercise again with some of the newer technologies… The results maybe slightly different, but I would argue face to face will always win out.

Posted in New To Management, Observations - Tagged , ,

My Favorite Teambuilding Activity for Communications

Jan12
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

Image Source Page: http://www.t2tuk.co.uk/Team%20Building.aspx One of my favorite communication team building exercises was something that I just happened to come up with off the top of my head. I focused my exercise on communications with “old” school favor – up till today’s technology. The group was a complete staff that had been working together for about a year. They happened to be responsible for a lot of the personal productivity and collaboration tools. The group was 12 total folks that were broken down to 3 teams. Team one was the “old” paper and pencil team and with paper and pencil as their only communication tool. Team two had a step up – email as their communications tool. Team three had the  instant messaging as their communications method only.

Before you read on – which order do you think the teams finished?

Each team was given the simple instructions that they could only communicate with the person in front of them (they were seated in a row). The email and IM folks could not set up one distribution or chat session – we want to demonstrate the dispersed locations of a team. Next, they had everything they needed to figure out in front of them (I basically, put a slip of paper on each chair – that if you put them together the leader (seated in the back) has the instructions under their chair. Then each team had to completed a team building exercise – each was different. Each one of those exercises would take their teams about 15 minutes to complete (team one had 10 riddles to decipher; team two had 10 scrambled US cities; team three had to sketch a charade phrase given to them) – once they found their instructions. Watching them pass notes and type was a nice thing to see. Busy beavers working away – some visually frustrated, some wondering what was going on and others too busy to look up.

The team learned that just trying to get everyone together was a struggle to get to an end result (they would have loved to just call a meeting and get to it). Most of our teams were spread across the globe – making effective communications very difficult. Not everyone works in one timezone only… So, we talked about ways to improve that. We also focused on those poor folks out on the islands – last person in the row.. How they felt when a small few in the team communicated differently. Look at when in some teams have a good portion of the team in one location – they can get together in the hallway, by the “water cooler” and so on – to talk, brainstorm, make decisions and then the rest have to live with the outcome. There were other things that came out, but for story telling – we just put some action plans together and will come back to see if we have improved.

 I want to hear what people think was the outcome and why… And for those that participated in the team activity – or heard me discuss this – please do not share at this time. Tomorrow – I will share part 2 the outcome..

Image Source Page: http://www.t2tuk.co.uk/Team%20Building.aspx

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Lead or Judge – You Pick

Sep22
2010 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

Reality is a funny thing. We know we should live in it. When you are leading sometimes, reality is not something that you really want to see or hear. The story is always better. Given a choice between reality and our version of it, I bet we are more inclined to choose the later. Sharing a story – I was a new leader to a team of folks, that were partners of mine before. My perception of this team was not good. They were difficult to work with, rarely got stuff done on-time and frankly I did not look forward to any dealings I had with them. As part of a rotation, I was now their leader (careful what you wish for). What do you do? Below I will share my experience on what I did.

So what does this sound like? Have you ever heard any of these?

  • “I shouldn’t have to do this – it’s not part of my job description.”
  • “Our department is always having to clean up after others’ mistakes (messes).”
  • “The boss just doesn’t get it.”
  • “Management only cares about the bottom-line.”

When you hear those – you are arguing with reality. Judging your situation in terms of right or wrong instead of confronting what is. Time to respond to facts. Always easier said then done. Think what is woven into the story; ego, insecurities and identity. The story makes us look and feel better. Most stories have someone or something that is not quite good enough (not always placing blame, but enough to point to it). This insures that the criticism is setting us apart from others (which in turn does not help them).

When you start judging, you stop leading. Judging is in the land of the story… How do you make sure that you get back?

  • Step back and really getting the facts. Do you have all the information or are you judging what you think you know?
  • Focus on actions for success. Too many times I hear – I was right. Are you trying to prove yourself right?
  • Trust others. Not to worry about what motives are driving a team or individual, but how can you help them achieve success.
  • Clear and solid expectations. Those expectations have to be of your team and yourself. We all have challenging goals to achieve. Work with your team to best figure out the right approach for success.

Back to the story.. That horribly negative group that I know am the leader of… I took it upon myself to say, I am the biggest obstacle in making this work. It was my judging of the team that needed to change first. Respond to reality.. The phone rings – I pick it up. Email comes in – I answer it right away. Team asks a question – I answer it or teach them to fish. Team discusses how things worked in the past – I listen and learn – then lead them toward the future. Engaging with them all the way. I started to see changes in the team. I mostly started to see changes in myself. With every experience comes some key learning’s – if you want to learn.

I wonder, if you think back to a situation – where you telling yourself a story? Were you doing any judging of individuals or departments? Was it reality? Did you lead in that situation?

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Bouncing Back

Sep24
2009 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

 

Most people have moments in their life that they run into tough times. Something that just does not go the way that you had planned or hoped. My post today is about one such time that I have experienced and how I had to step up and deal with. As I have written many times, I find that sports and life lessons parallel well. This example is a very much that way. The other day, a co-worker was telling me about a situation they were having to deal with (their situation is private - so, no deals to share). As I was listening, I was thinking back to a situation that I could draw from to help make a point. When I was coaching high school hockey - I could really use this example as a way to demonstrate my experiences.

I was in my second year of head coaching, we had a very good team. In fact, it was a very special team for me. Special in ways that coaches just know! They worked extremely hard, played hard and were a team (on and off the ice). I really enjoyed being around these players. We had probably my best season as a coach as far as wins and losses go. We went deep in the playoffs. It was the semi final game, and we were facing the #1 team. My team had peaked at the right time, we were playing our best hockey and frankly we knew we were going to win. We were confident, but we also knew this was the #1 team we were facing. Confident because we dominated the #2 team. Nothing was going to be easy.

My pre-game pep talk was centered around all the hard work that they had done over the year. They were peaking at the right time! We have an extremely tough opponent. They had beaten us 2 times this season (4-0; 3-1). Each game was tough and we did okay. I centered everything on how they are better today then when we faced them. I truly believed it! Our team had developed and was performing better.

Puck drops, we are playing well! Both teams were in fact playing very well. Back and forth all first period. End of period one, 0-0. Same for the second period – another solid period of hockey, both sides. End of period 2, 1-1. In between the period, I am stressing that the best team will win this game. We are the best team, we knew it and we were going to show it. Fired up, the team goes out in the first 2 shifts and scores. Wow, 3-1 and we are on a roll. Down to the last 5 minutes and we are still ahead 3-1. Then all of a sudden the game changes! Old Mo left our side. With 10 seconds left, they scored their third unanswered goal.

What the hell had happened? We were in the driver seat and we lost it. Every player was down. Every parent in the stands was down. My coaches were down. I was in shock. After the game we shake hands and go off to the locker rooms. I have to step up and set an example for the players. Shoot they are 14-18 years… They probably think their world had ended. I have to use this as a lesson in life. I can not change the hurt, but I have to do something.

I walked into the locker room and the heads were down, tears in some of the players eyes and others just sitting there – lost. My coaches were standing there pretty much the same, minus the tears. As the door closes, all eyes are pointed to me. Time for me to step up!

My discussions started off with – this was probably my best season ever as a coach. I have to start by saying that every individual in this room made that happen for me. Am I disappointed with the outcome of this game? You bet! I really have to step up and take the blame for this one. I know I could have done things different and the outcome could have been different. What is important is that each of you had in my eyes a magical season. You don’t get this very often. You are special! Did we accomplish all of our goals? Realistically? Yes. We were the #5 team going into the playoffs. Does this hurt? Yes. The most critical thing to take away is how do you react to this… The possibilities are you can continue to focus on what was missed or what could have been… or you can bounce back. You can take this as a lesson and move forward. Life is going to fill you will ups and downs. You just have to make the best of every situation. The true measure of you as a person is going to be how you bounce back from the downs. I walked around to each player – we hugged or shook hands and I thanked them personally for the wonderful time I had. For the seniors that were leaving I wished them nothing but success in the future.

I am so thankful that I had the time with them. I am now retired from coaching. I still look at my time with each of my teams special. Each has given me lessons and times that I just can not forget. This team, gave me – one extra gift. The gift to bounce back! Did any of my teams go onto to win a state title? No. The life lessons that they gave me – were tools to teach them about life. To help me, with my own life. It is not always about the wins or losses…

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