Lessons on Leadership and Teamwork from Over-achieving Miami Heat

Butler brilliance as Miami stuns Boston.  Original article from msn.com 

 

"Guys never quit, guys never give up, we love playing with one another -- we got so much faith and trust in one another."

That is how an eighth seed Miami eliminated the #1 seed; and how, in the conference finals, it is up 2-0 over the second seed Boston.  Here are some leadership and teamwork insights we can learn from breaking down what Butler said during the post-game interview:

1.  "Guys...guys.."  You always need 5 men on the court.  Those on the bench should be ready to make an impact whenever called or give total support while seated.

2.  "...never quit, never give up."  Winners do not toss the towel.  They fight and grind all the way to the end.  It is never over 'til its over.

3.  "we love playing with one another".  You win when you love playing/working with your teammates. The dubs from the other conference used to chant strength in numbers.  When "numbers" decrease, losses increase.  Teamwork vs. losses has a negative slope.  The less teams work together, the more they lose.  In general, points made has a positive slope with assists and rebounds in the box scores.  We don't need a regression analysis to determine that relationship (but that might be fun to do).  When people in teams are happy working with one another -- whether in sports, business or public service -- expect teams to succeed.

4.  "we got so much faith and trust in one another."  In the fourth quarter of game 2 of the Lakers-Nuggets series, Nuggets coach Michael Malone could be heard shouting, Jamal, I don't care if you're not making your shots.  Murray, struggled up to the point.  Then he just took over the 4th quarter with 23 points and they're up 2-0 over Lebron's Lakers.  

Faith and trust is essential in order to achieve unbelievable feats.  Individual strength and flashes of talent will always be trumped by a team that runs together as a well--oiled machine.   That is what I always believed, even during the era of his airness in the 1990s.  There are 5 bodies on the court, an individual GOAT or a big three can win you some games but that alone can't win an entire series.

Despite having said all these, let me end with, "Hail, Butler!"