Michael Jordan did not win a single championship during his first six years in the NBA. Perhaps the greatest player to ever grace the basketball court, he and the Chicago Bulls were struggling. Drafted in 1984, without question, Jordan emerged as one of (if not the) top players in the league, yet Jordan couldn’t get over the line and win a championship. He experienced defeat in the first round of the play-offs during his first three seasons.
Something was missing. Someone was missing.
Despite Jordan besting the best player on the court, he couldn’t win the championship on his talent alone. He needed help.
Who, not how
It was no longer a case of figuring out what they needed to do, or how they could utilise Jordan more effectively, but who else could join the team.
Everybody has heard of Michael Jordan. Fewer had heard of Scottie Pippen. He mirrored Jordan’s assertiveness, aggressiveness on the court and competitive will to win. He pushed Jordan to his limits, expanded his capacity and helped him to evolve from an individual sensation to a spirited team player. With the help of Pippen, the Chicago Bulls pushed past their limitations and moved to the next level.
Here was a once in a generation talent, whose feats of physical stature and technical brilliance can make plays out of nothing and take our breath away, yet it was his teammates, slightly less gifted, a little less impressive on the eye, that without them success would not be possible.
The head coach Phil Jackson gathered his players, teammates, and the leaders in the group, and tied them together with not only the heart they would need to win but also the tactics.
He employed what he called the triangle offence. It was a strategy the Bulls installed into their playing repertoire to create more space on the court with more passing as a team, so players were left free and unguarded for an open shot. Suddenly, Jordan no longer shouldered the weight of winning, but the team shared collective responsibility for their results.
The result? In 1991 the Chicago Bulls finished the season with the best record in franchise history and won the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. Michael Jordan not only won his second MVP Award that season, but his first NBA championship. From 1991-1998, Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls won six championships, becoming one of the greatest teams in sports history.
Team over talent
To this day, many argue Michael Jordan went on to become the greatest athlete of all time. Yet without the right teammates surrounding him, a like-minded community supporting him, he would have a world class shot ratio and individual scorecard, but he wouldn’t have been winning championships. No one can be their best selves, by themselves, not even Michael Jordan.
His growth was the result of who was on his team, not what he did or how he did it. Jordan was no island or self-contained entity. He fulfilled his potential through the asset of others. His team enlarged him. They enhanced his capabilities. He became more than he would have become on his own. Can the same be said about you and the people around you?
If Michael Jordan, one of the greatest athletes of all time needed support to help him grow, could the same be said for you? Team trumps talent.
Andrew Carnegie wrote, “It marks a big step in your development when you come to realise that other people can help you do a better job than you can do alone.”How much of your growth are you trying to shoulder alone? Do you need to stop asking how am I going to make this happen, and ask who can help me become the person I need to be, to do what i desire to do? Association breeds assimilation. When you enrich your relationships, you enhance your growth.
After coaching entrepreneurs, CEO’s and Titans of industry in over 44 countries, I’ve come to discover those that reach their full potential embrace not being the smartest player in the room but aim to make the room smarter. Many of us need more than great answers to reach our potential, we need great people to walk with us on the journey.
The culturally anointed musician Beyonce puts it well, “without community there is no liberation.”
The hardest thing for any of us to do in business and life when we need a helping hand is to acknowledge and ask the hands around us. The bigger your goal, the greater your need for community.
Circles or cages?
Whoever walks with us in the present is deciding who we’re going to become in the future. If you are the smartest person in your circle, you are no longer in a circle but a cage or limitation – keeping new insights from getting in and stopping stagnant thoughts from getting out. Does your circle of influence inspire you to reach higher, stretch further and go faster? If not, you’ve outgrown where you are, and the plateau has begun.
Shoot your shot
The Chicago Bulls team made Jordan taller. They made their chance of success stronger. Can the same be said about you and the community around you? The essence of reaching your potential is more than innate talent or impressive skill. Jordan had teammates who made him better on and off the court. They got more out of Jordan. They inspired him. This is the power of community.
As you shoot for your own championship you will discover your growth hinges on the community you have around you. Those cheering you on. Watching your back. Standing arm in arm and shoulder to shoulder. As Henry Wadsworth Longfellow captured:
Honour to those who words or deeds.
Thus, help us in our daily needs.
And by their overflow.
Raise us from what is low.
Community makes you bigger, it makes you better. When the final buzzer sounds, you’ll discover it took ten hands working together to shoot the ball through the net of success. For in the collective rise of your community, you will find the power to soar, and slam dunk your way to greatness. It’s always about who not how.
