Whether you’re looking to finish strong on an already successful year, or you’re looking to close a gap to goal, this story of a high school wrestling tournament offers four ways to help any team reach their goal in the face of adversity.
First, let me set the stage…
It’s an early Saturday morning in Doniphan, Nebraska. The sun is just beginning to rise and I’m on my third cup of coffee. It is my job to coach the 20 high school wrestlers who are currently devouring their post weigh-in breakfast. “We’re going to win this tournament today guys,” I tell them. They look at each other, then back at me, before nodding their heads in unison.
Step #1: Huddle the Team
A team huddle isn’t just for sports. At the beginning of the season our wrestling team came together and created goals, set expectations, and agreed on our standards. My statement “we’re going to win this tournament…” was a measure of accountability to the work we did at the start.
A team huddle is a chance to remind everyone of the commitment we made to each other in the beginning. The energy and excitement from the beginning of the year might have begun to wane. Your team may be weary and their vision, clear and focused at the beginning, is now hazy. It’s important to understand vision leaks. As we head into the 4th quarter, recasting the vision helps reignite the team around a shared focus.
It's now lunch break on that same Saturday. We’re in 4th place. Things haven’t gone as expected and morale is low. Back to step one. We call a huddle and turn our focus toward “the gap”. We map our course from where we are (4th place) to where we want to be (1st place). Every individual understands the level they will need to perform to achieve the goal. Some will be asked of more than others, yet none will be asked for more than they are capable.
Step #2: Call the Play
Things don’t always go as planned. Motivation is temporary and easily deflated by the challenges of real life. How do you keep a team motivated in face of the obstacles? It’s time to call the play.
As a leader, you are the play caller for these crucial moments. Lay out the strategy your team will use. Gather the resources available to support your efforts. Eliminate activities that might derail your efforts. Ensure each team member knows their part in the end of year game plan.
At the end of the day, we are in a 3-way tie for 1st place. The afternoon session was thrilling for our team. Our afternoon huddle and play call paid off. The coaching staff is reviewing matchups with every wrestler, talking through strategy for each. Each wrestler puts their faith in the plan, not the outcome. They focus on controlling what they can control. They accepted being in the gap, decided they were going to close it, and are now mapping their path to the destination, together.
Step #3: Control the Controllable & Release the Outcome
I believe extraordinary moments, extraordinary people, and extraordinary stories are created, molded, and experienced in the gap. A team finds out who they are and what they are capable of when they are sandwiched between potential success and a deadline. In the gap, innovation and ingenuity are abundant out of necessity. In the gap, a team becomes a team, unified in singular purpose, motivated by a “why” much bigger than the individual.
You cannot control the fact there is a gap. However once you accept that’s where you are, focus on the specific actions that will pull you out. For example, If you have a fundraising gap, focus on:
- stewarding LYBUNT donors
- relationships that can be stewarded to “the right to ask” before year end
- enhancing your year-end appeal to increase effectiveness
In fundraising, you have no control over whether a donor decides to give to your organization’s cause, but you do have control over how informed they are of their donation’s impact, and how well they are thanked for their support.
It's early evening and the sun is going down. The gym, originally set with 6 mats, has been broken down to one with a spotlight hanging over head. It’s time for the finals. The stands, packed to capacity, are silent as the announcer calls each finalist to center stage. Our team has 3 wrestlers in the finals. Two of our best easily win their matches in dominating fashion giving us a three and half point lead for 1st place. Success is so close the team can taste it. It all comes down to one final match.
A freshman heavyweight from our team is to wrestle a returning state medalist senior who pinned him at the beginning of the season. I’m in the coach’s chair at the corner of the mat, keeping my posture relaxed and confident. When the young wrestler looks my way before the match begins, I look him in the eye and say, “We don’t pray for rain and fear the storm, do we?” He smiles back. “My fields are ready, Coach.” *
Step #4: Prepare for Rain
As you head into Q4, huddle your team, and recast the vision as often as possible. Make sure everyone knows the play you’ve called and their individual responsibility for the team’s success. Control the actions that move you towards success and release the work from the outcome.
While the first three tips are important, it’s the belief that the opportunity for a successful outcome will arise that ties all of this together. You may be staring at a small or canyon-sized gap to your end of year goals. Either way, I challenge you to “prepare for rain.” The extraordinary – an “angel donor”, a last-minute partnership, a high-profile news story – can be found in the gap, yet it will only show itself if you’ve done the work to receive it. In other words, if you’ve readied your fields for rain.
With 30 seconds left on the clock, our freshman wrestler is tied 2-2. They step out of bounds, stopping the clock, and forcing a reset at center mat. As our wrestler walks towards the center, he looks at his opponent, who is tired, mentally, and physically. Then he looks over to me with a smile and says “I want to be here. I’m prepared. We train this moment.” I fight back a tear with my own smile and respond, “Might as well win.”
When the referee slapped the mat and blew his whistle, my team let out a long-awaited cheer. It was finally raining. We had won. I couldn’t help but think to myself, “Without the gap, it wouldn’t feel this good.”
* Yes, that conversation really did happen. Kids will amaze you if you let them. For context, when he told me “His fields were ready” it was in reference to a talk I gave during a team huddle.
As part of recasting vision, I shared that the training system is designed to “peak” right around end of season. It was very hard in the beginning because we trained as if we were the best even though we aren’t anywhere close to it. We were “preparing the field for rain” even though we were in a drought. A lot of the wrestlers didn’t have winning records the year prior and there wasn’t any evidence they were getting better. The fields were dry and there was no relief in sight.
But working with their coaches to lay out a plan, they could see rain clouds on the horizon. Their belief in their own sacrifices and hard work instilled confidence they could handle any situation thrown their way.
So, when a “storm” (an opportunity for courage) positioned itself over our freshman wrestler’s head, he was comfortable and prepared. He believed the desired outcome would happen because his faith was in his preparation. He’d been preparing his fields, despite the drought, and was ready to receive the moment when lighting struck.
As we approach the final quarter, it's the perfect time to energize your team and refine your strategies. Let’s focus on finishing strong—aligning efforts, maximizing impact, and setting the stage for next year’s success.
