By Lois Elfman
In the recent Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, American women repeatedly took center stage, winning gold medals in softball, soccer, beach volleyball and basketball.
Watching these superb athletes work together to achieve such dazzling success, I wondered: what are the parallels between teamwork on the athletic field and in the work arena? It has been suggested that women are at a disadvantage in the workplace because they haven't learned valuable lessons about competition and cooperation that one experiences by playing team sports. To find out if that argument is really valid, I asked some experts from the sports world to share their thoughts on achieving collective goals.
“Team sports require a selfless attitude,” said three-time basketball gold medalist Dawn Staley, who was selected to be the U.S. flag bearer in the Athens Opening Ceremonies. “People must know and accept their roles. You must have a leader and she has to be a good communicator,” Staley continued. “She doesn't mind if somebody gets mad at her. People respect her because of the example she sets.”
First-time Olympian Tamika Catchings, who played on Staley’s gold medal-winning team, pointed out that Staley practiced what she preached—she never minced words and everyone readily accepted her criticism. “If I wasn't doing the right thing, I knew she was going to speak up about it and that I had to suck it up,” Catchings noted.
Here are some of the basic elements essential to any team success, whether on the playing field or in the conference room:
- Common goals are clearly defined
- All team members focus their efforts on achieving team goals
- Leaders and team members communicate and collaborate effectively
- Leadership provides appropriate feedback and team members are able to accept and profit from feedback
- Veteran players share their knowledge and experience by mentoring younger members of the team. Today’s team members become tomorrow’s leaders.
- Individual differences are sublimated in pursuit of common goals
- The team becomes stronger through bonds built over time
- Everyone works to make the most out of good opportunities
The members of the softball, soccer and basketball teams all emphasized the importance of veteran leadership. While young guns understandably want to establish themselves, they know that is unlikely to happen until they gain enough experience. Staley is quick to point out that she was cut from the 1992 U.S. Olympic team. When she finally made the team in 1996, she embraced the leadership offered by veteran point guard Teresa Edwards. Then, in the late 1990s, Staley herself emerged as a leader.
Leadership development consultant Kathryn C. Mayer, who has led AMA’s Current Issues Forum “Getting to the Corner Office: How Women Can Compete,” has never met Staley, yet their words are perfectly in sync. “There are two basic lessons we can learn from team sports. First, you need to figure out what position you're best suited for. Secondly, you have to learn how to get appropriate feedback and truly be open to listening to what the experts have to say,” said Mayer.
Mayer also noted that women in the workplace can sometimes be too isolationist. “Women tend to be more task oriented, while men can be more strategic,” she said. “Women tend to devote 100 percent of their time to working at tasks,” she continued. “They need to spend at least 5 percent of their time on career-building activities such as developing strategic alliances, expanding their self-awareness and seeking out opportunities to take smart risks to build leadership skills.”
Catchings explained, “Playing an individual sport, you know that your success lives or dies with you; you don't have to rely on anybody else. But on the basketball court, as in the workplace, you have to learn how to work with a wide variety of people, including a few whom you may not like personally, to achieve success.”
“The Olympics are where women athletes are able to showcase their talents to the fullest—individually and as teams,” Staley said. “It’s our platform to say, ‘If you give us an opportunity, we'll show you we're the very best in the world.' ”
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Author Bio: Lois Elfman is a freelance editor and writer. She is the former editor in chief of Women’s Basketball and International Figure Skating magazines. She can be reached at ElfmanEd1@aol.com. 
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