You can find important lessons in the smallest things. You just have to pay attention and look underneath the surface. One of the activities I usually start my seminars with is a game where the group tosses a ball around while calling out their names.

There are several challenges along the way, and the group has to respond to those challenges. Throughout the game, I stop every so often to point out some of the lessons the game brings. Of course, I always point out that these really apply to your business and personal life.

Always be ready to catch the ball. Too often, we think that things will wait for us to be ready to catch/accept what is being thrown to us.  Actually, we have no real control over when opportunities will happen or when we will be thrust into a leadership role. Always try to keep a ready frame of mind.

Always throw the ball back.  If you keep the ball, the game stops.  Be ready to pass on ideas, suggestions, help and leadership opportunities to other people. Leadership needs to be shared.

The game does not end if you drop the ball. Just because you drop the ball one, two, three or a thousand times, you do not stop playing. You just pick up the ball and keep going. There will be another inning later or another game tomorrow or another business opportunity. Don’t stop trying.

Stop to see what you need to change. If you keep doing the same things, you will keep getting the same results. Be willing to change your strategy or your role. Change positions, try new skills. Keep expanding your knowledge of the game.  In an emergency, the team may need you to fill in for someone else. Be willing to learn new positions or roles.

Practice, practice, practice. Even Lebron James practices. If you don’t practice what you learn, you will not really learn it. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth practicing.  Go out and practice as often as you can. You can always improve. Don’t wait until you need to use a skill to practice it.

You only succeed when everyone around you succeeds. If someone else keeps dropping the ball, it will never get to you and you won’t have a chance to succeed. And the reverse applies. If you keep dropping the ball, someone else will not have an opportunity to get the ball and succeed. Help each other succeed. You always build on other people’s successes. We are not leaders in a vacuum.

Change is coming. If you’ve been catching a basketball, you might get a tennis ball the next time you expect the ball to come to you. We all say that we know that change is coming. We even think we know what the change is going to be. Change rarely is what, when or how we expect it to come. Expect the unexpected.

Everything is about relationships. Teams depend on a working relationship between the players. The same goes for a business. When the relationships aren’t working, the team can’t succeed. When teammates are fighting, they’re not playing well. Work on your relationships.

These are simple rules for the road. If you would like to learn how to play this activity, I’d be glad to send you a copy of the rules for the game. Send me an email.