Team Players Win
Copyright Jack Mixner. 714 449 1040. www.mixnerstrategy.com
Many of you have noticed my interest in applying sports strategy to business. Just run Bill Belichick's name on the search engine attached to this site, and you'll find many references.
Interestingly, Bill Belichick is a friend of Billy Donovan, the Coach of the Florida Gators basketball team, winners last evening of the national championship. And Belichick was in attendance at the game in Atlanta (Thamel).
Belichick has focused on building an unselfish team that plays as a team, not as individuals. Florida, last night, proved they follow the same philosophy. No one really dominated for the Gators. When they needed to score, someone stepped up. It wasn't always the same person. It wasn't always the same play.
Belichick has been lucky in that some of his greatest players, given the option of declaring free agency, have chosen to stay with the team.
It will be interesting to see how many of the Florida players return next year to see if they may be able to extend the Florida streak to three seasons in a row, given the large possibility that many of them will be drafted by the NBA.
References
Thamel, Pete. Gators Repeat as National Champions. New York Times. 3 April 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/03/sports/ncaabasketball/03men.html?_r=1&oref=slogin