Team Building & Cardinals Baseball

Well it's happened again. The Saint Louis Cardinals have won another NL pennant - their 19th overall and 4th in the last 10 years. They are in the post-season this year for the 10th time in the last 14 years. How do they do it? In an era of free-agency, salary caps and the resulting high mobility of players, how do they continue to put together winning teams year after year?

As I was thinking about that I remembered a discussion at work a couple weeks ago. Our Operations Team was talking about hiring practices and building teams. The question then was very similar - how do we continue building a winning team in all of the various departments throughout our organization? In that conversation we identified 5 C words to pay attention to when choosing people. Now that I think about it, those 5 C's of Team Building can be seen in most any organization, business, or church that is successful over a long period of time -- just like the Cardinals.

1. Character - In the long run it doesn't matter how much a person knows or how good they are at their job. If they don't  live with honesty and integrity, if they're not dependable, if you can't trust what they say and do, if they continually put their own interests ahead of the team's or organization's, if they're not ethical in their dealings, both on and off the job, they will eventually cause more pain than profit. More often than not teams that consistently "win" are made up of men and women of high character and a strong moral core.

2. Chemistry - How many times have we seen very talented teams fall apart at the end of a season, only to learn later of the chaos and discord in the locker room. Every coach knows that good team chemistry is critical to long term success. When team members like and respect each other, trust each other and have shared values and organizational goals, they tend to support each other's efforts. That collaboration produces a synergy that multiplies the team's effectiveness and overall performance. Conversely, as my grandpa used to say, "one bad apple can spoil the whole barrel." Bad chemistry is toxic to a team.

3. Competence - Winning teams have talent. Even the greatest coach in the world can't win without players that can play.  Average skills will usually produce average results. Highly competent and highly skilled team members can not only perform at a high level themselves, but their work often raises the performance of others as well.

4.  Calling - In vocational ministry a divine calling is a given. Men and women hear the whisper of God in their heart and that calling fuels their efforts. But a calling, or a passion, or an intrinsic desire to go to work can make a big difference to every person in every job. Whether it's because they like the product, support the mission, believe God has called them to the work, or just enjoy the task or the challenge or the people or the culture, when a person likes their job they are simply more effective at it.

5.  Capacity - One of the keys to the Cardinals success this season has been the development of their "home grown" talent. Over half of their World Series roster came up through their minor league system. When assessing talent, a couple great questions to consider are:  "How good could this person be in a few years?" and "How much can I grow them?" Finding raw or baseline talent that is both teachable and full of potential can provide a winning edge to any team or organization.

Go Birds!