I don’t watch a lot of basketball. Don’t get me wrong, I love March Madness, and I was a proud season ticket holder for my Sun Devils this year, but other than that, it just isn’t my sport. I prefer full court basketball and single elimination playoffs. Most NBA games lack that, and quite honestly, they just bore me.
But on Sunday, I found myself intrigued by a game.
I happened to catch the first ten minutes of the Rockets vs. Lakers and spent the rest of the day searching for footage of highlights. I’m not a guy who watches a lot of SportsCenter, but even I knew that Yao Ming was out for the rest of the season. The 7 foot 6 inch center has been an asset for the Rockets and one of their key components for advancement in the NBA Playoffs. He broke his foot in the last game and is now out for the rest of the season. The Lakers led the series 2-1.
Until Sunday.
I watched Mr. Ming stand on the sidelines in those first few moments, wearing his suit instead of his #11 jersey. I heard the commentators begin the game by discussing how Houston would really struggle. Apparently, Houston didn’t get them memo, because they showed up and dominated.
With apologies to the numerous Lakers fans in my life, I was really thrilled for Houston. They came out and lead throughout the entire basketball game—at one point by 29 points. I saw highlight replays throughout the game. After major dunks, three point shots, or great steals, the camera would often cut to Yao Ming and show the sheer joy on his face as he cheered on his teammates. Houston won the game 99-87, tying the series. Yao Ming’s teammate, the young Aaron Brooks, scored a career high 34 points. He scored his career high…in the playoffs…against the Lakers.
I enjoyed watching Yao Ming and the other players on the Houston team, and I started to wish our own organizations would operate more like this. No, I don’t want us to face injury and ailment that prevents us from participating in what we’ve prepared (Yao’s broken foot is practically the equivalent of a high school senior class president coming down with a bout of the flu a day before prom), but I do like the way in which the team reacted.
In the past few months I’ve been in several environments where I hear different high school and collegiate organizations discuss their approaching transitions: what happens when the senior “stars” leave and a new group takes over? While I have been impressed most leaders, I’ve heard some “star players” talk about themselves in a way that honestly upsets me. They mention it during a lunchtime conversation at a leadership conference, in a photo comment on facebook, or as goodbye to fellow leaders they’ve worked with. For some of these young leaders, it seems like they would be thrilled if the organization couldn’t win without them—that a reduction quality and/or success would prove their worth in that group. They seem to be planning to root against their team when they as the “star” can no longer stand on the court.
This really upsets me because I honestly believe real leadership does just the opposite. If a leader has really done his or her job, the group will always surpass and previous bar that had been set. I’m not talking about low expectations. I’m talking about raising the expectations so high and then preparing the group to leap over them. I’m talking about making your “bench” stronger than you and cheering them on the whole time.
I don’t understand departing leaders who are ready to fly out of their group on a rocket, but have only instructed the remaining members on how to build a paper airplane. We need to be leaders not just of the present, but of our organization’s future as well.
I honestly don’t know what role Yao Ming played in the success of the other members of his team. He isn’t a coach, and I doubt that he ran special drills during practice. But I saw him on the sidelines cheering for his team at the top of his lungs. I saw him desperately desire a win for his teammates. He won’t step foot on the court again this season, but at least for now he is doing what he can for his team. He gave a huge high five to Aaron Brooks and celebrated his teammates’ accomplishment that day.
Many of us still have a few more days, weeks, or even a month or so to impact an organization where we served. I hope we take the time to cheer it on and help it build it’s own rocket allowing it to reach the stars we can’t even imagine.