James Summers
New Zealand

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From Solo to Team Player

Shoes squealing on the gym floor, balls spiked over the net, a serve into a hole of the other team’s defense, every movement was total concentration on the game. Every time I was on the volleyball court playing on the Cook Islands national team, I had 110 percent of my energy and emotions focused on getting every ball that touched my hands over the net. People watching probably thought we looked like a well-run and cooperative team, and I was proud of being a player-manager. It wasn’t until towards the end of my career, however, that I figured out what being a team really meant.

As a kid, playing volleyball was the one place I felt I could be successful. I went through school believing I was dumb. I refused to read aloud in front of my classmates and teachers. I skipped going to class whenever possible. Where I did consistently show up was at the volleyball court in the gym.

Yet, even as an adult, no matter how well I did on the court, the insecurities were still there. To cover my own insecurities, I competed with my teammates. Even when we won a game, I didn’t experience any sense of real satisfaction. By the time I was playing at the national level, I operated as a one-man team and a one-player coach. As far as I was concerned, my teammates did it my way or no way. I was the champ.

I participated in the Landmark seminar program following my Landmark Forum. The ones that really made a difference for me were on excelling. What I learned, instead, was that I could stop trying to prove that I was better than everyone else. I saw that in reality, I had only been trying to prove to myself that I was worthy of those around me. I remember one session talking a lot about teamwork not only in our jobs and with our families, but in any group that came together with a common purpose. I began to see that I could let go of my own ego and focus on what it would take to have a really great team.

I began to sit back and let the captains work out how to play the game. I began to ask the players what they thought was missing and why we weren’t getting the results we wanted. I started to acknowledge the qualities each member brought to the team, instead of taunting them to keep up with me. We became a team on fire.

Crowds began to flock to our games. Our record of wins went up by 20 percent.

World Class in Business, Too
This success has transferred to my business as well. I own a sports equipment manufacturing and distribution company. Since completing The Landmark Forum, our business has increased 289 percent, compared to an average annual increase of 5 to 10 percent growth for the prior eight years.

How is this possible? I now think of our company as a world-class sporting “team.” We always get extremely high customer approval ratings because we deliver more than is expected. We regard unreasonable requests from our customers as challenges worth meeting.

Still Out on the Court
Although I’m not playing on a volleyball team any more, I consult with coaches in a variety of sports. Again, I utilize what I’ve learned in Landmark courses. I work with coaches to listen more carefully to their players. I encourage coaches to value their players as people and help their players balance sports with the rest of their lives. I share with them that the team will perform better if they have fun and aren’t so seriously focused on winning at all costs. Probably the greatest contribution I have to make is this: the first-hand experience that no one has to do it alone.