Why Teams/ Organizations fail

I did not write the article I am referencing, (http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/parent-cliques-school/) but I can tell you from 1st hand experience and research that the worst destabilizing force in an organization is a group of good or bad minded individuals that think they are bigger or more important than the cause or organization. Sometime it comes from a good place, or it can be by selfish people who only care bout their children and themselves. Ego or conceit can drive it or it can be by accident that the good intentions of helpfulness turns to feelings of being owed or perceived ingratitude can drive a wedge. However it starts or whatever the motivation the biggest danger to an institution or program is when one person or a clique starts to think the needs of the few outweigh what is best for the program.

I just spoke with long time friend and mentor Tom Ryan. He is a great leader. He told me how he is willing to risk dual meet wins to support Kyle Snyder's FS career. Since Tom is the leader it actually has an overall positive effect on the team. Each member sees that Ohio State isn't the end all be all, and that the staff and university accept the needs of an individual. At the same time Kyle loves being a part of the team. He is unique on that team as the reigning world and olympic champion, but he also loves the bus rides and the team chemistry. It would be easy for Kyle to only worry about his own career. He could leave for a big $$ MMA career. He could use his celebrity to make $ outside of wrestling. But he is part of a team and he values that greatly because that is what got him where he is at, to a large degree the team is very valuable to him.

The article, http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/parent-cliques-school/, talks about how schools have parent cliques that can negatively effect the overall community. No one will get a long with everyone. Also some people are just not cut out for collaborative efforts, but I know that Gable was a master at managing the needs of IOWA Wrestling and still making each individual important. You see it at the NFL level. New England loses superstars and they still excel. The sports pages are loaded with examples how one star or one ego driven mega start can ruin an entire team. While teams who put the team 1st succeed at a much greater rate. Its a bit over-simplified but the facts bear out time and time again. In business the culture is a huge part of the success. The unit must be 1st. All-Stars come and go, but the core of success is a vision and a belief structure in a shared mission. How else would anyone ever walk into machine gun fire or storm a beach. No one would, unless they truly believed in some ting greater than the self. People are so service member positive. We admire the soldier or first responder greatly, but then we attack the teacher or the coach. Not all teachers are good and not all coaches know what they are doing, and yes all parents should look out for their child, but the current culture is a cure to kids who are told how important they are when the reality is they are just not. Sure my 4 children are the world to me. I'd be the first person to do something crazy to protect them if I thought they were mistreated or in danger, but I don't think they are more important than the child in (name the worst place on earth). I won't trade places. I am not that guy who thinks I need to live differently because their is poverty in the world, but I don't think we deserve it over the less lucky. I know its pure luck I was born in NY in 1973. Safe and secure and privileged.

I have a simple goal. DOMINATE. I want to teach the athletes that come to me to crush their opponents. I think hard work is the answer. But I know there is more to it. We need unity. We need to all be pulling in same direction. The biggest danger is when I teach people the process and they start to think they can jump in and lead. They may do a better job than me but as the leader I have many interests they don't, they tend to only care about their child.. That's the biggest threat to my program. It might look like help but it quickly can turn to poison. I found the article to be spot on about cliques and it made me write this. I hope to lead well enough that people trust that if their child does the work they will have unlimited opportunities. I find that often the cliques are attempting to circumvent the process and help provide a short cut to help their children. The problem is 99/100 times it backfires and hurts the child. There are no shortcuts. I hope that this blog reaches my team and helps clear up why I am so adamant about some of the rigidness they see in me and I hope they realize my plans and vision are to help the children in my program to learn not how to wrestle but the secret to all success lies in hard work and perseverance. Not in schemes or in only looking out for number 1. The best things on earth happen when a small group of like-minded people has a purpose greater than themselves. ISW has one purpose- to close the gap on each persons potential. What is a better goal than to reach your potential. That can't be done alone. You always need someone to push you to new heights, you always need to stand on the shoulder of those who came before and you always need to pull people up to your level because you can't get higher once your on the top.

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