With the 2019 hockey season just around the corner so many fan bases have high hopes for their team.
Building a team is such a difficult task and has so many components to it. As the writer Oscar Wilde states “We are in an age where people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” Fans want wins. The media want wins. The owner wants wins. That is how they measure success. The real challenge for Hockey Operations or for any team for that matter is they already know the price of these players, but do they really understand value. They think talent and skill is value. It is not!
Value, like air is invisible. We can’t see it or touch it, but we know it is there. As humans we need air to survive and teams need value to survive. Value separates achieving organizations from under achieving ones. Value is the result of intelligence. Intelligence is like a map. Those who have it are able navigate, collaborate and influence relationships. This is why player evaluations are so critical. Coaches should be asking the question Can I Coach with this player not Can I Coach him.
Players that bring value understand competition. They know that competition is about taking control away from the other team who does not want to give it up. They understand the rules of the game and amount of time they have to play the game. They understand that game play is variable. No two shifts are alike. Ice conditions change, momentum changes occur, officiating switches on a whim. The player that can adjust to these factors and still compete at a high level brings value. These athletes do not need validation, they just continue to compete. However, they understand that they cannot control the outcome. They play in the moment. That is value.
Some may say I am talking about character but to me value is a result of using your character and raising it to the next level. It is about creativity. If all you have is a hammer everything else becomes a nail. Teams need to identify athletes that can take skills and talent they have and use them in various ways.
The challenge for teams and athletes is finding a way to successfully identify character and finding techniques to identify value from out it.
Until next time.
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Between The Ears 