Our crew is all about some March Madness. We have an extended family bracket competition complete with prize money and trash texting. The kids even get in on it. My bracket was shot pretty soon after the first round (I think I finished 33rd overall), but I still enjoyed watching the competition down to the final game.
While watching the introduction of the starting five for the championship team, one thing stood out to me about the talent.
Consider the starting five for Florida:
Two of the five (or 40%) of the starters on the championship team are from outside the United States. Looking at the entire roster, 35% of the players are from another country.
There is no doubt that Name Image and Likeness (NIL) has changed the game of college sports. But I would venture to guess that global recruiting is also a part of reshaping the game. NIL makes players more mobile, chasing the best deal, and players across the globe are mobile. Players are also having to compete with the best talent in the world, not just the best talent in the country – much less their own state! – for a chance to start on a championship team, or any team for that matter.
If you are wanting to put together the best team at work, following the lesson from college basketball champions (and football!) may be wise. Don’t limit your search. Talent is global.
One of the biggest lessons from March Madness this year is that excellence knows no borders. Whether you’re building a roster for the court or a team for your company, casting a wider net can bring surprising strength. Diversity of background, experience, and perspective can be the game-changer that sets your team apart from the rest.
“You would have thought he would have at least stopped and asked him what was going on. He has never once behaved like that at work. Don’t you think his boss should have asked if he was okay or something?”
My friend said this to me while explaining that her brother was suspended from work without pay for lashing out at a colleague. The altercation was verbal not physical and occurred because the colleague had undermined her brother’s authority. Neither of them were able to resolve conflict at work in this heated moment.
“I know he shouldn’t have done it, but doesn’t context matter?” she implored.
Turns out the context (background) was not only the undermining of authority but also the fact that my friend and her brother had just lost their mother AND his little girl was in the hospital. Truth be told, he probably shouldn’t have been at work to begin with, given the stress he was under. But my friend says their work culture is one in which they all pretend work and “life” exist in two completely different compartments, and YOU better be dead or in the hospital to not make it to work.
As we launch our series on how to resolve conflict at work, I can’t help but think about this story my friend shared with me. If you are a leader in an organization, you can take your first cue from this story and realize that if you don’t know the stress that others may be under (inside or outside of work) and actively work to help them manage it, you may not be the best leader.
To resolve conflict at work, we suggest using the SBAR Model to lead your way through it. Originally developed by the US Marines, we find this approach is best explained by our friend and Reality Based Leadership expert, Cy Wakeman.
S = Situation. I need the person to identify, in one true, drama-free sentence, what the issue is.
B = Background. This is 2-3 sentences of only the facts and history that applies to what we’re trying to (re)solve.
A = Analysis or Assessment. This is the “Why does the issue matter?” section. It should also include fact-checking so you know what’s real and what’s a story.
R = Recommendations (yes, that’s plural). If you come to me with just what needs to be done, that’s your opinion, your request, your demand. Come to me with ideas of all the things you could do and I’ll know you’re being mentally flexible and thinking your way through the problem. It shows you’ve got resilience.
If you noticed, Cy’s approach is to get the person you are dealing with to walk through these questions, not you as the leader. This is an empowerment based approach.
What might have happened if the supervisor of my friend’s brother did this with him after the conflict took place? Would the brother have been psychologically safe enough (from a glimpse into the work culture sister described, probably not…) to tell him the B- background of his current situation? Would he have R-recommended suspension for himself? Without pay?
I of course don’t know the answers to this, and I of course don’t know if sister got the whole truth and nothing but the truth from brother, but when it is all said and done, when conflict takes place at work an empowerment based model like SBAR can help keep the conflict from escalating and can help us build stronger teams.
What is your approach to dealing with conflict at work?
Take a look at Cy Wakeman’s Ego Bypass Toolkit here or click the teaser image below.
The terms manager and leader often get used interchangeably, but should they? “Leading versus managing” is a common search phrase. At HPC, we don’t really think it’s a “versus” situation. You can be a good manager without being a great leader, but you can’t be a great leader without strong management skills. So, what’s distinct about them, and why does it matter? Let’s break it down.
You Manage Time and Tasks
Management primarily involves managing things that largely impact people, but it does not seek to influence people like leadership does.
It’s hard to lead others well if you can manage your tasks and your time and help others do the same.
Here are two resources for growing in managing your tasks and time so you can model that well for others:
Leadership at its core is simply influencing others to achieve desired and mutually beneficial outcomes. To do this, you have to manage your time and tasks well and help others do the same, but you also have to:
Create and share a vision. Where you are wanting to influence people to go, and how?
Provide individual influence to achieve the desired outcomes.
Focus on what you can control by modeling the behaviors you want to see.
Deploy strategies to meet people where they are to provide positive influence. Some models/books we like related to this are:
The Motivational/Influence techniques Mel Robbins describes in Chapters 14-15 of her book Let Them
Be sure to check out our coaching moment videos that are coming out over the next few weeks to gain practical tips and tools on how you can manage and lead effectively.
After a year of “Open the Door” as our 2024 theme, we decided this year as a team that maybe we needed to simplify- our theme and our focus. As I discussed in my speech Taste and See, turning responsibility into obligation to open the door to anyone and anything brought about a state of too much in 2025. Like they say, there can be too much of a good thing.
So in keeping with tasting and seeing what is good and letting that be the only obligation or responsibility to pursue, trusting that good things will flow naturally from there, we felt as though “Nourish” speaks volumes to what we are pursuing this year and aligns with our organizational values.
Pouring into good things allows the outcomes take care of themselves
The mindset that capacity doesn’t equal obligation. Margins nourish us to live with intent and pour into the important people and things around us. This helps us see who and what needs to be nourished right in front of us.
Nourishing creates growth
Nourishing leads to thriving
Values Alignment
And in true HPC fashion, we put the word into ChatGPT and found that nourish aligns well with our values:
Passion: Nourishing reflects a commitment to fueling enthusiasm and energy in all endeavors, encouraging others to pursue their work with heart and dedication.
Productivity: Nourishing the mind, skills, and workplace environment enables individuals and teams to perform at their best, driving meaningful outcomes.
People First: At its core, “nourish” emphasizes care, growth, and support, putting people at the center by fostering their well-being and development.
Continuous Learning and Improvement: Nourishment encompasses providing the resources, opportunities, and encouragement for ongoing growth and enhancement, ensuring a culture of improvement.
Give Back: Nourishing others extends to contributing to the greater good, whether through community efforts, mentorship, or empowering others to succeed.
What we will Nourish this year:
Leadership Development and Coaching
We are launching new content in 2025 that includes monthly blog posts and coaching moment videos to help nurture leadership development in companies and communities. These will be practical strategies to implement, not complex theories or vague guidance. A taste of what we will be doing to nourish leadership development in our area includes facilitating the Cummings Research Park Tech to Exec Program and continuing to deliver Encounter Groups to our clients. Our customized programs for organizations will now come with a customized website page(s) to provide nourishment even after the in-person component concludes.
Entrepreneurship
We will be launching new content featuring entrepreneurs across our network to showcase the innovation taking place all around us. We will continue to support Alabama Launchpad and the dozens of entrepreneurs that come through the program each year.
Career and Professional Development
In 2024, we launched online courses and will continue to launch more courses throughout 2025. Taylor is now one of the very few people in the country certified to deliver the National Career Development Association’s brand new School Career Development Advisor (SCDA) training, and she will continue to work with the Alabama State Department of Education to certify hundreds of educators across the state in this and other content and certifications.
Informed Compensation
We continue to do a lot of compensation work. We realize that this core hygiene factor helps people literally nourish themselves and their families. Living wages are important and so is making wise business financial decisions to ensure the longevity of our organizations. These can exist together and be nourished together- remember abundance, not scarcity. We will continue to facilitate the North Alabama Regional Wage and Benefit survey to help companies and communities make informed compensation decisions.
Each Other
We are a family at HPC and each of us needs nourishment from each other. This year, we will be focused on nourishing Taylor as she undergoes surgery and treatment for breast cancer. Emily is nourishing new life, and we will welcome a baby into the HPC family in May! We ask your prayers for Taylor and Emily and their families.
Taylor’s “nourish” basket from the team! Each of us curated a few items that we knew would bring Taylor a little bit of joy and “nourishment”.
What are you nourishing this year? What do you want to see grow?
Our little one started t-ball last year and has become obsessed, so naturally The Sandlotis now his favorite movie. He watches it on repeat now. Again, I tolerate it being on pretty much 24/7 at our house.
But the other day it was playing in the background, and I sat down for a second to watch. “This Benny kid”, I thought, “this kid is a real leader”. Then I proceeded to watch the entire rest of the movie tuned in to this realization: there are powerful leadership lessons from The Sandlot.
As I watched, Benny does four things and in a natural progression to help Scotty, aka “Smalls” be a part of the team and get better at baseball. Here are the steps I learned:
Include First. Benny notices Smalls as the new kid in town and invites him to play. He needs one more person to round out the team (inclusion doesn’t have to be all altruistic) and invites him to play. He gives him a better hat and better glove to help him acclimate easier into the team and advocates for him so the other (skeptical) kids will include him. But if Benny is including him, the others will follow. People have to feel safe and included before you can help them grow in confidence and skills.
Nourish Confidence. Poor Smalls hardly knows a baseball from the sun, much less how to throw and catch. Benny puts him in the outfit and realizes this rather quickly. Instead of thinking the kid is a lost cause, he knows he needs to give him a win so he will stick it out and the other kids will accept him.
In my favorite scene, he jogs out of the outfield after Smalls has made a fool of himself and tells him to just hold his glove up in the air and he will do the rest. He jogs back to home plate with bat and ball in hand and shouts, “Smalls, throw it to second!” Benny spits on the ball and launches it into the outfit towards Smalls as Smalls chants “Please catch it, please catch it!” eyes closed and glove up. And Benny’s hit strikes square in the center of Smalls’ glove.
The other kids say, alright, this kid is okay and they go on playing. Smalls moves forward a little more confident because of Benny’s hitting and leadership skills, so that now he can build his own skills.
Build Skills. Just like my boys, Benny LOVES baseball. It is his life. So, naturally they all play a lot, a whole lot, all summer long. This practice helps them all grow in their skills, and as they all improve individually they improve together, Smalls included. You’ve got to build people’s confidence enough for people to be willing to put in the work/practice to be able to build skills.
Mobilize and have your people’s back when things get tough. Like any good movie, a major problem erupts about three quarters of the way in. The kids need a baseball, so Smalls goes and takes a ball out of his stepdad’s office. Little does he realize that it is signed by the best baseball player of all time because he doesn’t know who Babe Ruth is. Smalls crushes his first home run with that ball, over the fence and into the yard of “The Beast” the monster and legend of a dog all the boys are terrified of. Naturally, Smalls panics, and when the other kids realize who signed that ball, they all panic together. How are they going to get it back? They have to.
Benny gets them all together, tells them to calm down, or shows them to calm down because he is calm, and gives out direct instructions on how they are going to handle this offering the next right thing. He doesn’t jump off the deep end with panic and what ifs, he just works the team to do what is needed next.
Benny has Smalls’ back to fix the biggest “pickle” he’s ever been in. He mobilizes the team to help fix the mess.
These leadership lessons from The Sandlot feel eerily similar to leadership lessons at work. Undoubtedly, leading people is going to erupt in some major problems, whether three quarters in or not. When it does, good leaders have already taken the time to include and build confidence and skills, so when the going gets tough, they can get the team going to fix the issue with as little infighting and panic as possible. Which continues to build inclusion, confidence and skills.
How do you build inclusion, confidence and skills in your people? Can you take these leadership lessons from The Sandlot and apply them at work?
At HPC, we are launching coaching moment videos in 2025! Check out the first moment on Nourishing Confidence here!
