A641.5.3.RB – ICT at the Team Level
According to Boyatzis and Akrivou (2006), our ideal self is the emotional trigger of our intentional change to positivity. It has three significant elements namely: an image of the desired future; hope; and a comprehensive sense of one’s core identity (Boyatzis and Akrivou, 2006). Boyatzis and Akrivou (2006) further stated that the three elements are deficiencies that need intervention therapeutically and with intrinsic motivation. Intentional change requires hard work and frequently fails due to insufficient passion and proper innate motivation. Akrivou et al. (2006), wrote that shared visions, aspirations, and intentionality are what drives group transformation and change. Positive emotions are pivotal to the effectiveness of an intentional group development. When a transformation need arises at a group level, it can be facilitated or induced through an informal or formal positive or decisive emotional leadership. Positive emotions that are profound emphasizes the method of linking the vision or shared aspirations may it be in an individual self or the group level. The concepts of hope, dreams, and possibilities constitute a group level ideals becoming the motivational driver for development and change over time.
The 2004 U.S. women’s soccer team defeated Brazil winning the gold medal for multiple reasons which can be summarized in one simple word; they were a better “team.” Many factors came into play. The players and coaches understood the historically critical opportunity they were in. They realized that young players of upcoming generations might reflect on their global success or failure. The pressure of winning resulted in team bonding, positive emotions, and shared vision.
Younger players on the team also felt a profound loyalty, and debt to the veteran players, who they had idolized knew would be retiring from international competition. For years, these young players imagined these veteran players as the superstar heroes they saw themselves to be. They intentionally seized the opportunity as a team.
Women’s team sports were barely a footnote in American sports culture in 1991 when the first Women’s World Cup was held. The American women won the tournament and began a surge in popularity, and attention for all women’s sports competition in the U.S. Women’s Sports became more widely accepted and it was fun to watch women compete for sports that men had traditionally dominated. The transformation arose in part because of this team. We all understood that women’s sports inspire and transform the American sports’ landscape.
In contrast, the 2004 Olympic’s U.S. Men’s basketball team fell short because of one simple reason; they did not play as a “team.” It was a squad of individual superstars who were accustomed to shining brighter than their team. They were not accustomed to sacrificing their own spotlights for a shared vision and the overall success of the team. In short, they were only playing for themselves and not the team, nor for America.
Experimentation and practice with a new less selfish behavioral pattern on the part of these individual basketball superstars could have significantly benefited the team’s overall success. The team also entirely lacked a learning agenda and adequate game plan. The new coach, Larry Brown, a renowned professional NBA coach lacked international coaching experience and did not appropriately prepare the team for an international team style of play. The lack of intentional group preparation and shared vision caused the American basketball team down the stretch in the tournament.
Overall, the men’s basketball team suffered the absence of a general or an effective leader. On the basketball court, the number 1 point guard is considered to be the team’s general. The role of a basketball team general is to direct and lead the team towards a shared goal, to play and win as a team. The 2004 Olympic Men’s Basketball team lacked a true superstar who is the number 1 point guard. Some top players cited various reasons for not wanting to go abroad and participate in the international competition. Simply put, the team lacked a leader to positively influence and lead the team on and outside the basketball court. Thus, the U.S. Olympic sports suffered one of the most surprising and heartbreaking losses in the U.S. sports history. Thankfully and naturally, with loss comes learning!
Regardless at what level visions or shared visions may be such as individual, team, or organizational level, those visions may it be individual or shared are cultivated to invoke motivation moving from an ongoing state to the final desired state. Our hopes, dreams, and desires for change regardless at what level can only be efficient and effective when positive emotions are intentional and are conscious. Positive shared emotions experienced by the 2004 Women’ Soccer U.S. Olympic team created the intrinsic motivation for their deliberate group development resulting in a group win. We need to address our desired developmental change one at a time so that we can create a learning plan that continuously and consistently excites us. We need to face it with an open mind and curiosity, gradually learning from it.
ReferencesAkrivou, K., Boyatzis, R. E., & McLeod, P. L. (2006). The evolving group: Towards aprescriptive theory of intentional group development. The Journal of Management Development, 25(7), 689-706. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/10.1108/02621710610678490Boyatzis, R. E., Rochford, K., & Taylor, S. N. (2015). The role of the positive emotionalattractor in vision and shared vision: toward effective leadership, relationships, and engagement. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 670. http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00670
Boyatzis, R. E., & Akrivou, K. (2006). The ideal self as the driver of intentional change. TheJournal of Management Development, 25(7), 624-642. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/10.1108/02621710610678454
The 2004 U.S. women’s soccer team defeated Brazil winning the gold medal for multiple reasons which can be summarized in one simple word; they were a better “team.” Many factors came into play. The players and coaches understood the historically critical opportunity they were in. They realized that young players of upcoming generations might reflect on their global success or failure. The pressure of winning resulted in team bonding, positive emotions, and shared vision.
Younger players on the team also felt a profound loyalty, and debt to the veteran players, who they had idolized knew would be retiring from international competition. For years, these young players imagined these veteran players as the superstar heroes they saw themselves to be. They intentionally seized the opportunity as a team.
Women’s team sports were barely a footnote in American sports culture in 1991 when the first Women’s World Cup was held. The American women won the tournament and began a surge in popularity, and attention for all women’s sports competition in the U.S. Women’s Sports became more widely accepted and it was fun to watch women compete for sports that men had traditionally dominated. The transformation arose in part because of this team. We all understood that women’s sports inspire and transform the American sports’ landscape.
In contrast, the 2004 Olympic’s U.S. Men’s basketball team fell short because of one simple reason; they did not play as a “team.” It was a squad of individual superstars who were accustomed to shining brighter than their team. They were not accustomed to sacrificing their own spotlights for a shared vision and the overall success of the team. In short, they were only playing for themselves and not the team, nor for America.
Experimentation and practice with a new less selfish behavioral pattern on the part of these individual basketball superstars could have significantly benefited the team’s overall success. The team also entirely lacked a learning agenda and adequate game plan. The new coach, Larry Brown, a renowned professional NBA coach lacked international coaching experience and did not appropriately prepare the team for an international team style of play. The lack of intentional group preparation and shared vision caused the American basketball team down the stretch in the tournament.
Overall, the men’s basketball team suffered the absence of a general or an effective leader. On the basketball court, the number 1 point guard is considered to be the team’s general. The role of a basketball team general is to direct and lead the team towards a shared goal, to play and win as a team. The 2004 Olympic Men’s Basketball team lacked a true superstar who is the number 1 point guard. Some top players cited various reasons for not wanting to go abroad and participate in the international competition. Simply put, the team lacked a leader to positively influence and lead the team on and outside the basketball court. Thus, the U.S. Olympic sports suffered one of the most surprising and heartbreaking losses in the U.S. sports history. Thankfully and naturally, with loss comes learning!
Regardless at what level visions or shared visions may be such as individual, team, or organizational level, those visions may it be individual or shared are cultivated to invoke motivation moving from an ongoing state to the final desired state. Our hopes, dreams, and desires for change regardless at what level can only be efficient and effective when positive emotions are intentional and are conscious. Positive shared emotions experienced by the 2004 Women’ Soccer U.S. Olympic team created the intrinsic motivation for their deliberate group development resulting in a group win. We need to address our desired developmental change one at a time so that we can create a learning plan that continuously and consistently excites us. We need to face it with an open mind and curiosity, gradually learning from it.
ReferencesAkrivou, K., Boyatzis, R. E., & McLeod, P. L. (2006). The evolving group: Towards aprescriptive theory of intentional group development. The Journal of Management Development, 25(7), 689-706. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/10.1108/02621710610678490Boyatzis, R. E., Rochford, K., & Taylor, S. N. (2015). The role of the positive emotionalattractor in vision and shared vision: toward effective leadership, relationships, and engagement. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 670. http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00670
Boyatzis, R. E., & Akrivou, K. (2006). The ideal self as the driver of intentional change. TheJournal of Management Development, 25(7), 624-642. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/10.1108/02621710610678454
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