Here’s another one to share with players.
Want a behavior skill that will make you a better teammate?
Generate and elevate energy.
This is your job as an elite competitor and teammate. If given the choice would you want to be the guy that sucks the energy out of the room with his attitude and body language or the guy that can generate his own energy to where he needs, while also elevating his teammates?
Answer: Be the guy that people want to be around.
I’ll never forget watching the Anaheim Ducks practice before they played the Red Wings in Detroit in the Western Conference playoffs a long time ago…
I was skating early in the morning in Dearborn, Michigan and when I got off the ice, I was surprised to see an NHL team out there. So, I stayed and watched them practice before an important playoff game.
If you just shut your eyes and listened, you would have no idea there was an NHL team on the ice. It was light, guys were laughing and teasing each other. It was like a Sunday skate with your buddies. But when you opened your eyes, everyone was going hard and taking each rep with maximal intensity and focus. When they weren’t in the drill, they were having fun with their teammates. During flow drills where there wasn’t much teaching going on, they had the fun dialed up to 11.
If a coach was speaking, they were all dialed in with unwavering focus. They knew when they had to be on and when they could relax and make it fun.
You could tell they had made it that far in the playoffs because they cared about each other deeply.
Yes, it also takes talent, but cohesion is the factor that can make the biggest difference at the highest levels when talent is about even between the teams.
To be a cohesive team, you can’t have too many teammates who suck the energy out of practice, you might not have any if you are a very elite team. Do you generate your own productive energy? Or might you be an energy vampire? Do you elevate your teammates when they are down? Can you see it and have a positive influence on them? Reflect on these questions for a few minutes before resuming your day.