You always know that summer has ended when College Football begins with the opening Thursday night ESPN game of the week.  For the second year in a row North Carolina State University got hammered by University of South Carolina. The stinging defeat happened in NC State’s backyard where they were favored to win.  I have a special interest in this team because my son played for three years as a Center. During his playing time I noticed that change was constant.  I often wondered how the players adapted to the constant change. The team experienced a change of coaching staff, leadership styles, different team building and development styles yet the players were suppose to remain true to their positions and “make plays” on game day.

After the lost to South Carolina, I read and listened to ALL the reviews of the team’s performance.   What struck me as odd was that the reporters and coaches referred to the fact that one of the players on the Offensive Line got hurt and how that negatively impacted the rest of the line.  I was floored by the analysis that the NC State team was unbalanced and that the one player had affected the line’s ability to adjust. What was the purpose of practicing plays, changing leadership styles or developing team- building skills as a cohesive unit if one man down impeded the chances of winning the game?

The NC State dilemma made me think about organizations and what happens if someone on the work team is out on the day of a big presentation or not able to work due to illness, should that impact the team’s ability to produce a quality product or service? How often do organization’s force workers to become so specialized in one area that an absent member from the team can impede the team’s overall performance?

I think one of the key issues facing organizations today, including the sports world, is that leaders assemble a team but they rely on “one person” and “see that person as the special one”.  Leaders do not spread the wealth of knowledge nor encourage workers to extend their knowledge base thereby broadening the pool of qualified people to make adjustments when necessity creates a deviation from the plan.  In the case of the football game, there weren’t enough teammates who knew how to play a position other than their own. One man down created a hole in the offense that should have been remedied by a simple readjustment strategy but the team was not prepared.

In today’s lean and mean employee environment, leaders really need to expand the skill sets of their employees so that each can cover for another, pitch in and help when the need arises. Gaps are opportunities to develop others and expand skills to ensure core competencies are utilized.

I hope that North Carolina State University will learn from this first game experience that they need to broaden the pool of qualified players and begin to use some of the scout team/walk on players to expand their base.  There is no doubt they will have a better end of season record as a result.

What do you think – Should one individual radically impact the success of the team in an organization?

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