THE LAW OF COMMUNICATION
• Being Supportive: Former NBA player Earvin "Magic" Johnson summed up support by paraphrasing President John F. Kennedy: "Ask not what your teammates can do for you. Ask what you can do for your teammates." When communication is focused on giving rather than getting, it takes the team to a whole new level. • Staying Current: Teammates who rehash old problems and continually open old wounds don't work together. And if they don't work together, they're sunk. As Babe Ruth remarked, "You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime." • Being Vulnerable: Teams are like little communities, and they develop only when the people in them don't posture with one another. Psychiatrist M. Scott Peck, in his book The Different Drum, observes, "If we are to use the word community meaningfully, we must restrict it to a group of individuals who have learned how to communicate honestly with each other, whose relationships go deeper than their masks of composure." Teams succeed or fail based on the way that team members communicate with one another. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools." If the interaction is strong, then the action teams take can be strong. 4. Between the Team and the Public For most teams, communication within the team isn't the only kind that's important. Most teams interact with outsiders in some way, whether those people are clients, customers, or simply the concerned public. When approached by people from outside the group, team members
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