What Does It Really Mean To Sacrifice?
We use the word sacrifice a lot with our teams, but like many of these buzzwords I'm not sure we get specific enough when defining what we mean. Sacrifice is important to all high performing teams, but I'm not sure our players know what sacrifice looks like.
When we think about sacrificing on teams, most people think about things like taking less shots or scoring less points. It's also associated with playing less minutes. It can be about off the court stuff, like "sacrificing" your Friday nights to be ready to go for a game or an early practice on Saturday. Sacrifice is looked at as giving up something that is (somewhat) tangible - shots, playing time, social activities - for the betterment of your team. There is only so much to go around, so we all have to be willing to sacrifice - to take less, to help the team.
I don't see sacrifice as giving something up for your teammates. Sacrifice isn't just passing up shots or playing less minutes. It's not just skipping parties on Friday nights or getting up early to lift weights. Those are essential. They are actually (some of) the requirements for high performing teams. Can you consider those behaviors to be sacrifice? Sure. But to me, that is just part of the commitment to your team.
I see sacrifice as an element of emotional intelligence. Sacrifice is getting over your own feelings when they don't help the team. Sacrifice is taking an unselfish approach when you feel like you have a right to be selfish. When you think things are unfairly going against you. Sacrifice is about handling the emotions that inevitably go with being a part of a team. It's a lot more than just altering some behavior to help the team get better. It's a mental approach that allows you avoid selfish emotions that will hurt your team.
Your team is playing poorly in the first half in a game you are supposed to win. Everything is going wrong. Shots aren't falling, there are way too many turnovers, and you can't guard the ball. Instead of a comfortable lead at halftime, you are only up by two. The coaching staff is understandably heated. Everyone in the locker room is upset and frustrated as well. No one is happy with how you've played.
The coaching staff decides to make a change. No one has really played well, but they decide to shake things up and take you and one other starter out of the line up to start the second half. This is a decision coaches face often, and it's not an easy one. On one hand you know things have to change and you have to get a message across. But you don't want a couple of players to feel like they are being blamed for the entire team not being ready to play. It's not an easy decision.
How do you respond when your coach takes you out of the line up in that spot? The natural reaction is "why me?" I wasn't the one turning the ball over every time, and at least I made a couple of shots. I was playing hard on defense. What about him? In that moment, most of us feel the exact same way. It wasn't my fault. You should be taking someone else out of the line up.
This is where you really have to sacrifice. It's not that you are sacrificing your own playing time to let someone else play. That decision has been made for you. You have two choices. You can be a great teammate, stay positive, encourage the guys going into the line up and show a great attitude. Or you can get upset, feel sorry for yourself, half-ass your way through warm-ups and make it clear to everyone around you that you aren't happy. Which option do you think is better for your team? I'm not saying it's easy, because it isn't. Sacrifice is hard. Guess what? So is winning.
Sacrifice is getting over your own feelings when they don't help the team. It's natural to feel upset, and you may even be justified in feeling that way. You might be right. You shouldn't be the one to bear the blame. But in that moment, it doesn't matter. The coach made a decision he thinks is best for the team. You may not like it, and you don't have to, but how you react to it says everything about you as a teammate and your commitment to the team. You have to sacrifice in that moment - the way you feel, the way you want to react, and what your ego is telling you. Getting past those selfish feelings - even if you feel you are right - and committing to what is best for the team - that is really what sacrifice is all about.
If sacrifice is a word you use with your team, and it's really important to you, think about what it really means in behavioral terms. What does sacrifice look like? It's not really about playing out of position or taking less shots. It's more about the emotions you feel when things don't go your way. It's handling your ego, your feelings, and the way you want to react, to do what is best for the team in that moment when things don't go your way. Sacrifice is taking an unselfish approach when you feel like you have a right to be selfish.
Define sacrifice for your players in a way that fits your approach to develop a team committed to one another, and committed to success.