August 17, 2006
Building a Winning Team: Women's Basketball Coach Pat Summitt's Advice for State Legislative Staffers
By Faye Frey
Nashville Bureau for NCSL
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Photo by Bud Kraft
Kentucky LRC
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NASHVILLE—In both basketball and legislative arenas, it's the team players who excel the most. That was the message University of Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt delivered to state legislative staff members at the National Conference of State Legislatures' 2006 Annual Meeting.
Summitt discussed her philosophies on how to build a team and be successful.
The same principles apply to building a winning team, whether the team will play ball or draft bills. Summitt said people should want to be difference makers.
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She gave this list of qualities to strive for for those who want to be good team players:
- Respect yourself and others.
- Know that you never have a second chance to make a first impression.
- Take full responsibility for your actions, because you can’t hide on a team.
- Develop and demonstrate loyalty.
- Be a good communicator, and tell people when they do a good job.
- Work smart. Bring to the team what you do best.
- Put the team before yourself.
- Realize that only you can control your attitude.
- Be a competitor.
- Understand that change is must, not only in technology but also in attitude.
- Handle success like you handle failure.
Summitt, who grew up on a dairy farm, said it takes hard work to be successful. "You never take a day off," she explained, "because cows don't take a day off."
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This summary is provided for information purposes only. NCSL does not endorse any views it contains. |
