Lessons From The VBall Court: 'Serving' clients, each other and winning.

My now-22 year old daughter, Gabrielle, started playing competitive volleyball in 6th grade and eventually joined a competitive, national travel team, playing the game throughout high school and serving as Captain of her championship team. As such, I spent an incredible amount of time in the stands, growing a profound appreciation for the game and its players.

Volleyball, in my view, is the ultimate team sport and a perfect training ground for professional life.

For those who don’t follow the game, it may appear that players are simply positioned on the court and passing the ball back and forth, with the goal being to keep the ball in the air. Back and forth, back and forth.....back.....and.....(yawn) forth. Sound familiar?

In fact, competitive volleyball rules of play demand that players engage with each other in a specific manner. Each player performs a role, which limits and often eliminates their ability to execute a play on their own. Volleyball has no individual heroes – everyone MUST function in synergy.

The ‘middles’ (front, net) play the role of blocking or, more often, slowing the ball as it approaches the net from the opposing side. This slowing of the ball enables the ‘libero’ (back row) to receive (dig) the ball, control it and pass it to the ‘setter‘ (front right corner), who decides where the hit should be executed and ‘sets’ up the ball for the 'outside’ (hitter).

Without the blockers slowing the ball, the libero may struggle to dig and control the ball, resulting in a poor pass to the setter, who will then struggle to 'set' for the hit. No two plays are exactly alike, but the roles are consistent and the series of moves must be executed with flawless precision and timing.

Players on the service line, preparing to serve the ball, cannot see the opposing team’s serve-receive alignment. Front row players have clear visibility of the opposing court, so they’ll assess the competitive landscape and discreetly use their fingers to signal their server…. indicating the opposing player positions and where to send the serve, likely to a weaker player who may not receive as well.

Serves: I view front row players akin to the role of salespeople. They asses the competitive landscape and give feedback to those at the service line (likely product and pricing). Now, if those on the service line aren’t watching the signals, or choose to ignore them, the ball, regardless of how well it is served, will be met with a response, and we’ll settle into a nice, long volley where everyone is exhausted and no points are scored.

Finally, the language of the volleyball court is as important as physical skill in play. These teams are in continual dialogue with each other. An active court is full of chatter -  “Help”, “Got it”, “Mine” “Outside”, “Cover”.

Contemplating our own business environments and teams:

Familiar scenarios –

Email hits the inbox. Multiple team members are copied. Everyone assumes someone else will own the request, so they take no action. Ultimately, we all know how this ends. Nobody calls the ball. It drops.

Opportunity is presented. The recipient needs to pass the opportunity to the next step in the quoting or delivery process. They hit forward – send. Job done. Recipient isn’t paying attention, doesn’t understand what has come across, or doesn’t understand the urgency. This ‘ball’ wasn’t ‘set up’ and was poorly passed. As such, this is a wasted hit – certainly not a kill. We’re lucky if this makes it over the net.

Meetings, conference calls, email and deliverables are piling up. Employees are doing their best to keep pace; working long hours, prioritizing, but still drowning. They fail to call “help!” or “cover”. Nobody knows they need help or even want cover. Ask!

Those standing weekly meetings where everyone reviews the same information and has the exact same discussion about the exact same problems – or slight variant thereof – but nobody solves the problem (or scores a point). There’s no momentum. The volley is safe. We likely won’t drop the ball, but we also won’t score. And, while we are at it, we’ll exhaust ourselves. This style of play is more about preservation than propelling.

Finally, my favorite element the volleyball court: the huddle. Between every point, regardless of which side has scored, players huddle, backslap, encourage, high-five and celebrate, which creates passionate momentum, psychological power and comradery. Players are never isolated, as there is always touch and talk amongst them.

What do we all need? - I'm sure this will resonate:

• More hard hits (kills), less volleys/free balls/tips.
• More chatter - not long, drawn out meetings. Rather, quick messaging which supports parallel action.
• Quick, frequent huddles to build momentum, inspire action, and ensure alignment.
• Self-directed teams running the plays we've all practiced, but also experimenting on the fly.

I’d love to hear from any former or current volleyball players who have applied these skills to their professional careers and whether you believe it has contributed to your own success in business. 

Disclaimer: As a recovered volleyball mom, not a player or coach, my experience is limited by my supportive role.