What pickup basketball taught me about experience, vision and patience

I was an average basketball player growing up.? I didn’t start playing until I was around ten years old when my parents signed me up for the city rec league.? At that point, I was already one of the taller kids, so it made sense to get some physical activity in the form of running up and down the court.? Eventually I was asked to play AAU basketball where I started as a Center.? I was essentially Bryant “Big Country” Reeves, and I had the flattop haircut to match.? I was there to grab rebounds, set screens, play physical defense, and score eight points a game.? This continued into high school where I played Varsity during my Freshman, Sophomore and Junior years.? Eventually I called it quits before my Senior season because my coach was perhaps one of the worst leaders I’ve encountered, but that’s another white paper.

My ability to grab rebounds and score garbage points continued into high school.? I was there to be physical, block some shots, and at 6’3,” be a big man in the middle.? Half of the time, that plan worked out well, the other half of the time, I tried to be someone I wasn't.? I was trying to take the ball to the rim or I was shooting beyond my range of probably 5 feet, and I was spending too much time guarding guys around the three point line.? Other times it went wrong was when I got lazy and wanted to cherry pick or I thought I was Hakeem Olajuwon shooting hook shots and trying to play a speed game.??

During college I was a regular at the Washington State University recreation center playing pick up games every week and through rec leagues.? I became that guy on the college game that hung out around the blocks, played a simpler version of my game, and shot occasional three’s.? I wasn’t trying to be a point guard nor was I trying to take anyone to the hole.? I wanted to sit back and let a version of the game come to me, but every once in a while I tried to play bigger and better than who I was, allowing others to back me into a corner defensively or creating unnecessary fouls.??

There may or may not have been two instances in which I was kicked out of rec league games for allegedly starting fights, but there are no records of this in Whitman County to date to prove me guilty.??

So fast forward to my late thirties where I am today and it’s a whole different game.? Just this week I found myself in a pickup basketball game while on vacation.? I was playing with guys much younger than I am, and their cardio proved that.? There was a certain calmness about my game, a certain experience level that I stood back and witnessed.? There was a moment in which I stopped and saw the game much differently than I had in my teenage years and even in college.? I saw plays develop before they actually happened and I made crisp sharp passes even when the younger guys weren’t expecting them.? I anticipated rebounds, I shot bank shots, and I played a smarter version of defense.? I even used a few pump fakes to get a better shot, and they worked!??

It was a really interesting moment in which I realized something that took me up until this age to understand; that experience matters even while playing a casual game of pickup basketball.? The ability to anticipate, use patience, and vision to see the game happening and to allow it to come to me without forcing things to take place is a skill that can’t be taught, it must be learned over time.? Although I am slower than ever today and unable to keep up physically with the younger guys, I was able to outsmart them and make moves that they failed to see, even though to me it was so clear and obvious.??

It caused me to stop and think about how this experience translates into the workplace and as always, there are parallels.??

I’ve been leading sales teams for thirteen years now, and although I am still learning every day how to be a better leader, a servant leader, and one that my team respects and aspires to be, I still come across situations that are new to me.? As a whole though, the game comes to me slower today than ever before.? I’m able today to see situations as they are building and anticipate those issues before they actually happen.? I’m also able to sit back and let the game come to me more than I was in my early years when I was out there forcing things to happen, when there were times that it needed to organically take place.??

Early in my career, I was out there trying to play point guard without all the skills.? I wanted to be at the forefront of everything that took place.? I wanted to solve problems quickly, and I wanted to answer questions even faster.? I thought that the key to being a great leader was about my ability to just problem solve daily and tell people what to do instead of helping lead them to the answers or teach them what to do.? My solutions were quick, my responses were quicker, and I would often let my frustrations with a situation show through.? There are a few moments I recall in which I didn’t handle myself the way I would today, but I was out there forcing moments.??

The forcing of those situations was paralleled to when I would often step back and shoot a contested three pointer at 17 years old instead of passing to the open man.? My thought process was, “I can make this happen,” rather than ensuring I was looking out for the best interest of the team.? As an early leader, I was more focused on my ability to further or progress my career instead of stepping back and focusing on what was best for the company or the team.??

There were also moments where I couldn’t see the play developing as a leader like I can today.? Years ago, I was more focused on the quick solution today, instead of the bigger picture to teach and coach.? As a seasoned leader, you’re able to see a problem starting to arise and typically you don’t jump in to solve it immediately.? A real leader isn’t afraid of letting their team fail before they help coach them out of the situation.? The young early stage leaders are often more focused on solutions that don’t teach.? That experience and patience comes with being able to see the game develop in front of you and know what happens in two passes rather than one.? The experienced leader is out there doing pump fakes before taking the ball to the rim instead of getting called for a charge.??

The experienced leader isn’t afraid of failure, they’re not afraid of falling behind on the scoreboard and they’re unafraid of letting their star miss a few shots.? The young leader typically wants to clear every roadblock without teaching or by throwing up more shots than anyone else in hope to land a few buckets.? The beauty of the experienced leader is they know how to learn more from the losses than the wins whereas the early stage leader is only focused on winning and forgets to learn from the losses.??

Experience, patience, and vision can’t be taught, it must be learned over time.? Just like a slow, older athlete who has to play a different version of their game, they can be even more effective for what they can contribute to the entire game instead of their individual play.? Pickup basketball today taught me that I’m an even better player today, than ever before, as a result of all that experience, just like your leadership will improve over time as a result of witnessing the game before it even happens.?

by Scott Bond