Covenants

A great leader has the knack of making people believe they're better than they think they are. At an early stage of NBA championship coach Pat Riley's march to greatness, he accepted the vacant Los Angeles Lakers head coaching position, which in truth no one seemed to want. The franchise had become stale; players were passive about their roles, described by the press as overindulged temperamental L.A. athletes. Riley knew he had to take a stand ... and fast.

In his first team meeting in large block lettering Riley wrote on the big locker room board:

"A house divided cannot stand. You're either with me or you are against me." It was simple. Everything was changing. A coach had been fired. Regardless of position, every player had to get engaged and if the players' improvement didn't show up fast, those same players would be the franchise's next target.

Riley told them, "You are the ones who can turn this around. If you continue to lose and not play as a team, what will our fans and the L.A. press say? Obviously they'll say 'the Lakers fired the wrong guy.' If that happens they'll break this team up with trades, ship some of you out of here and hope to draw a better hand. But if you're a really great basketball team, you're gonna win in spite of me!" Riley wasn't bluffing. There were no scapegoats left on the Lakers' roster.

This scene happens every day. From police precincts to faculty meetings, and in radio groups when we reach the point where hidden agendas and resentments have to be quashed. In the case of Riley's Lakers or in your building today, it's time for counterfeit agendas to be discharged, for selfishness to give way to collaboration and for teamwork to create success and vanquish chaos.

Riley observed that "positive covenants" are born...

... in the depths of crisis,

... when hidden curriculum is brought to light,

... after the supply of scapegoats is exhausted,

... when the first seeds of trust are sown,

... when teammates start acting positively for each other.

In too many places, programming resents sales and sales resents programming. Both resent "corporate," while too few actually resent and want to annihilate a competitor.

In any operation, including yours, there are only two options when considering the commitment to a Core Covenant: you're either IN or you're OUT. The very best know there's no such thing as a placeholder somewhere in between.