At the Y last week, my husband and I went to the basketball area (small, only one basket), hoping to find it free. It was—yay! Right after putting our backpacks down and looking for a ball, 2 young-teen boys and one’s younger brother came up and asked us straight off if we wanted to play a game.

We found this unusual, considering young teenagers don’t generally initiate pickup games with couples that look like they could be their grandparents! I thought, “Maybe friendlier because they’re from another country? (They appeared to be Middle-Eastern).

Now, imagine their point of view in all of this: “This couple looks friendly, and they did say ‘hi’. Let’s ask if they want to play a game. We can easily take them on, get some good practice, and feel good about winning in the process.”

We began playing and they found us tougher than they’d anticipated. Why? Not because we had miraculously turned into NBA stars in their prime. Rather, mainly because we were playing to our strengths and teaming up effectively. So we had an even game.

That is, until another guy came along, also a young teen, who looked like he’d be good (players do size each other up according to various factors). In fairness, and according to sports etiquette, the first three boys let him join our team.

That’s when we began and continued to “cream” them. Why? Because our third player was so good, he did all the dribbling and shooting and all we did was pass to him once in a while? No. Yes, he was good, but he was a team player, and we played as a team, all three of us sharing, supporting each other, and playing to our strengths.

After more “creaming” than any of us could handle (whether out of mercy or frustration, depending on which side we were on), our friendly opponents asked if we could switch up the teams!

And I came home with a great illustration and principles on what makes a winning team—whether in sports, business, any organization, or life in general. Here they are:

1. Recognize and play to your strengths—I know I shoot well in basketball, so I positioned myself accordingly. Passing, running (ok, not so quickly, but still moving), looking to get open to be passed to effectively, and only shooting if I was in a good spot for it. 

Likewise, this is what works best in other areas of life. Develop our strengths. Make ourselves available in the best way possible for others to benefit from them. At the same time, maximize and leverage our strengths by finding the best use for them.

Whatever gifts, talents, and acquired skills we have, instead of worrying or complaining about what we can’t do, do what we can. And offer those strengths to our teammates. (cf. Rom. 12: 4-8)

2. Teamwork—Recognize and play to each other’s strengths. Yes, I scored a lot of points. But I wasn’t the star and that was far from the sole reason we won. My husband, with his defensive strengths—speed, ability to “glue” himself to opponents, etc., kept the other team from scoring points against us! Our third teammate did a lot of both scoring and defending. We all passed to each other. This third guy could’ve easily decided to be a ball-hog, but by passing to us when we were more open than he was, we all scored more points. We all also “picked” (blocked defenders) for each other, enabling each other to shoot more freely. I’m sure that most of my shooting points at least were made possible by my “glue man” husband and our new teammate. (cf. 1 Cor. 12:12-26)

Again, this works in life. Winning teammates look for and encourage strengths in each other and empower each other by enabling the use of them as much as possible. Team leaders do this for every member—recognizing, empowering, positioning, and assisting them in using their strengths.

In other words, whatever someone is good at, let them do it, assign them to it, and help them any way we can, including removing any obstacles that might get in their way.

3. Recognize your own and others’ limits and play within them. In sports, I generally don’t guard. Don’t ask me to be a goalie, because I’m more into “flight” than “fight” and will just get out of my opponent’s way! In basketball, I’ll guard a bit, further back in the court, but when the ball gets closer to the basket and the intensity and body-count increases, I tend to hang back. (Unless it’s one on one with my sweet husband). Three reasons for this: First, it’s that strong self-preservation instinct—I’m thin and light. Second, I’m not that good at playing “D” (defense). Third, refer to #2 above. So I leave that part to the “big boys”, or at least those fast and agile and good at guarding.

Have you ever been on a team, in sports or otherwise, where one person takes over and does, or tries to do, everything? Frustration rises and effectiveness diminishes. This happens because that person often can’t do it well and may even fail, and because at least one other person could’ve done it better if they’d had the chance.

Leaders and teammates, “pass the ball” to someone else and/or the right person when we need to. That is, if we want to “win” the project, event, etc. and keep members performing happily at their best. Otherwise, we’ll lose, and teammates/members may quit. (Job 14:5)

4. Never underestimate the opposition. Our opponents made that mistake. All they could see was a thin grandma and her not-much-bigger husband! Then their jaws dropped when I started sinking swishers and they couldn’t shake my husband’s defense!

In the sports world, players view videos of opposing teams so they can know what they’re up against. Even that last-place team in the league may have some strengths that can knock their own team out if they’re not aware of them.

Same in life, organizations, and companies. We can’t go in blindly or cocky, thinking that deal is in the bag, or the way is obstacle-free, or we don’t have to make contingency plans for “just-in-case”, or assume there’s no opposition at all. Whether it’s people or trouble that comes against us, we have to be aware of them (possible or already present) and know how we’ll overcome them.

Goliath did this with David and lost his head over it. Literally. (cf. 1 Sam. 17:41-51)

5. Make sure the rules are clearly defined and understood and play by them. When we first began our pickup basketball game, no one knew exactly where the boundaries were, so we didn’t know what was “out”, which meant not always knowing who should have possession of the ball. In this particular court, there’s no clearly defined boundaries—just three walls around it and an open area. We needed to define them to eliminate confusion.

 Once we did everyone won. Not necessarily by score, but by playing a more enjoyable game. Less confusion, no disputes, and more sure and fun game-playing.

That’s what rules in life, business, and relationships do for us. Clearly defined and understood, whoever plays by them wins. (cf. Mat. 5:17-19)

Play your best, play and support each other as a team, play with your eyes open, and play by the rules. You’ll be a winning team and a winning team-leader, even if that game’s score doesn’t always look like it!