Mini-Series
Last week we named the gap between what this team claims to value and what it actually demonstrates.
Today I want to talk about what it looks like to close that gap. Because values that stay in the rhetoric — that don’t change what people actually do — aren’t values. They’re decorations.
Read this passage slowly.
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?
James 2:14 — NIVLet that sit for a second before you move.
Faith without deeds. The parallel for a team: values without behaviors. James’ point is blunt — the claim without the demonstration is not the thing. It’s the appearance of the thing.
What makes values real in a team context? Three things.
First: they produce observable behaviors. If the team says it values accountability, you can see specific instances of athletes holding each other accountable. If the team says it values excellence, you can see the standard being held in moments when it would be easy to let it slide. The value is only real when you can point to the specific behavior it produces.
Second: they are held consistently, not selectively. The value that applies to some people but not others based on their status or their contribution is not a value. It’s a privilege. Real values apply to everyone in the room with the same standard.
Third: they survive pressure. The value that holds when things are easy and disappears when things are hard was never a value. The test of a team’s values is the losing streak, the controversial decision, the hard moment. What is the team doing then?
One value. Identify one value from session one that is not yet fully real — that has a gap between what you claim and what you demonstrate. What specific behavior would make it real this week?
The value is only real when you can point to the specific behavior it produces. Consistently. Under pressure.
Choose one value from your team’s list. What specific behavior would demonstrate it this week that would close the gap we identified in session one?
One value, one specific behavior, committed to publicly. The specificity is what makes it actionable.
Make the value real this week. One specific behavior. That’s how values become culture.
This session applies the gap analysis from session one to specific behavioral commitments. The commitments should be named and held accountable by session 3.