FROM THE VOLLEYBALL COURT TO THE BOARDROOM: LEADERSHIP LESSONS FOR BUILDING A HIGH‐PERFORMANCE TEAM

Abstract

AbstractLeadership lessons learned are presented from the U.S. men’s volleyball team of the early 1980s. The team’s coach was preparing the players for the Los Angeles Olympics, and things were not going well. He and his collaborators took steps to move the team to eventual greatness, which are presented in detail. These include working with two pioneering sports psychologists, including the author’s father. The coaches and psychologists “met to discuss how to improve the team’s resilience and get the players to believe and trust in one another.” They began working with a then relatively unknown, but now well‐known organization, Outward Bound. This led them to “design a three‐week course, snowshoeing and hiking over 100 miles, carrying 70‐pound packs, traversing over 11,000 feet in the Abajo mountains, and navigating the labyrinthine Canyonlands National Park.” This training for physical and mental toughness, endurance and resilience was key to eventual success. The author writes: “The team had gone from perennial underachiever to becoming the best in the world at what they did. And the core players from this team went on to win the World Cup, the World Championships, and a second consecutive gold medal at the 1988 Olympics, proving that the performance in Los Angeles wasn’t a fluke.”