I just saw a riveting interview on Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday series. She interview Phil Jackson, known as the Zen master of team motivation and basketball coaching.

For those unfamiliar with Phil Jackson, he is widely considered one of the greatest coaches and team motivation experts in the history of the NBA. He has won 11 NBA Championships as a coach and 2 NBA Championships as a player. Some of his other awards as a coach are Coach of the Year and in 2007 he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Team Motivation: Do You Instill Vision?

Imagine you as that kind of a winning team motivation manager, or even playing on that kind of a winning team? Naturally you’re thinking “well if I had access to the kind of talent he did, it would be a no-brainier.” Perhaps, but Jackson’s successes lie more in his ability to instill vision and get his players to pool all their resources to work as a team. His teams became unstoppable. Sure they had losses. But their wins outnumbered the losses. He considered their losses as training exercises – experiences to be learned from.

Team Motivation: Keep the End-Game in Mind

In a world dominated by the need to win at all costs, in a culture that glorifies winning and individual achievement over team, companies are experiencing astronomical employee turnover rates and massive loss of productivity and profits. This is because of what I call 20th Century Management. 20th Century Management typifies “my way or the highway, take the carrot or I’ll give you the stick” kind of mentality.

Jackson succeeded because he played keeping the endgame in mind. He didn’t brow-beat or micro-manage each player. He instilled the vision of the end-game and motivated his team and let each player figure out the how. Winning was not everything to Jackson. Learning from failure and reinforcing the learnings trains an almost instinctual nature. His focus was that each individual, and the team – as a whole – truly gain mastery.

Team Vision: Communicate Up-Down-Sideways

If losing a battle or two helps you sharpen the sword, so long as everyone learns from the experience, all the better. It’s your job as manager to paint the big picture and inspire with the end in mind. Do you focus on the team, building both individual and team competencies?

Phil Jackson’s biographers tell us that his coaching style oriented toward Zen, American Indian, Yoga and mindfulness practices. His style also encompassed a warrior culture in that together, they sought excellence and fulfillment. He often reached out to individuals and made personal connections by sharing stories that emphasized his points. Can you be excellent and vulnerable? Transparent and masterful? These are traits of a 21st century manager.

Team Vision: Are you a 21st Century Manager?


The ability to instill vision. Pooling all the team’s resources, becoming unstoppable. Using losses as information and learning from the experience. Always keeping the end game (the vision) in mind.

That’s what I’d call a 21st Century Team Manager. How many of these skills do you embody? What can you learn from Phil Jackson managing style? Human psychology and brain science teach us that the human brain is wired for learning and seeking out new information. It actually thrives on it.

The next time you’re tempted to find fault in your teams; their lack of motivation and abilities to follow through or see the big picture, take a less on from Phil. Because at the end of the day, we all want to find meaning in our work. It’s human nature. Stop bucking the 21st Century current and go with flow of human nature to expand it’s capabilities and grow a strong company culture. Everyone profits.