When is the last time you watched an NBA basketball game?
While you were cheering for your favorite team, I bet you didn’t realize something pretty important – there are several business lessons you can learn from watching NBA basketball.
Here are the top 5:
#1: Form the Best Possible Team
If you were running an NBA team, you’d obviously want to form the best team possible. It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that you should get as many superstars on your team as possible, but that doesn’t always work out for the best. You might need to be a little more strategic than that and get players whose skills are complimentary.
The same principle applies when you’re deciding on who you should hire to work for your company! You’ve got to assess all of the possibilities and make sure that you form a team with complimentary strengths and personalities. You can even have your potential employees take a personality test, like the DISC, to make sure that their values align with your company values. It’s a good way to make sure that everyone you hire is a good fit!
After all, you wouldn’t want to hire a bunch of extroverts who talk over each other all day, would you? On the flip side, you probably wouldn’t want to hire a bunch of avoidant introverts either. It’s good to have a healthy balance.
#2: Know Your Opponents’ Strengths and Weaknesses
It’s pretty common for basketball players and coaches to study the habits of their opponents. That way, they can have a better idea of what to expect from those opponents and come up with an effective plan to win.
You should do the same thing to help your business succeed – study your competitors. The best way to formally do this is to create a competitive analysis by looking closely at your marketing, observing what other businesses are doing, and trying to figure out why those businesses are doing what they are doing. That way, you’ll have some solid, researched knowledge to base your business decisions on.
#3: Training is Important
Can you imagine what NBA games would be like if the basketball players never practiced?
I mean, the players would probably still be pretty good, but there would be no structure to the game. The players wouldn’t know what they were supposed to do and the game would be disorderly as a result.
Now, think about what would happen if your employees never received training.
Those employees might already know how to do their jobs, just like NBA basketball players already know how to play basketball. But, chances are, they would still need some training. Every workplace environment is different, and you need to make sure your employees receive the training they need to succeed in your environment.
#4: It’s all about the Goal
You’ve got to have lots of skills to be good at basketball and win games, but at the end of the day, the most important thing you’ve got to do is score.
Just like basketball, running a business takes a lot of different skills. However, your focus should always remain on achieving your goals. It can be easy to get bogged down with day-to-day tasks, but be sure that you take the time to remember what you want to ultimately achieve.
#5: Be Aggressive
Imagine this – two NBA teams are playing against each other, but one is extremely aggressive while the other is overly submissive.
Who do you think would win?
While you can’t be ridiculously aggressive when you play basketball (foul!), you should still be aggressive. That means doing everything you can to steal the ball, block an opponent’s shot, or drive in to the paint and score.
When you run your business, you’ve got to be aggressive too – no, I don’t mean you should be hostile or violent. I just mean that you’ve got to be aggressively ambitious and determined to succeed. Don’t be too timid to innovate, and don’t be too passive to let your company slip away.
So, what’s it going to be? Are you going to use these tips to make sure that your business succeeds? It’s up to you to make it happen.
