A Power Move with People

One of the most powerful moves in the game of basketball is the pivot. See in basketball, you can't advance or move forward with the ball in your possession– without dribbling it, without bouncing the ball. However, there are a couple ways you can actually move without violating the travel rule. You can position yourself to see any place on the court without leaving where you are. You can change your perspective while still being grounded, or still not ‘violating’. It's called the pivot.

You see it with great basketball players when they catch the ball, then you see them rock one way or the other. If you notice, if they're not bouncing the ball or dribbling the ball, they're pivoting. One foot is firmly planted on the ground, all the while moving their body and the ball to see the whole court, even though they’ve lost their ability to move freely.

It's a powerful move and the greatest ball players of all know how to pivot. What about organizational leaders? Unfortunately, so many leaders are planted– planted in fear, planted in perspective, planted in stress, planted in anxiety. They are planted in lack of knowledge and the lack of exposure to some of these really important issues that are challenging in the workplace. Issues like diversity, equity, and  inclusion, like gender issues, like generational issues. There are so many things coming at the leader, when the ball is in their hand, and yet they feel stuck. They don't know what to do. They don't know how to handle some of the emotions and messages coming at them a thousand miles per hour. 

And let's be honest, it can be a little overwhelming today. Everybody's got a microphone and most of us are sitting in the seat of ‘Judge’. When you have a mic, a camera and a spirit of judgment, It creates an environment of fear and an environment of stuckness– for leaders, for families, for teams, for organizations, for individuals. 

And there's an answer for us in the game of basketball: the pivot. They know how to plant one foot firmly in values that are redeeming, values like grace, empathy, understanding. Values like truth and emancipation. 

Whatever your values,, know what they are and know why they are yours. Just like in basketball, what you plant your foot on and where you plant it makes a difference. Which side is to be firmly planted in the ground and what part of us is going to move and shift?

In terms of our interactions with others; Do other people matter like we matter? Are other human beings just as capable of change and genius and innovation as I am? If they are, then I have to decide what I believe about people no matter the situation. I can be firmly grounded in my values, and I can grow by seeking new ways to engage and lead. 

Yet there's all this other stuff outside of our beliefs– the things we see, the things we experience, the things that scare us, the things that motivate us, things that keep us stuck. As we engage with others who are different from us, as we engage with messages that are different from ours, though we're firmly planted in our values, we can also turn. We can turn our mindsets, our thoughts, our intentions, our emotions, our aspirations. We can move and pivot so that we can see the needs of others– so that we can see people in all of who they are. No matter how different others are, they're on the court with us and they can make us better. Block out the noise, all this shame and blame that is all over us,  Don’t let the defender keep us stuck with both feet on the ground, unable to move the ball forward. 

Will you pivot? Will you plant your one foot in the ground, based on values that redeem humans? Will you then have the flexibility enough, the awareness enough, the ‘game-time’ awareness enough, to move your body, to move your mind, to move your sight, to see other parts of the court? Other stories? Other people's journeys? Other pathways? Other plays we can make, other than the plays we've been making that keep us stuck– that feel like the whistle is being blown on us all the time? 

Pivoting is ‘planted’ movement, rooted movement, that allows us to be grounded while being open at the same time, ready to move the ball down the field. And let's face it, that's what we all want: we just want the ball to move down the field. We're tired of being stuck in this place of frustration and misunderstanding. And part of it is, as leaders, we're standing there with the ball and we don't know what to do. We're just standing there while the defense continues to trap in the corner. And we feel like we can't get out. Well, tuck that ball and make a pivot. Open yourself to see differently, to see the whole floor, and then you'll know which play to make. 








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