Let’s be honest; complacency can sneak up on the best of us.

In an earlier post, we discussed what complacency is and how it can sabotage your career if it isn’t addressed. Unfortunately, the 2004 American Olympic Men’s Basketball Team provided a great example of exactly how talented people can fall short this way. In fact, there was so much dysfunction and complacency throughout that organization, that USA Basketball declared, “We have to put this in the hands of somebody who can blow it up, start all over again, and get us back where we belong.”

Actually, that’s not such a bad idea. If you’ve been devastated by complacency, you may very well need to “blow up” your processes, your culture, everything within your business and life. This isn’t to say you toss out everything. When USA Basketball started over again, they overhauled the entire program but kept the key talent that became the foundation for the 2008 “Redeem Team.” But you do have to be willing to let go of anything that is holding you back. After all, your business is on the line.

More than anything else, your company’s culture can lead you to success or bankruptcy. Do your associates have a real drive to work together as a team? To provide the best customer service? The best product? Do team members encourage each other when they struggle, or do they sit around gossiping? If your people are happy to step over the remains of a colleague’s career to come out on top, you have a real problem. Rooting out complacency means finding and addressing all such issues.

Rebuilding your business or career is never easy or quick, but you may just come out stronger than you ever were before. USA Basketball refocused its vision, overhauled its culture, revamped its decision-making process–and in so doing established not only the Redeem Team but the dominance over international basketball that continues to this day.

Being an entrepreneur means being a visionary, and vision is exactly what you need to rebuild yourself. Don’t just think about being successful through the next quarter—do what it takes to be a dominant force in your industry for years to come. Launch yourself to towards your future with renewed enthusiasm.

[vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” css_animation=””][vc_column][vc_separator type=”normal”][vc_column_text]

3 Key Points:

1) Sometimes complacency can be so devastating, that you must “blow up” everything so that you can rebuild a competitive company again.

2) Your company’s culture can lead you to success or bankruptcy.

3) As you rebuild yourself, envision what it will take to be a dominant force for years to come. Don’t let complacency strike twice!

Resources:

• Rebirth of USA Basketball – Players, coaches, and others provide their personal insight into the 2004 loss and the efforts that went into building the Redeem Team
• Jared Nichols Group – Sales Forecasting
• Sign up for our newsletter and receive a Social Media Organizer that will save you time with your marketing

Affiliates:

• BlueHost: Hosting service that saves you time with its simplicity
• Envato: Themes for your website that allow you to focus on the content
• ConvertKit: Email marketing made easy

Subscribe to Sportsepreneur!

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” css_animation=””][vc_column][button target=”_self” hover_type=”default” text=”Subscribe” link=”https://sportsepreneur.com/get-updates/” background_color=”#dd3333″ hover_background_color=”#1abc9c”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” css_animation=””][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1467313256894{margin-top: 30px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”] Image of the 2008 Olympic Men’s Basketball team taken by Kris Krüg with Creative Commons 2.0 [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]