Daily Lessons from Life 22 June 2010 - World Cup French Saga!

The headline news got to be: French Football Team in Shambles!

The actions and reactions in the French World Cup Football Team in South Africa MUST have stunned the nation and many admirers of the 1996 World Cup winners. It also MUST have really pissed the Irish off as their team were edged out by France with a hotly contested controversial handball by then French Captain in the last qualifying game!

To have made the World Cup line up in South Africa, it is just inconceivable how they had fallen to such a low with open confrontation with the Manager resulting in a player being sent home and a practice walk-up by the whole team subsequently, and the director of operatoin resigning on the spot as he felt ashamed and hapless!

Lessons for me are:

1. a team is not a team just because you called them one!;

2. issues identified by the team early on must be tackled heads on without hesitation and with whole sincerity by the protagonists and the antagonists so that REAL differences in opinions, potential solutions, etc can be addressed without fear or favor! It will also prevent the emotion from raising its head way over the rationality part of the brain!!;

3. a team is one that play for EACH OTHER and not just for the individual. It is also one that will view any failing as the TEAM's failing instead of pinpoint or pushing blames to someone or something! Until a team reaches this conclusion, it cannot be called a TEAM! TEAM = Together Each Accomplished More!! The Sum is more that sum of the parts! It is called: synergy. You get this powerful force ONLY when you are a real high performance and effective Team!

The French team just played their last game and lost 1:2 to host, South Africa. The French team will take a while to win back their fans - in France and worldwide - as they truly had shot themselves in the foot and heart and head with this dismay and unprofessional display! Good riddance for this World Cup though it pains to see world class players not playing their parts!