Always Arrive Prepared

Be Prepared!.

This simple mantra is not just the motto of the Boy Scouts of America, it is also an imperative for effective coordinated team action. In athletics, winning teams depend upon individual preparation. Individual sharpen their general as well as specialized skills to fully execute their part of the plan as well as coordinate with other team members. Unless each team member takes personal responsibility for their individual contribution to the team’s success, time and energy are wasted.

This aspect of baseline social hygiene – which means that the basic pre-requisites of social interaction are met – requires individuals to exercise strong self-discipline what psychologists call “self-regulation skills” an aspect of inner strength that is considered to be a key aspect of Emotional Intelligence of “EI” (Goleman, 1998). Self-regulation means a personal commitment to manage oneself. Besides being , committed to maximizing personal performance by being prepared, this skill also involves keeping disruptive emotional reaction like anger or frustration in check, being trust worthy and honest, accepting new and different even unexpected events calmly and openly to surprises, and remaining committed to the teams objectives even went negative emotions rise up inside (Goleman, 1998).

Before “regulating a team to be the best that it can be, each individual must regulate him or herself to be the best that he or she can be; one way to do that is to train, to prepare hard for each event before walking in the door.

Only by managing oneself to a state of preparedness, can one turn to managing others to achieve collective success.

Be a PACER! Be Prepared!

Reference: Goleman, D. (1998). Working with Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam Book.

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