Ubuntu!
It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. – Nelson Mandela
As I write this the Boston Celtics are in the midst of the greatest turnaround in NBA history playing in the championship against their greatest rival the Los Angeles Lakers…(even if you don’t have the slightest interest in basketball, stay with me because this is a winner). What intrigues me is not the event itself rather the “how”…which was finally revealed by a closer look at the Celtics coach Doc Rivers. At the beginning of the year the team had the great blessing of being able to acquire the services of two fantastic players, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, this in addition to a current long time Celtic, Paul Pierce; from that point forward they would become known as the Big Three! However, history has proven many times over that a mere gathering of excellent talent does not guarantee a championship team by default. Why? Simple. The inability of great individual performers to invoke humility and put the team first! Enter Doc Rivers stage left…he gathered his super individuals around an African tribal concept called Ubuntu. Albeit tough to define exactly, its true essence is “I am because we are.” And guess what…it worked! Regardless of the final outcome, the Big Three have shown that putting the team first can result in much greater achievement. This concept is not foreign to any of us and is echoed today by some of the greatest motivators of our time like Zig Ziglar whose mantra is, “You will get all you want in life if you help enough people get what they want.” Or the discussion with my father in law who reminisced how during World War II families would search the neighborhood for scrap metals to put forward not for profit rather for the good of the cause! Nelson Mandela describes Ubuntu like this: “A traveler through a country would stop at a village and he didn’t have to ask for food and water. Once he stops, the people give him food, they entertain him…Ubuntu does not mean that people should not address themselves. The question therefore is: are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?”
It’s funny how when you focus in on a concept, the reticular activator is put in place and examples are suddenly everywhere. How about the study of an ant colony I saw this week…the whole colony referred to as a “super organism”…not one ant, rather thousands with very specialized roles all driven by chemical scents for the good of the colony. It took researchers 10 tons of cement to fill the extremely sophisticated labyrinth of super highways, natural air conditioning and waste disposal depots just to have a complete look at this incredible example of Ubuntu…mind boggling!
So why then are we so insecure that we are threatened by anybody that begins to achieve, and I’m not talking about great things rather little victories. How about your buddy that just made that great golf shot, your wife who just got a raise, your sister who just won a beauty contest…why does this bring us down? Why do we always have a silent laugh when an achiever stumbles and falls, a politician says the wrong thing, a champion loses? At the risk of trying to bring back the free form communtiy of the 70s, I’m challenging you all to lift other people up! Go forward today with a new goal of looking to push the people around you to be the best that they can be…facilitate their goals for them…you be their “10 fingers.” See the great thing about Ubuntu is that it does not preclude you from being your best, it has nothing to do with self deprivation. Ubuntu means that we can be great because our community gives us that status…and don’t forget that! So the next time you rally your team, remember the Celtics Big Three and the Ants’ Super Organism! I am because we are! Ubuntu!
Danny Griffin
PS It worked, they won and I was in the building for the final game!
