Who’s got your back? — July 2016

In an unprece­dent­ed move last month, the NBA Play­ers Asso­ci­a­tion announced it was fund­ing a pro­gram to pro­vide health care cov­er­age for all retired play­ers with at least three years of ser­vice. In the world of pro­fes­sion­al sports, this is an his­toric event to say the least. And frankly, it is a stark con­trast to the pop­u­lar­ly held belief that ALL pro ath­letes are self-cen­tered and self-serv­ing. Even retired ath­letes can fall vic­tim to the default par­a­digm of com­par­i­son: “Hey you have so much, why aren’t you doing more for us?” The recent deci­sion by cur­rent NBA play­ers, like Chris Paul and LeBron James, has cer­tain­ly shat­tered that poor­ly held assump­tion. They have proven that they do indeed have the retired play­ers’ backs. They are look­ing out for, and pro­tect­ing, those who came before them. They care about the entire NBA team.

Have you ever felt some­one should be doing more for you or for your team?
I believe every­one wants to feel pro­tect­ed, to know some­one has their back and their best inter­est in mind. In many cas­es we are looked after by employ­ers through health insur­ance and oth­er ben­e­fits that may come with the job. How­ev­er, when you get to the heart of the mat­ter, I believe what we val­ue most is the knowl­edge and feel­ing that those close to us tru­ly care. The feel­ing that those we work with are there for us when need­ed. Those actions and sen­ti­ments make all the difference.
Take a look around the office. Who would you seek out if you real­ly had a prob­lem or need­ed to talk? Who would come to you? Have you asked any­one to lunch recent­ly? Chat­ted over a cup of cof­fee to see how some­one in your cir­cle of influ­ence is doing—personally or pro­fes­sion­al­ly? Are you pro­tect­ing your friends, fam­i­ly, or co-work­ers in some way?
Part of being on a team is tak­ing a step beyond just show­ing up and doing a job. Sim­ply check­ing in reg­u­lar­ly will give you valu­able insight on the well-being of oth­ers, improve morale and ulti­mate­ly, the bot­tom line.