Imagine for a moment you are an NBA coach.
Playing on your home court, your team has just won game five of the NBA championship. You now lead the series 3-2.
You realize you will play the remainder of the series in the other team’s arena. In front of the other team’s home fans.
Statistically, you know the team with home court advantage wins more than 75% of game sevens.
What do you do?
If you are Pat Riley, coach of the 2006 Miami Heat, you tell your team to pack for one night.
“Just one day of dress and change.”
As Peter Guber shares in Tell to Win, instinctively, Pat knew to win the championship trophy, his team needed to win game six.
There would be no game seven.
Pat needed to make his goal feel real, tangible and achievable. To put his players inside the positive experience of winning game six in a way that was hard, fast, and definite.
Pack for one night.
They would be coming home that night as NBA world champions
Pat prepared his team to win by preparing the right story to tell.
He told it. They felt it. And they did it.
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Reflection: What story might I tell to move people to take action toward an important project?
Action: Tell it.
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