The New York Giant's unexpected victory over the NE Patriot's vaunted football machine is just the latest example of a timeless truth for teams and business organizations: If you want peak performance from a group of people, they need a purpose bigger than "the job" or "winning". The Giants had that bigger purpose, and they performed at a level nearly everyone thought impossible.
According to interviews with Giant's players, the turning point in their season, and in their development as a true team, came in the third week of the season when they were introduced to Lt. Col. Greg Gadsden, a double amputee and Iraq war veteran. Gadsden, who had been a college teammate of Giant's coach Mike Sullivan, was treated to a sideline pass and invited to give a talk to the team before that game. Not only did the Giants come back to win that game, but they went on to win the 5th seed in the playoffs and and then 2 road games in the playoffs to get to the Super Bowl. All the players interviewed said that Gadsden had inspired them to be thankful not only for their own health but also for the sacrifice of all the members of the Armed Services. Gadsden says all he did was to encourage them to "fight for your teammates", like his team did when they stopped his bleeding and got him to the hospital after the IED obliterated his HUMVEE and his legs in Iraq.
While Gadsden certainly is NOT the only reason for the Giant's success, it is hard to ignore the power of a greater purpose, beyond winning a football game, even a Super Bowl, to inspire a group of motivated, talented people to perform at a high level. Gadsden gave the Giants a purpose for winning, and the Giants used that purpose to keep them unified and confident of success, even when most people gave them little chance of victory. Purpose does matter.
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