Fantasy Team Selection

It’s time to create a fantasy football team according to the talking heads at ESPN. This is where you get to act like a general manager and create/manage a professional football team. You draft, trade and change your team to the rules of the league you are involved. There are over 20 million people playing fantasy football! Lots of people enjoying fantasizing!

I don’t do fantasy football for several reasons:

• lack of interest
• not willing to make time
• real life football seems to have enough fantasy - witness the NFL lockout
• I get confused with all the reality and fantasy stuff on television - the lines are getting blurry!

I’d love to create a fantasy United States congress! My fantasy congress would have term limits. Eight years maximum for congressmen/women and twelve years maximum for senators. People running for congress could only spend a certain amount of money to get into office and no money could come from special interests or political action committees. Congress members and their staffs would have to get health insurance just like the rest of America. Potential members of congress would have to demonstrate that he/she was principled, moral, trustworthy, courteous, of sound character, willing to sacrifice through deed and action and possessed a conscience. Most of all, my fantasy congress would have members who understood and practiced the art of compromise.

I’d love to create a fantasy Wall Street! My fantasy Wall Street would have organizations that were long-run oriented rather than short-term focused. To be a part of Wall Street, members would have to demonstrate accountability in everything as well as the product or service they delivered. Wall Street organizations would have financial practices that even someone with a sixth grade education could understand. Wall Street team members (especially CEOs) would have caps on salaries. Perhaps they could only earn 25 times what their lowest employee made rather than 900 times as some CEOs earn. CEOs and other key management people would be required to go undercover to see how their front line people worked.

My ultimate fantasy has to do with work teams. My fantasy work team would be made up of people who understood the difference between leadership and management. People with micromanagement tendencies would get coaching or would be asked to leave. Every member of the team would be given the opportunity to lead according to his/her gifts, talents, passions and strengths. Team members would be encouraged to take risks and stretch without fear of failure. They would be empowered not just in word but in action. There would be no stupid questions or stupid ideas. Each team member would be encouraged to grow. Trust would be unbelievably high leading to deeper respect, clearer communication and better understanding. Competition would morph into coopetition. Team members could openly share their weaknesses, pain and shame without fear of being ridiculed. When conflict arose, the team members would not triangulate but work constructively to resolve issues. Consequently, collaboration would flow and team members would be in the zone. Team members would not only be excited to come to work, but be willing to give their best. Change would be taken in stride and transitions would be smooth. Work/life balance would be so remarkable that stress would be healthy and team members would be seen as having a life beyond work.

What is your fantasy team? How would you make your fantasy team into a reality team?