🏆 Build MUDITA on your Team!

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ONE THOUGHT

What is MUDITA?

It became one of my new favorite words this past summer!

MUDITA is a Sanskrit term and is defined as being "especially sympathetic or vicarious joy, the pleasure that comes from delighting in other people’s well-being rather than begrudging it."

There is NO word in the English language that has the same definition.

What is the opposite of MUDITA in the English Language? The opposite is JEALOUSY.

In other words: MUDITA = Taking Joy in your teammate's successes.

I first learned of the term Mudita when reading about longtime softball coach at the University of Alabama, Patrick Murphy. Coach Murphy's teams have had tremendous success, and Coach Murphy is known as one of the best college softball coaches of all time. Mudita is a word he came across and shared with his team.

Imagine a team where every player on the team had MUDITA for their teammates. Imagine a team where the Team all plays FOR their teammates and not just WITH their teammates.

What is the potential for a team like this? I think it is endless.

How do you build MUDITA on your team? What can you do? Here are a few thoughts:

1. Define MUDITA for your Team

2. Make sure MUDITA is a Standard that you set for your Culture

3. Encourage and Emphasize MUDITA in your Team; Do this every day.

4. Celebrate and Recognize MUDITA when you see it

A couple of examples of Mudita that I have seen in "sports stories" over the years are below:

STEVE NASH and HIGH FIVES

Steve Nash led the NBA in two stats during the 2009-10 season. He led the NBA in Assists and in "Touches." Touches were made up of fist bumps, high fives, and pats on the back.

The physical touches and success were so evident that the University of California-Berkely did a study on the NBA this season. This is where they found that Steve Nash averaged 239 "Touches" per game. He led the NBA in "touches," and more importantly, his team won.

What the study also found was very interesting. There was a direct correlation between the teams with the most "touches" per game and the success the team had.

Steve Nash built up his teammates. He had a joy for their success. He created MUDITA on his team. This was contagious, and others followed.

Steve Nash once said: “I believe that the measure of a person’s life is the effect they have on others.”

ANATOMY OF A TEAMMATE

The second story is an online youtube video called, The "Anatomy of a Teammate." The video clip is of Brittany Rodgers, a University of Alabama Softball player.

Her coach was Patrick Murphy. Coach Murphy was the first person I have seen use the word Mudita with his team. There is also a video of Coach Murphy discussing Mudita and his team culture below.

In the "Anatomy of a Teammate" video, Brittany Rodgers is a 4-time all-American who has led her team to the College World Series. Her team is down two runs in the bottom of the 6th inning with the bases loaded. Brittany Rodgers, the All-American, and team leader, is due up to bat.

You could not have written a better script for a storybook ending. However, what happened next did not go to script.

What did Coach Murphy do in this situation?

He pinch hits for his best player, senior leader, and all-American. He pinch-hits her for a freshman.

What happens next is a great example of leadership, being a great teammate, and MUDITA. Watch the video at the link at the end of this article.

Remember, you are what you Emphasize. When you Emphasize MUDITA, you will begin to get MUDITA. Emphasize this with your team and watch your culture grow.

For more on Culture and MUDITA: Check out this youtube interview below with Coach Patrick Murphy where he discusses his team's Culture as well as the concept of MUDITA! Also, watch the Anatomy of a Teammate video!

The Anatomy of a Teammate — www.youtube.com

Great video on Leadership and MUDITA.

Building a Championship Culture - Alabama Softball's Patrick Murphy and MUDITA. — www.youtube.com

In today’s world of collegiate athletics, few can claim to have been in a program since the beginning. Not many can say they were there at the origin of a pr...

TWO QUOTES

"It doesn't matter where you coach, it matters why you coach."

– Don Meyer

"New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.”

– Lao Tzu

THREE TWEETS FROM OTHERS

Coaching GOLD and Culture WINS — gberge.gumroad.com. Find both books & other FREE resources here: [email protected]. Paperback version? Culture Wins on Amazon (click here)