FEATURE ARTICLE

John Maxwell's ideas on teamwork are simply powerful - Chot Reyes

Chot Reyes, head coach of the Coca-Cola Tigers, lauds Maxwell for his book "The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player" as a most important ingredient in his team's landmark accomplishment in the Philippine Basketball Association.

“As part of our pre-season preparations last year, I required all my players to read the book,” said Reyes. “I assigned one chapter per player, and they were asked to explain its contents in their own words and share with the team its application to them as individuals and then as members of our team.”

Reyes proudly says that his players “took their reading assignments seriously and shared some very powerful insights to the group.”

The result was fantastic for Reyes and the Coca-Cola Tigers. Not only did the team win a PBA crown in their first year but they also proceeded to go to three consecutive final tournaments and win yet another title.

“More than anything else, our being the team that plays best together – even if we are far from having the best talent in the league – enabled us to create history,” shares the Coke Tigers coach.

“We live and breathe teamwork. For us, this is not merely lip service but serious business. Its something we take to heart,” Reyes explains.

A leader who is able to galvanize his team and others, Reyes will be among the thousands of leaders attending the forthcoming “John Maxwell Leadership Summit” on Sept. 16 at the Philippine International Convention Center, as well as the “High Impact Teams Seminar” on Sept. 15, at the Araneta Coliseum. The latter event opens with a motivational session by Francis Kong, considered by many as John Maxwell’s Pinoy counterpart.

Joining Reyes are his staff at coachcom.inc, a corporate and business coaching company which he describes as “in the business of creating championship teams.”

“Be it in the sports arena or work place, we provide organizations programs so their managers’ coaching capabilities will be improved, imbue in them the desire to improve the teamwork in their business units and endeavour to upgrade their people’s leadership skills,” says Reyes of coachcom.inc.

One of the resources Reyes and the coachcom.inc staff uses is the video set and trainer’s guide of Maxwell’s 17 Essentials.

“I purchased them online last year and have since used them with great success and positive feedback in some of the top local and multinational corporations in the country,” says Reyes.

True to form as any adaptable Pinoy, Reyes said that coachcom.inc customizes its rograms depending on the need of their clients.

“Lately, we have been using the acronym ACTS of a team player or leaders,” said Reyes.

ACTS stands for Adaptability, Commitment, Tenacity and Selflessness.

“We apply these ACTS with the actual performance of the Coca-Cola Tigers and then apply them to practical business circumstances,” he adds.

The end result, Reyes says, is “powerful”.

Who can contend with a win-some coach leading a winning team and company?

Anyone who aspires to be a Chot Reyes or build a champion team such as the Coca-Cola Tigers will surely have a good start by attending the Sept. 15 and 16 events at the Araneta Coliseum and PICC, respectively.

Companies who have signed up their leaders to John Maxwell Live in Manila include The Philippine Daily Inquirer, PLDT, Team LBC, Fitness First, INQ7, Hewlett-Packard Philippines Corp, Print Town and Microdata. John Maxwell Live in Manila is produced and organized by Salt and Light Ventures Inc.

Trabaho.com is one of the event’s online media sponsors.