How I learned to speak up at work playing Flag Football
Preventing the opposing offense from completing a pass can be the same as preventing your team from making a mistake @ work.
I have played flag football from a very young age, which has taught me a lot about teamwork and discipline, among many other life lessons. But today, I want to talk about how it taught me to speak up, not just do what others say without speaking my mind.
Today I had a game day. I was doing my job as a linebacker. In flag football, linebackers are in charge of the center of the field. They must be great play readers as they’re covering a vast area. We were doing a great job. And as we were playing zones, even though the other team’s offense had two men as QBs, I kept floating the scrimmage line instead of entering with the rusher to help with the second man.
As you may be getting, there were two choices. I could have helped the rusher (becoming a “second rusher”) and entered with one QB while the rusher went with the other. Or let the rusher handle both QBs while they were before the scrimmage line, defending the short pass in the center of the field and aiding the rusher in case the QBs chose to run.
My instinct and expertise told me to do the second one. The rusher had to run a bit more, but we could stop the other team from using the short center passes to advance. It was the right choice in my mind as we were playing zones.
After a few defenses, the rusher told me that I should better go with her to cover the second QB while she covered the first one. And instead of giving her my pov, I did what she told me. Can you imagine what happened? Yes, as I went with the second QB, no one covered the center of the field, and the other team instantaneously completed a pass. The safety was too far away to cover the short pass.
The thing is that when the rusher told me what to do, she had no complete picture of what was happening. She only saw she was covering two people, so she asked for help. I should’ve explained that we were playing zones and couldn’t leave the center of the field alone (uncovered). But as she plays more than I do, I felt intimidated and chose not to speak.
The same thing happens when your boss or more experienced teammates ask you to do something; it’s easy to do what they’re asking instead of speaking up, but sometimes you can save the team from a mistake or having a setback if you speak up. Your perspective may allow you to see something that your teammates don’t. So speak up! Dialogue and learn to communicate your pov with your teammates at work. You and your point of view are invaluable. It doesn’t matter if you’re not as experienced as the others. You’re there for a reason, and your teammates know it.
