Gold Standard -- a set of guiding principles Published Oct. 30, 2013 By Col. Christopher Daniels 71st Mission Support Group commander VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- When you think about what it takes to win, what are your steps? What is your strategy? Do you know your own capability? What is your sense of purpose? In 2008, Coach Mike Krzyzewski, aka Coach K, led a team of superstar basketball players who won the Olympic Gold Medal, and answered those questions for himself and the team. They were known as the "Redeem Team." Why Redeem Team? Because four-years earlier in 2004, Team USA Basketball won the Bronze. The "Dream Team" in 1992 and USA Olympic Basketball Teams of 1996 and 2000 all won the Gold. Why did the 2004 team take Bronze? By all accounts, Team USA was supposed to have the best professional athletic talent in the world, bar none. However, there were a few issues with that team. They were a group of wealthy individuals with egos and had no pride in wearing the Team USA uniform. They had no real sense of common purpose. In 2008, that all changed. Not only did Team USA have to figure out what would work for them, they also needed to know who was committed to make it work. Let's face it, they were still a group of wealthy individuals with egos; however, they were proud to wear the Team USA uniform and knew their sense of common purpose was to bring home the Olympic Gold Medal. Coach K realized he was dealing with a group that could easily decide not to play well together so he took a back-to-basics approach and applied what he called "The Gold Standard." Gold being the operative word, represented the win, and Standard was his expectation; the level of effort needed to win as a team. The Gold Standard was a set of guiding principles to help focus individual effort on shared goals. The guiding principles were: no excuses, great defense, communication, trust, collective responsibility, care, respect, intelligence, poise, flexibility, unselfishness, aggressiveness, enthusiasm, performance and pride. So with the Gold Standard readily known, how does he get the team to respond? His solution was to get the team to take responsibility through commitment and taking charge of their destiny. He knew he could not coach them to win. They had to play together and want to win. That is exactly what happened. They controlled the court, passed the ball, utilized each other's strengths and represented the USA with dignity. They did not play for themselves; they played for a nation, for each other, and brought the Gold Medal back home. The Redeem Team played for a nation. Team Air Force defends a nation. The same Gold Standard principles apply. Our core values set the expectation for us; the supreme example of how we must conduct ourselves. Integrity, Service and Excellence equate to: no excuses, performance, communication, trust, collective responsibility, care, respect, unselfishness, enthusiasm and pride. Just like professional athletes, professional Airmen have to figure out what it takes to win every day. Demonstrating our capability and playing to our strengths certainly keeps the better of us out front and making a difference. But what about those of us that need a push, need motivation, need confidence-building and a sense of purpose? We are a group of star players but we have to know when to call a time out to ensure we are getting the most out of each teammate. We must look each other in the eye and tell the truth. We have to do the hard work. We have to believe in each other, commit to each other and make the necessary sacrifices. We must have each other's back and give aid to our team. We must respect each other and always be prepared because you never know when you might get the ball. We must realize that we are all connected and each of our talents are valued, not just measured. We must enjoy what we do and have fun doing it. We are the best in the world and we are fewer than 1 percent of the American population. Wear the Air Force uniform with dignity. In the end, we do not defend a grateful nation as individual Airmen. We defend our nation as a team; victoriously fighting to bring home the Gold.