‘Taking the basketball and putting it through the hoop’ is an equivalent of getting things done, making stuff happen, and taking action. Working in a hotel like in any other people’s business you can rest assured that many things are not going the right way and that people make mistakes every day. Amazingly, however, most are eager to tell you what’s wrong, how it is affecting your business, and seem to know exactly what you should be doing about it to correct it, rather than helping to get it right themselves. Imagine a coworker approaching you about a problem, how it came it to it, and what she is doing about it to solve it.
‘Putting the ball through the hoop’ is not a skill set, it’s an attitude, and a mindset to be part of the solution, not the problem. It’s wanting to change things to the better and making a difference. It’s about delegating tasks, and holding people accountable to it.
I have heard my former boss telling me this about a thousand times at our weekly meetings, when I would tell him about the challenges in our department and what I believe that he/we should be doing about it. ‘Take the ball and put it through the hoop’ would be his response at the end of every meeting, and he would be very enthusiastic and excited about telling me the true meaning of it over and over again. It’s about taking action, and not just talking about it. It’s about making a decision, and not being afraid about making mistakes along the way.