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For years, businesses executives have been using sports lessons and metaphors to boost performance, but in this case, a sports team built its winning season on lessons from a business expert.

Leadership consultant Maureen Monte applied her team-building system and leveraged more than a decade of experience working with top companies to help Crankbrook-Kingswood boy's varsity hockey team overcome adversity.

"I got a phone call saying: 'The Cranbrook hockey team was struggling, and did I think my program could help?' I said: 'I know it would help.' I talked to the coach, and then two days later I was in the locker room. Six weeks later, they were state champs."

Monte, 57, is an engineer who became a business consultant, and believes that whether its in business or sports, teamwork is essential.

She detailed the private-school team's story in a self-published book, "Destination Unstoppable: The Journey of No Teammate Left Behind," and focused on the leadership lessons and insights, unfolding both from both a business and sports point of view.

In a conversation edited for brevity and clarity, Monte talked about what it takes to win:

QUESTION: What led Cranbrook to contact you?

ANSWER: One of the parents of one of the boys on the team has a sister here in Detroit who knew that I had done StrengthFinder, which had been building winning teams in the corporate world. I had helped this person find a new job using the same process: What are your strengths? Describe them. Describe your value proposition as part of the interview process. They asked if I would do it, and I said I would be interested.

Q: Could you talk about your book, "Unstoppable"?

A: Destination unstoppable is not a place. It's a feeling that comes from teams who know what success looks like, that all are committed to and feel committed to, followed by understanding their strengths, and then helping them use those strengths in their roles. When you do that, you have untapped talent on the team that is being harvested, that's why it's also called "no teammate left behind." You can never achieve your maximum potential as a team if you leave untapped talent off the table. One of the things I like about the assessment is it measures not only your personality, but how you think to solve problems, how you execute tasks, how you build relationships and how you influence others. Those are all things required to be successful as a team.

Q: What is the assessment?

A: It's called the Clifton StrengthFinder. It's tool that was developed measures things you can't really identify by watching somebody.

Q: Is sports a good metaphor for business?

A: Absolutely. There are three organizations that do strength-based teams naturally: Sports. You don't take Justin Verlander and put him in the outfield so he'll have a stronger arm. You don't do that. You have Justin Verlander hone in on his pitching. The military. It's good at identifying at what makes people great and putting them in a role to be successful. And music. No one takes Yo-Yo Ma and says, why don't you play drums for a while and maybe you will be a better cellist. When help people understand what their strengths are and help align them with success in their role, in the business environment, the team chemistry improves tremendously, people feel valued, conflict drops, productivity goes up. It's a wonderful experience.

Q: So the system is: identifying people's strengths, help develop them and put them in roles that maximize them?

A: That's perfect. The only other thing that's important is to have the leader and the team agree on what success looks like. I would with leaders and ask: What does success look like for this team? And there's a long pause. There's always a metric. But that's not defining success. There's a how do we get there. Finding a way for people to have an emotional connection between both the number of what success is and the how. That takes some work.

Q: So in the short term, perhaps you can get to success quickly. But is that sustainable? Because, over time, people change, teams change — and people are going to want different roles. So how do you make this team system sustainable?

A: You have to have ongoing conversations. This is what Millennials want, conversations about how I'm doing in my role using my strengths, and how do shape a role that will fit you? You can have a talented team be successful over a short term, but it's not the same as a team that has reached what I call maximum potential, destination unstoppable. That feeling of momentum, that connection to one another.  That's where the StrengthFinder sets in. It's so important. I always describe it as a competitive advantage.

Q: What advice do you have for a business leader — and I realize your whole book is about this — that could lead to success?

A: I think there's a basic misunderstanding that teams shouldn't struggle. Just naturally get along, do the work. The reality is the opposite is true. All teams struggle. Helping them by measuring the untapped talent in the room, so everyone feels valuable, and aligning that talent with success, will help that team overcome struggles that they wouldn't have otherwise.

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or

Maureen Monte

Age: 57

Title: Leadership consultant

Education: University of Rhode Island, bachelor's and master's degree in mechanical engineering; Duquesne University, master's degree in leadership and business ethics

Hobbies: Martial arts, photography

Car: 2014 Chevrolet Malibu


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