ATTENTION COACHES IN THE NASHVILLE AREA

Coach Meyer and Buster Olney will be guest speakers at a luncheon and book signing at Lipscomb University in Nashville on Friday, Dec. 17 at noon.

Cost is $10. RSVP to brent.high@lipscomb.edu

BRIAN TRACY: MAKE CONTINUAL COURSE CORRECTIONS

Another great post by Brian Tracy!  Our athletic director and one of my mentors, Skip Bertman, use to always talk about this in terms of coaching.  He would use the example of an airplane pilot and how they would constantly make course corrections in flight to get you to your destination.  He explained that things such as weather, turbulence, traffic and the weight of the plane would never allow it to fly straight to where it was to land.  The pilots would constantly check their instrumentation and make the necessary corrections.  He also spoke about how the flight would seemingly be smooth but that did not mean that it did not need occasional corrections to get exactly where it needed to go -- and of course, he said the same would be true of our teams.

Military leaders talk about the importance of plans but the understanding that very often when the bullets start to fly that you'd better be flexible and have back up plans -- be ready to make some "course corrections."  Here is what Brian Tracy has to say about it:

Problems, difficulties, and setbacks are a normal, natural, and unavoidable part of life and business. When you set a new goal or launch toward a new destination, you will experience challenges and difficulties that you never expected or anticipated. By the true test of character is the inevitable and unavoidable crisis. Your ability to solve problems is important, but your ability to deal with a crisis largely determines your success or failure in life.

Leadership Abilities
In a multi-year study conducted at Stanford University, researchers examined the annual performance appraisals of hundreds of presidents and chief executive officers of Fortune 1000 companies, some of the most successful executives in every business or industry. This study revealed that top executives had two dominant qualities in common. The first was the ability to function well as a member of a team. When they were starting out, they were good team players, making valuable contributions to the teams they were on. As they were promoted to more senior positions, they demonstrated the ability to bring together winning teams of talented people and organize them to accomplish important goals and results for their companies.

The Most Important Leadership Quality

The second, and most important, quality that top leaders had in common was the ability to function well in a crisis. Top people in every field had demonstrated throughout their careers that they were able to deal effectively with the inevitable crisis when it came along. The ability to deal with a crisis could be learned and demonstrated only in a real crisis, an unpredictable and unexpected reversal or setback that had the potential to cause major damage of some kind. During such a crisis, the true leader would emerge to save the situation and resolve the problem.

How Leaders Perform in Crisis
Over the years, I have worked with the presidents and chief executive officers of many large companies. I have coached, counseled, and consulted with millionaires, multimillionaires, and even billionaires. I have been able to watch them up close and personal. One quality that they all seemed to demonstrate was their ability to remain calm and cool when faced with a major reversal or setback. When they were confronted with a problem or crisis, they seemed to be able to turn on a switch in their minds that enabled them to become calm and completely in control.

How Leaders Perform in Crisis
Harold Geneen, the past president of IT&T, a 150 company conglomerate, once said that the most important step in dealing with any business problem was to get the facts. He said, "Get the real facts. Not the assumed facts, the apparent facts, the obvious facts, or the hoped for facts. Keep digging until you get the real facts. Facts don't lie." The more information (the greater number of facts) he gathered about any problem or crisis, the more obvious the correct solution or course of action. The solution would seem to emerge as the result of delving deeper and deeper into the problem.

Be sure to check out: www.BrianTracy.com 

ULTIMATE COACHES CLINIC: BOB KNIGHT

In 2008, Pat Williams, the GM of the Orlando Magic and a tremendous motivational speaker put out a book, "The Ultimate Coaches' Clinic." It is a fascinating book because of the style Pat utilized. He surveyed over 1000 coaches and administrators for insights to what is important to successfully do their job. From time to time I will share a few but it is a great book to own and I highly recommend it. Here are some thoughts from Bob Knight:

• The best teachers I have known are intolerant people, because they want to get the students to be better than the students ever thought they could be. I have always said that players will accept and be satisfied with whatever the coach tolerates.

• I have one training rule: If you do anything in any way, whenever or wherever, that I think is detrimental to the good of this basketball team, to the school, or to yourself, I’ll handle it as I see fit.

• I’d like to be respected as a coach, but I’m not concerned about being liked. If you worry about whether people like you or not, you can never make tough decisions correctly.

• Be enthusiastically critical. You can do something wrong enthusiastically and it can turn out right.

• You can’t stay with big wins. You can’t be thinking of the last game when the next game is coming up. Get away from games you win and into the next game right away.

• Winning is basically eliminating why you lose. You can make all kinds of great plays and still get beat if you don’t eliminate the ways you could lose.

• The team that’s willing to prepare to win is going to be the team that wins. Most everybody plans to win, but preparing to win is the most important thing in successful play.

• Basketball is a game that can be played many different ways. There are a wide variety of approached to defense and all kinds of things a coach can choose to do on the offensive end of the floor. However, there are two things that really stand out, in my mind, as essential for a coach to get his team to do if it is going to be successful over the long haul of the season. These two ingredients are getting players to play as hard as they can, each possession of the game at both ends of the floor, and doing it as intelligently as possible. I simply try to tell our players that they have to play hard and they have to play smart if we’re going to win. I also tell them that my definition of playing hard carries with it a much higher standard then their own definitions would have. Getting players to match my definition of playing hard, as a coach, is probably the single most difficult skill there is in teaching the game of basketball. With today’s athlete, I think being able to demand their best in thought and performance is more important than ever.

• There are three phases of the game where playing hard or not doing so is most noticeable. They are rebounding at both ends of the floor, playing defense, and running the floor to the offensive as well as the defensive end. I always felt that, left on their own, players want to play the game as comfortably as they possibly can. That is why, to be successful, a coach must have much higher standards in regard to playing hard than the players may think is possible. Playing hard seems to be a very simple thing, but it is not and that goes back to the comfort level that the players themselves basically want throughout the game.

• Do what’s right and do what you think you have to do, and don’t worry about what somebody says. That would be about as simply put as my philosophy could be.

PRESSURE: GOOD AND BAD

From his book, "Sunday Morning Quarterback," Phil Simms talks about playing for Bill Parcells:

On game days Bill never put pressure on us. I never remember him giving us ultimatums or saying something that would make us tight or wouldn’t make us confident about what we were doing. In fact, his other great saying on game day was, “Hey, remember, it isn’t going to go perfect. Don’t worry about it. This game is not about being perfect. Something’s going to go wrong. Just keep going.”

He puts you in a situation where, if he ever says, “You did a good job,” you know it means so much more than that. It’s a proud moment.

Everybody thinks he’s just a curmudgeon and a mean man, but he definitely cares about his players as people. His approach wouldn’t work if he didn’t care. There were times in my career when I would struggle and he would just find the right moment and the right words, and say them to me.

Here’s another Bill Parcells saying: “If you keep pressuring the other team and apply enough pressure to them, eventually they’ll succumb to it.” What that really means is play as hard as you can play, play smart, and just by doing that—never letting up and continuously coming out every round ready to battle and showing no signs of slowing down—sooner or later the other team will say, “They’re never going to quit, so we might as well just get it over with and pack it in.”

Your philosophical beliefs determine whether you win or lose. What you believe in, deep down, as a coach and as an organization, forms and becomes your team. How you dress it up with some of your X’s and O’s and all the cute stuff is the final piece that really gets you over the top to win. However, what you believe in—great physical conditioning, toughness, practicing under pressure—forms the core, because that’s how you’re going to play.

There has to be a master plan. You’re not going to go out on the field on Sunday and be overly aggressive and the roughest and toughest bunch out there if you don’t work on it in practice. No coach can go through a week where it’s always easy, and then all of a sudden say, “All right, men, let’s turn it on.”

Playing aggressively and having that edge is a deep-seated mentality that you can only develop over a long period of time and through constant reinforcement. It’s something you just can’t create overnight. It’s something you have to learn to accept.

Establishing a foundation is the hardest thing for coaches to do. But once you establish what you are, what your team is, what you’re going to be as an organization, the reinforcement kind of takes care of itself. When the newcomers arrive, the coach doesn’t have to sit down and teach then everything because he knows his incumbent players and his organization are going to mold them. You learn quickly what is accepted and not accepted. The coach doesn’t even have to give the newcomers his agenda-setting speech because his other players are going to snap them into shape. They tell them, “For this to work right, for us to win, you’ve got to get in line with the rest of us.”

Everybody needs disciples. You’ve got to have people help you spread your message. You teach the whole group, but really you need the core guys, the ones making a lot of plays for you, to sell your ideas to everybody else.

JOHN MAXWELL ON FINISHING

The following comes from John Maxwell and will be a team passout for us.  We are in the middle of a stretch where we are struggling to finish plays, practices and games in the manner we are capable of finishing:

I once heard that 91 million Americans make New Year's Resolutions, but that 70 million Americans break those commitments within a week! Going to a health club seems to confirm the stats. During the first week of January, gyms are packed. All of the treadmills are in use, people are lining up for a turn on the exercise equipment, and it's hard even to find a parking space. Yet, by about the third week of January, you can park in the space nearest the front door and exercise on any machine that suits your preference. What happens between January 1st and January 21st? People demonstrate their unwillingness to finish.

Character, discipline, sacrifice, tenacity-these qualities aren't stylish, but they are surefire ingredients for any leader who wishes to finish strong. As we enter the final month of the calendar year, I encourage you to make the most of the remaining weeks in 2010. Live and lead in December so that you'll end this year on a high note and cruise into the New Year with positive momentum.

CHARACTER

Emotions are unreliable allies. One moment they propel us forward, while the next minute they impede our progress. People guided primarily by emotion must feel good before doing right. They make popular choices, choosing whichever route is most convenient. They are concerned about protecting their rights instead of taking care of responsibilities, and they are easily discouraged by adversity.

Emotion might drive us to make a decision, but character, or discipline, is what keeps us going when the journey gets hard. A person with character makes decisions on principle, not on the basis of what is popular. He or she honors commitments instead of catering to convenience. High-character, disciplined individuals work steadily regardless of circumstance, creating their own momentum by dint of a steady work ethic.

SACRIFICE

Being a finisher requires recurring installments of sacrifice, not a one-time payment. Sacrifice is a leader's constant companion. As influencers, we must give up to go up, ever exchanging our rights for greater responsibility.

I believe most people expect to pay a price to achieve their goals. Yet, many people seem to have a vague concept of sacrifice, viewing it as something distant or far-off. Consequently, when their goals demand a significant investment, people are bewildered and resist giving up anything. If you desire to finish strong, you will need to sacrifice earlier than expected and to give up more than is comfortable.

TENACITY

Pierre and Marie Curie had made 487 experiments to try to separate radium from pitchblende. All had failed. "It can't be done; it can't be done," Pierre Curie lamented. "Maybe in a hundred years it can be done, but never in our lifetime." Madame Curie replied, "If it takes a hundred years it will be a pity, but I dare not do less than work for it so long as I have life." Madame Curie's tenacity goaded the scientists into making another attempt and opened the door to new scientific discovery.

Tenacity means quitting only when the job is done, not when you're tired. Much of life is spent laboring in the trenches. To reach the finish line, you must wade through tedious details, take care of thankless tasks, and tie up thousands of loose ends. Most people tire along the way, settle for second-best, and stop before reaching their goals. However, a select few push on, refusing to stop until they've taken hold of their dreams.

Be sure to check out: www.GiantImpact.com

QUOTES ON RESOLVE

“Resolve says, ‘I will.’ The man says, ‘I will climb this mountain. They told me it is too high, too far, too steep, too rocky and too difficult. But it’s my mountain. I will climb it. You will soon see me waving from the top or dead on the side from trying.’”
—Jim Rohn

“People do not lack strength; they lack will.”
—Victor Hugo

“He who is firm in will molds the world to himself.”
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Resolve to be a master of change rather than a victim of change.”
—Brian Tracy

“To think we are able is almost to be so; to determine upon attainment is frequently attainment itself; earnest resolution has often seemed to have about it almost a savor of omnipotence.”
—Samuel Smiles

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.”
—Abraham Lincoln

“Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind.”
—Leonardo da Vinci

“I like a person who knows his own mind and sticks to it; who sees at once what, in given circumstances, is to be done, and does it.”
 —William Hazlitt

COACH JANICE RICHARD: AN AMAZING COMPETITOR

I was very saddened today to learn of the passing of Coach Janice Richard, the women's basketball coach at Louisiana College.  Coach Richard died yesterday following a five-year battle with breast cancer.  I got to know Coach Richard through efforts to create greater awareness for breast cancer and found her to be an amazing person of strength.  She was an tremendous competitor.  My thoughts and prayers today are directed to her family and friends and for her team.  It is hard to imagine the loss they feel this morning but I guarantee that they have been extremely blessed to have her in their life and to learn from her amazing courage.

http://bit.ly/gdjIiU

CHRIS WIDENER'S LIST OF SKILLS FOR LEADERS

1. Good Communicator.
Extraordinary Leaders are those who can take the vision they have and communicate it in ways that their followers can easily understand, internal, and own. Then, and only then, can they carry it out! So focus on speaking and writing more clearly, and with the passion that you have for the vision you have. Use different ways of communicating, including different ways verbally and non-verbally. Above all, communicate often!

2. "Sees" the End Result Long Before Others.
 I think the greatest compliment on my leadership skills I ever received came from a gentleman who told me that "you see things about 6 months before the rest of us." Without tooting my own horn (okay, a little bit maybe...), that is a skill of a leader. They are always looking out ahead of themselves and their situations. Followers are worried about what happens today, while leaders are thinking about and strategizing about what they see for tomorrow. Be constantly looking ahead. Practice making projections. Get good at "seeing" the future. When you can do this better than others, they will look to you for leadership!

3. Ability to Define Goals for Self and Others.
Do you know what your goals are? Can you define them? Can you articulate them clearly (see number one)? Can you do this for those who follow? Can you define and set their goals? A Extraordinary Leader works at clarity and definition of goals so that they can be internalized and acted upon by others. Work hard at this skill and others will follow!

4. Ability to Set Strategy and Course of Action.
What will you do to reach the goal? Many people can say where we should go, but it is the Extraordinary Leader who can lay out a plan for everyone to get there! Work at laying out a plan for you and your followers. Remember that there are people with different skill and passion levels, and take this into account! Get good at this and when people want to get to their goals in a hurry, they will call on you to lead!

5. Ability to Teach Others.
One of the greatest leadership development companies in the world has been General Electric. This is because their CEO, Jack Welch, has always emphasized the need for current leaders to teach others. He himself spends what others would consider an extraordinary amount of time in the classroom teaching. But remember, he is an Extraordinary Leader and he is developing Extraordinary Leaders to follow behind him. Work hard at your teaching techniques, and be sure to use as many situations as possible for the opportunity to teach those who would follow.

6. Ability to Inspire Others.
You may have a great goal, but if you want to be an Extraordinary Leader, then you will have to put a little oomph under your followers! This is the ability to inspire! Work at helping them to see the big picture, the great end results, and how good it is going to be for them and others. Above all, make it exciting. If it is a good goal, it should be exciting. If it isn't exciting, then dump it and get a goal that others can get excited about! (See the next article, the MFS Classic, for more on inspiring others)

7. Delegates.

An Extraordinary Leader is rarely a person who is doing everything him or herself. Extraordinary Leaders get there job done through others. They figure out the way, communicate the way, and inspire the followers to go that way, and then they get OUT OF THE WAY! Delegate to your people. Empower them! Set them free to soar!

ON OVERCOMING ADVERSITY AND OBSTACLES

"Comfort and prosperity have never enriched the world as much as adversity has."
-Billy Graham

"Obstacles can't stop you. Problems can't stop you. Most of all other people can't stop you. Only you can stop you."
-Jeffrey Gitomer

"You may not realize it when it happens, but at kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you."
-Walt Disney

"Nothing is predestined: The obstacles of your past can become the gateways that lead to new beginnings."
-Ralph Blum

"I would never have amounted to anything were it not for adversity. I was forced to come up the hard way."
-J. C. Penney

"The man of virtue makes the difficulty to be overcome his first business, and success only a subsequent consideration."
-Confucius

"There is no education like adversity."
-Benjamin Disraeli

"Adversity builds character and character makes us stronger."
-Mark Wilson

"When it gets dark enough you can see the stars."
-Lee Salk

"Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."
-Michael Jordan

DRINK DEEPLY FROM GOOD BOOKS

A great post from one of my favorite people to follow, Stephanie Zonars:

"Today a reader, tomorrow a leader."

–Margaret Fuller

Coach Wooden would have loved this quote! During Wooden's childhood, his father read poetry to his children, instilling in them a love for reading, English, books and knowledge. Wooden called this a “priceless gift” that truly enhanced his life.

Leaders from all walks of life sought out Coach Wooden for wisdom and advice. Many marveled at the simple, yet profound way he lived. The wisdom that fueled his life flowed from his decades-long discipline of reading good books, especially the Bible. Wooden's extraordinary life illustrates the direct correlation between reading and wise leadership.

The biggest excuse that leaders use for not reading more is a lack of time. I know because I’ve used this one myself! Yet, if we want to become stronger leaders, we must find a way to read more. Check out these suggestions:

Change a habit. I used to automatically turn on the television during dinner. One show quickly became 4 and before I knew it I’d wasted a few hours. This past year I downgraded my cable package and began reading while eating. This small change made a big impact on my reading intake. What “automatic” routine could you change in order to read more?

Ask for recommendations. Whatever your profession, you have colleagues you respect. Find out their favorite leadership books or the authors they enjoy most. Popular authors include John C. Maxwell, Jim Collins, Patrick Lencioni, Brian Tracy, Stephen Covey, and of course, Coach Wooden himself. You won’t be disappointed by the leadership tips you pick up from gurus like these!

Get a library card. Creating your own leadership library can be expensive, but you have an unbelievable resource where you can read for FREE: the library. Unlimited books and knowledge right at your fingertips!

“A library is the best possible gift for a community, since it gives people the opportunity to improve themselves.” -Andrew Carnegie

Retain more with a “Net Out.” This idea comes from one of my favorite leaders, Michael Hyatt. How many times have you told a friend about a great book, but then struggled to articulate the key points you learned? I can relate! Hyatt suggests taking 45-60 minutes after reading a book to put together a “Net Out” to help you remember your takeaways. Here’s his post on the topic: http://bit.ly/hPKump

Check out Stephanie's site: http://www.lifebeyondsport.com/ and sign up for her email newsletter.