TAKE CARE OF THE BIG ROCKS FIRST

I first watched this video about 10 years ago.  It is simply one of the best illustration at how to prioritize the things you do in life.  At Stephen Covey teach us, take care of the "big rocks" first.

BRIAN BILLICK: BE PREPARED

This is a series of thoughts from "Competitive Leadership: 12 Principles for Success" by Brian Billick. Part II deals with being prepared:



“Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.”
-John Wooden



...no aspect of leadership provided by a coach has a bigger or more lasting effect on the players and their performance than the methodology used, in installing and practicing of your system.

“Habit gives strength to the body in great exertion, to the mind in great danger, and to judgment against first impression.”
-Clauzewitz

Maintaining a specific routine and level of preparation gives the players a sense of structure and security.

Entering the new millennium, over one-third of the entire league has a head coach with his roots linked to Bill Walsh. Those 11 coaches represent six total Super Bowls and four of the last five champions.

Teaching Elements:
-Being sure that the information you provide measurable reduces the uncertainty or hesitation in your players.

-Demanding concentration. Being assertive in your insistence that your players focus on the task at hand.

-Being exact, almost to the point of scientific precision

-Being sensitive to signs of physical fatigue.

-Keeping meeting times quality-oriented and making an effort to change the learning atmosphere.

-Constantly monitoring the retention levels of the team members.

“If it’s worth playing, it’s worth paying the price.”
-Bear Bryant

"If I don’t practice one day, I know it. If I do not practice the next day, the orchestra knows it. If I do not practice the third day, the whole world knows it.”
-Ignace Paderewski (pianist)

“Spectacular achievements are always preceded by unspectacular preparation.”
-Roger Staubach

To a point, it can be relatively easy to have a plan. The difficult lies in the details involved in developing a sound plan.

Keep in mind that however well-intended a plan is, it is only a plan unless it leads to action. Planning should be used as a tool that elicits purposeful activity.

By putting it in written form, a coach is provided with an opportunity to document the exact process needed to develop a specific skill.

Prioritizing your allocation of resources:

-Listing all aspects in your area of responsibility for which you would like to be better prepared.

-Identifying opportunities that you have to be better prepared for each item on your list. Specify what form that improvement might entail.

-Determining the resources that are needed to turn the opportunity into a reality.

-Assessing the feasibility of actually achieving the improvement detailed in the previous step.

-Deciding, relatively speaking, what possibility exists of you wasting your time on a particular area of concern.

-As appropriate, discussing your list with others within or outside the organization.

-Deleting areas of concern from your list that are unfeasible or inappropriate.

Deciding what really needs to be done is only the initial step. The next step is to determine how to achieve your goal of being better prepared.

If your army is not properly fed, your machinery properly maintained, and your communications channels kept open, your chances of success are limited.

When the Ravens were facing an opening 2000 schedule with five of the first seven games on the road, it was vital that we did everything as smoothly as possible as an organization to handle the logistical demands attendant to the situation. It is obvious to me that if we did not support the travel needs of our team (e.g., accommodations, meals, transportation, etc.) the long-term effects could be debilitating.

...while these types of “behind-the-scenes” jobs normally do not get much recognition, they are extremely vital to the success an organization might achieve.

“One of life’s mot painful moments comes when we must admit that we didn’t do our homework, that we are not prepared.”

The basic rule for implementing a plan of attack: “do it right and do it now.”

...there is not such thing as an unimportant detail. While some details may be more important than others, all are important. The reason some leaders are more effective than others is their enhanced ability to focus on essential details.

“The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.”
-John F. Kennedy

“The only thing certain about the certainty is that nothing is certain.”
-anonymous

One aspect of contingency planning that you should keep in mind is that people and organizations are creatures of habit.

As a skillful leader, you must be able to respond to your circumstances as they exist — not as you would like them to be.

While life doesn’t always give you roses (even if you deserve a bouquet), you still have an obligation to yourself, your followers, and the organization to act in a responsible manner. You must approach each situation with an open mind and a get-it-done attitude.  Whatever the circumstances, to the extent feasible, you must be both able and willing to adapt to your behavior and your actions in such a way to position yourself to be successful.

IF IT IS TO BE, IT IS UP TO ME

Here's a great message I got today from my Jim Rohn email newsletter:

One of the first things successful people realize is the old adage, "if it is to be, it is up to me." That is, for you, the fact that your success and your course is up to you. This doesn't mean that you do it all alone. It simply means that you take responsibility for your life and your career.

Too many people today look at opportunity and figure it is up to someone else to make sure they get it. They look at financial security and hope that the government will make sure they live safely in retirement or in case of disability. They wait and wait, figuring that it is up to someone else. And then the wait is over, and it is too late to do anything. Their life is over and they are filled with regret.

This isn't true for you however. You know that you must take responsibility for your life. It is up to you.

The fact is that nobody else is going to do it for you “you must do it yourself.

Now, some people may say, "Jim, that's a lot of responsibility." Friends, that is the best news you can ever hear. You get to choose your life. Hundreds of millions of people all around this world would give anything to live in the situation you do “just for the chance to have the opportunity to take control of their destiny. "It is up to you" is a great blessing.

Here's why:

1. You get to chart your own destiny. Maybe you want to start a small business and stay there. That's great because you can choose that. Maybe you want to create a small chain of stores. Maybe you want to have a net worth of $100 million. That's okay too. The idea is that you get to choose. You can do whatever you like. Different people have different dreams and they should live them accordingly.

2. You can reap what you sow. Sleep in and go to work late and reap the return. Or get up early and outwork the others and earn a greater return. Place your capital at risk and earn a return “or place it at greater risk and perhaps reap a greater return. You decide what you will sow and thus what you will reap.

3. No one else can stop you from getting your dream. Yes, there will always be things that come up and people who may not like what you are doing, but you can just move on and chart your own course. There is great freedom in that.

4. You experience the joy of self-determination. There is no greater pride than knowing you set your mind on something and accomplished it. Those who live with a victim mentality never get to experience the joy of accomplishment because they are always waiting for someone else to come to the rescue. Those who take responsibility get to live the joy of seeing a job well done.

Let me ask you a question: Where will you be in 5 years? 10 years? Or 25 years? Do you know? DO you have an idea? Have you ever dreamed about it or set a goal for it? Are you willing to take responsibility and recognize that, "It is up to you?"

You will be wherever you decide to be in those timeframes. You decide. It is up to you.

And that is very exciting!

A GIFT FROM COACH BROWN: NOT THE BOOK, BUT THE MEANING IN THE BOOK

My friend and mentor Dale Brown gave me many gifts during my time on his staff -- and in fact still passes on "gifts" to me to this day.  Often times those gifts are in the form of advice, motivation and love.  He has always been there for me from the first day I served on his staff.  Many of his gifts to me have been in the form of books.  Coach Brown was a voracious reader.  You never saw him without a book in his hand or on his desk.  He would underline passages of importance and have our secretary Wanda Carrier type up those notes.  He would pass them on to us and use parts of them to motivate our team.

Anytime Coach Brown would gift me a book, I knew it would be for a reason.  He would pick a book for our team to read each year as well.  Except each player would receive a different book.  It would be a book that Coach Brown thought might be significant to that individual.

One of the first books I received from Coach Brown when I first joined his staff was "Man's Search for Meaning" by Victor Frankl.  It had an immediate impact on how I viewed things.  I wasn't the only one.  The Library of Congress named it one of the ten most influential books through a survey of "lifetime readers."

The book chronicles Frankl's experiences as a World War II concentration camp inmate and is based on his method of finding meaning in all forms of existence, even the most horrific ones, and thus a reason to continue living. It is an amazing study on how with the right reference points, we can always control one thing -- our attitude and how we view things.

Here are few passages from his amazing book:

Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress.

...everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any give set of circumstances, to choose one's own view.

Fundamentally, therefore, any man can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him -- mentally and spiritually.

Dostoevski said once, "There is only one thing that I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings."

If there is meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering.  Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death.  Without suffering and death, human life cannot be complete.

The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity -- even under the most difficult circumstances -- to add a deeper meaning in his life.

Nietzsche's words: "He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how."

It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us.

Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.

THE LADDER OF SUCCESS (PART I): PREPARE AND COMPETE

The following comes from a book that I started a few years back and have yet to finish.  This is an excerpt from the chapter titled "Prepare and Compete."

THE FOUNDATION

If you should ever happen to come upon a construction crew in the midst of building a home or a large skyscraper, take the time to stop and observe as these craftsmen assemble something that very often can stand for decades. Much of what they do to successfully build any type of structure can be carried over to the game of basketball in building a good, competitive basketball player. It is in this book that we want to begin the “construction” of a sound basketball player. Just as a construction crew started out, we want to begin with a solid foundation. In basketball, that “foundation” is fundamentals. They are the key to growing a complete basketball player and will better allow you to compete in what is vastly flourishing into the most competitive of all sports.
 
To make sure that the fundamental foundation that we are building is strong, we are going to use an important tool of those who construct buildings – the ladder. By working your way up the ladder, one rung at a time, combining your effort with enthusiasm and a positive attitude, you can go a long way in reaching your basketball potential. What a player’s potential translates to, is becoming the absolute best she can be. For a few, this may translate into a college scholarship while for many it will simply help them make their grade school, junior or high school team. Regardless of the end result, just being the best you can be is a tremendous achievement and should be a goal for us all.

Two quotes come to mind when thinking of working to reach your potential. Both come from the legendary John Wooden.

“Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.”

“Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.”

It is noteworthy that Coach Wooden used the word “success” in both of the quotes. So often it is easy to set forth numerical goals such as points scored or rebounds accumulated, when the true worth of a player could never solely be defined by statistics. A player may set the goal of being All-Conference or All-State. This too is a goal that can often lead to disappointment because such appointments are often out of our control.

PREPARE - COMPETE: AN ONGOING PROCESS

The philosophy that I have followed throughout my life can be summed up in two words: Prepare and Compete. Together they have served as a formula for the success I have found in all facets of my life. The one thing I have discovered is that life is an ongoing proposition. We have heard it said before, but it is a truth that grows in strength with each passing day – life is a journey and not a destination. With that in mind, I set forth to develop a philosophy that would regenerate with each challenge that I faced in life.

Preparation is such an important factor in reaching one’s potential yet so many look for a short cut. The problem for so many is that proper preparation is time consuming and requires hard work. Many are too impatient or don’t have the work ethic to lay the ground work necessary to be successful.

There is no better example than the Law of the Harvest. For the farmer, there is a great deal of work that goes into the preparation of the soil and the seed. There is the daily grind of watering, fertilization, and weeding of the crops. There can be no day off in the process. It is an amazing period of tedious work that lasts the entire year until the crops are finally ready to be harvested. Could you imagine the probability of having fruits or vegetables if you didn’t till the soil? What if you skipped the fertilization process or didn’t prepare for the drought? Obviously, there would not be a successful harvest.

The same is true of all the challenges we face in life. Any goal worth pursuing must be carefully planned out. In fact, a major part of preparation is your ability to dream. Before you can start any worthwhile journey, you must be able to map it out – you must start with the end in mind! Where do you want to go? Once that is decided then the preparation can begin in earnest. 

As Stephen Covey so simply put, "Start with the end in mind."  How could an artist paint a picture without the vision of a final product.

And while on the subject, don’t limit yourself. We had a saying in the LSU Women’s Basketball program coined by Hall of Famer Sue Gunter that we are very proud of: Dream Big…Work Hard! Have a belief in yourself and what you can accomplish and then put the formula of Prepare and Compete to work for you, and your achievements will be worthwhile.

Preparing is difficult for so many because they fail to realize that everything you do prepares you for something. That’s a strong concept. I am constantly telling my team (and myself) that there are no “little things.” Everything is important in the overall scheme of reaching your goals.

As a basketball player, it is important to understand that everything is part of the preparation for you to be your best on the court. Obviously, the first thing that comes to mind would include practice.

Conditioning and strength training would also help prepare a player for competition. But there are so many other areas such as rest and nutrition. One very important part of preparing is your attitude. It is important because it is an area that we all have complete control of – we all have the ability to choose our own attitude regardless of the circumstances.

While we have taken the time to decide upon a goal for ourselves, life is constantly throwing obstacles at us. Part of a successful philosophy is having the flexibility to adjust to the hurdles thrown at us. Do you have an attitude where an uphill struggle scares you? Possibly a set back has you feeling like you are the target of more bad luck. Or do you possess that attitude that creates excitement with failure because of the great challenge it presents? I don’t know of any successful person that has achieved greatness that didn’t do so after many struggles. Part of preparation is preparing for failure. Whether we want it to be or not, it’s part of the equation. In fact, it’s extremely difficult to persevere if you haven’t previously prepared.

I have for years had a sign that hangs in my office and does today at UCF that quotes General George S. Patton:

"Accept the challenges so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory."

Compete is the second word of my philosophy. Quite simply, it is giving the job at hand your very best. Of course, this is easier said than done which partly explains why some are successful and others are not. For most, it is easy to give great effort from time to time. It is the truly great ones that can consistently reach the highest level of effort each time out.

At this point, it is important to define “effort.” Many think we are referring to physical effort. And while giving your very best physically is certainly a prime requisite for competing, you must also give your best mentally and emotionally.

A popular phrase we often share with our team is that “the mental is to the physical as 4 is to 1.” In other words, the mental aspect of preparation and competing is four times more important than the physical phase. It is an important part of competing that you are able to think and make decisions – whether you are on the athletic field, in the corporate office, or raising a family. Life is full of individuals (as well as teams and groups) that had all the physical attributes to be successful but fell short because they didn’t understand the importance of being mentally ready to compete.

You must be emotionally ready to compete as well. The word emotion usually conjures up images of athletes in jubilant celebration, but the emotional factor we’re looking for comes from the inner desire to self-motivate oneself to prepare and compete at the highest level. If you are emotionally ready for any phase of your life, then you have positioned yourself to do your absolute best because it is important to you. Emotional readiness provides you with a passion to achieve. Often, the amount of energy you apply to preparing raises your desire to compete at your best. All great individuals and teams that have met with great results have been passionate about their approach. Emotional preparedness also means that you don’t allow your emotions to overtake you at key junctures in your journey. Leaders and winners exhibit great poise and control of their emotions at the most extreme times.

Another piece of the puzzle in regard to competing is to finish. So many times we put a great deal of energy into preparing and come out of the blocks eager to compete only to pull up a little short of our goal. Sometimes our inability to finish comes because we have run into a hurdle. Other times we are unable to finish because of too much success. That’s right, often success can be a major opponent for us to defeat as well. Complacency is something we must always guard against as we strive to be our best. It has been said that good is the enemy of great and this can be a main reason for us not to finish.

The final point in regard to the Prepare and Compete philosophy is that all that we do in order to succeed involves others. There can be no great achievements without team. We are all dependent upon others to help us succeed. We all have an effect on others and their quest to succeed. Therefore, there must be an understanding of the importance of relationships in any philosophy if we are truly dedicated in reaching our potential. Our ability to mesh well with others and to understand roles (our own and others) is of vital importance in properly preparing and competing.

This is the philosophy that has guided me through life and the philosophy that we try to instill in our basketball team. Prepare and Compete – simplistic in formula but complex in execution. But remember, nothing worthwhile was meant to be easy. That’s why success feels so good. So Dream Big…Work Hard!

Next: THE LADDER OF SUCCESS: SIMPLICITY

BILL WALSH ON LESSONS LEARNED FROM PATTONS "LETTER OF INSTRUCTION #1"

The following comes from one of my favorite coaching books, "Finding The Winning Edge" by Bill Walsh with Brian Billick and James Peterson.  It is 550 pages of theory and philosophy written in the form a text book that covers every possible situation a coach could face.  It is the most detailed book on coaching and teaching I have read.  Unfortunately, it is one of the most difficult books to find and is often very expensive.  Click on the name of the book above and it will take you to Barnes and Noble where you can purchase a copy for $139!  I would highly recommend looking on ebay, half.com and used book stores to find your copy:

One of the great strengths of General George S. Patton, arguably one of the best general officers in the history of the U.S. Military, was his ability to work with and lead those individuals under his command.  In this regard, many of his insights can be applied to the way that coaches work with their players.  For example, in his Letter of Instruction Number 1, which he addressed to the officers under his command in his United States Third Army, Patton offered six key dictates -- each of which has application to coaching:

1. Remember that praise is more valuable than blame.  remember too, that your primary mission as a leader is to see with your own eyes and be seen by your own troops while engaged in personal reconnaissance.

2. Use every means before and after combat to tell the troops what they are to do and what they have done.

3. Discipline is based on pride in the profession of arms, on meticulous attention to details, and on mutual respect and confidence.  Discipline must be a habit so ingrained that it is stronger than the excitement of the battle or the fear of the death.

4. Officers must assert themselves by example and by voice.  They must be preeminent in courage, deportment and dress.

5. General officers must be seen in the front line during the action.

6. There is a tendency for the chain of command to overload junior officers by excessive requirements in the the way of training and reports,  You will alleviate this burden by eliminating non-essential demands.

PROCESS ORIENTED TEACHING THOUGHTS FROM COACH RAY LOKAR

The following is an excerpt on an article written by Coach Ray Lokar on process oriented teaching.  It is an outstanding article and I hope you will click on the link at the bottom of this post to read all of the article in its entirety -- you won't regret it!

When I construct a practice I try to ensure my staff knows which drills, games, or activities are focusing on "teaching" and which we would like to be more competitive. In a *teaching* drill we want to stop instruct a bit more often than during a more competitive phase of practice. I like to treat these competitive sessions like a game, and you can't stop a game to correct every single thing. We want players to develop the confidence to be able to self-correct without waiting for a coaches instruction.

The best way for a coach to assist this process is to create "Effort Goals" instead of goals that are result based. Learning and improvement is more about the process than it is the outcome. For example, in basketball, we have a few non-negotiables that are all effort-based in nature. I encourage players to Be Big on the Little Things.

#1 - Stay in Stance - Always stay in stance. It is your point of maximum explosion. Be just like a track sprinter coming out of the blocks. Be ready to move. You will get open on offense more often. You will guard your man on defense easier. The lowest person usually wins.

#2 - Contest EVERY Shot - The only person who can score is the one with the ball. Go guard him even if he is not your man. Help your teammates when there man is open. Go guard him. Get a hand up on every shooter and contest the shot - even if it means leaving your feet, but don´t fall for a head fake too easily!

#3 - Two Hands - Catch the ball with two hands--concentrate on the catch before you do anything else. Rebound with 2 hands--and try for every one. Pick up a loose ball with 2 hands--pick it up, don´t dribble it. You will get more possessions for your team and each possession is another chance to score.

#4 - Run Hard - You will usually break the opponents will with your first three steps. Get ahead of the defense and your teammates will throw you the ball. It will help you get easy shots on offense with your fast break. If you beat the offense back, they may not even try to run their fast break. Getting back on defense will help stop their fast break

#5 - Pass to the first Open Teammate - Passing the ball is faster than dribbling it. If you move the ball, you make the defense adjust and they might make a mistake and leave someone (maybe you!) open. If you see an open teammate--throw them the ball. Don´t wait for a better pass. Remember - "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."

Each of these five "non-negotiables" are effort based and something any player can decide to do without getting any better at any one particular skill. Just by making the effort to do these things, a player can actually be better - right now! When the player feels that improvement they will begin to develop more and more confidence. There are "little things" like this in all sports - and it's up to the coach to find them.

PLEASE read all of this outstanding article at: http://bit.ly/nWYtig

BILL WALSH'S 5 DON'TS

1. Don’t ask, “Why me?”

2. Don’t expect sympathy.

3. Don’t bellyache.

4. Don’t keep accepting condolences.

5. Don’t blame others.

BRIAN BILLICK: BE VALUES ORIENTED

This is a series of thoughts from "Competitive Leadership: 12 Principles for Success" by Brian Billick.  Part II deals with being value oriented:



“Try not to become a man of success, but rather to become a man of value.”
-Albert Einstein

...the highest predictor of success in an organization is leadership that functions with integrity and honesty. Three other core traits that are frequently attributed to sound leadership are trustworthiness, loyalty, and pride.

...a major reason some leaders are more effective than others is because of who they are as people. All other factors being equal, principle-centered leaders are more capable of inspiring confidence and rallying others to achieve a common purpose.
 
If you let your vested self-interest or personal concerns override your obligations to your team or organization, you are putting them, and ultimately yourself, at risk.

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. You character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”
-John Wooden

“To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved.”
-George MacDonald

By doing away with the time-honored “bed check,” a traditional practice among most professional-level sports teams, I indicated to my players that I trusted them.

As long as they acted like men, I would treat them like men.

“Honesty is the cornerstone of character.”
-B.C. Forbes

Keep in mind that if you fail to respond to or overlook a dishonest act, you are implicitly approving it.

Being loyal involves being a person who refuses to compromise your values for personal advantage.

“I don’t see how anyone can truly make the most of his or her abilities without expressing loyalty at all times to the people, institutions, and principles that are important in one’s life.”
-John Wooden

Not letting a team score is the very heart of any defensive mind set. It is the ultimate in team orientation in that no one person can take credit for its success. Indeed, it takes individual sacrifice by certain defensive players to maintain this team profile.

BRIAN TRACY ON STRATEGIC THINKING

The Quality of Thoughtfulness
The ability to think and plan strategically is perhaps the most important single skill of the effective executive. In a longitudinal study of leaders who, in retrospect, made the best and most effective decisions, the single quality that stood out from all others was the quality of "thoughtfulness."

Thoughtfulness may be defined as a careful concern for the secondary consequences of each decision and each action. This is the essence of strategic thinking.

Your Most Powerful Tool
The most powerful tool that you as an executive have to bring to bear on your work is your mind - your thinking ability. Everything you do that sharpens and hones your ability to think with greater clarity before acting, will benefit you and help you to move upward and onward more rapidly in your career.

Use a Two Pronged Approach
The best way to approach strategic thinking is two pronged. This means to work simultaneously on the personal and the corporate.

Increase Your "Return On Energy"
In personal terms, strategic planning is an exercise in increasing "return on energy." Your greatest single asset is your earning ability. And your earning ability is nothing more than the total of the mental, emotional and physical energies that you can apply toward getting valuable results for yourself and your company.

Anything that you can do to increase your return on energy invested will increase your overall levels of effectiveness and contribution in every area of your life, especially, and most importantly in your work.
Be sure to check out www.BrianTracy.com