You know you have achieved when you are known only by your first name. In basketball circles, if you say “Dean,” everyone knows you are talking about Dean Smith, the Hall of Fame North Carolina coach, who passed away on February 7th, 2015. He was a basketball coaching giant whom I had the pleasure of…
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Golfer Padraig Harrington recently said, “Statistics are often used as a drunk uses a street light – for support rather than illumination.” Benjamin Disraeli, former prime minister of England, wrote, “There are three kinds of lies: little lies, big lies, and statistics.” I do believe there is some truth in what both of these men…
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Do you trust people when you meet them? Or do you make them prove themselves to be trustworthy until you grant them your trust? Which of the two do you lead with? I befriended two pretty famous people years ago who were in the national spotlight and they had diametrically opposite philosophies on this question…
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Recently, a baseball scout was a part of a panel on ESPN’s Outside The Lines program and he made a statement that reminded me of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger from the movie “Rudy.” The scout said, “Baseball is a failure game.” I have never heard baseball described as a “failure game,” but it sure makes sense.…
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My wife, Peg, and I were recently at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Three things stood out during the two hour show – God, the elderly, and humor. Three thoughts that leaders may want to reflect on. “God bless you” and “thank God” were frequently heard from the performers throughout the evening. Those words…
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“Every college graduate should take a year off and work as a cab driver or a bartender.” “When we win a championship we may cut the net down with a switch blade, but we will be the most disciplined team in the country.” “Either we all go uptown together or nobody goes uptown at all.”…
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Willie Young, a defensive end on this year’s Chicago Bears, recently said in the Chicago Tribune, “To some extent, patience is the key to success….But it’s all about staying focused, staying patient.” Dr. Martin Luther King, speaking about time healing difficult tragedies, had an interesting insight in his book, Why We Can’t Wait. Paraphrasing, he…
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ESPN did an insightful commentary on the retirement of Derek Jeter. Two things stood out. The first was a comment by his former manager, Joe Torre, who said Jeter was special because he never became part of the “me, me, me” generation. Then ESPN noted that he wore number 2 because he never wanted to…
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The philosophy of the 2014 NFL Arizona Cardinals is “Next Man Up.” They know football is a sport of attrition, so they have developed a culture of trust. They trust everyone on the team – starters and substitutes alike – and when a starter gets injured, they trust that a substitute will be the “Next…
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“Competing beats game plans.” Jim Crews, the St. Louis University basketball coach, said this at a clinic I recently attended. I never thought of this before, but it makes a great deal of sense to me. As a college basketball coach, I always liked to recruit multi-sport high school athletes, especially the basketball-football combination. I…
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