Sports Lessons
Team Culture
Let’s start with a trick question.
Does your team have a culture?
Remember, it’s a trick question. And the answer is yes.
Whether in sports, in business or even in your family, your group has a culture.
It may be weak or it may be strong, but it’s a culture.
It may be positive or it may be negative, but [...]
Prince Fielder and the Tigers
Pursuing goals can be overrated.
Sometime they’re the wrong goals. And other times the way in which they’re being pursued is the wrong way.
In the case of Prince Fielder and the Detroit Tigers, the second case could be true. Fielder and the Tigers just agreed on a nine-year, $214 million deal, because team owner Mike Ilitch [...]
Daily Motivation
A few days ago, a coached reach out to me, said that her team was going through a rough stretch, and asked if I had any wisdom to offer.
I told her I had no wisdom of my own, but that there was plenty in this article from the Gold Medal Squared Web site.
Written by Loyola-Marymount [...]
Previewing Success
Lawrence Tynes did more than kick the New York Giants into the Super Bowl for the second time in his NFL career. He gave an example of a powerful mental technique that anyone can use.
“I imagined this last night,” Tynes said after his 31-yard field goal 7:06 into overtime gave the Giants a 20-17 [...]
Total Commitment
A chicken raced around the barnyard, spreading new good news. “Hooray!” he said. “We’re going to have bacon and eggs for breakfast this morning!” All the animals except the pig shared in the joy. The chicken approached the pig and asked him why he was so solemn when everyone else was so happy.
“For you,” [...]
Set Yourself on Fire
Years after his retirement, Hall of Fame baseball player Ty Cobb attended an Old Timers’ Day celebration at Yankee Stadium.
A reporter approached Cobb and asked him, “If you were playing in the modern era, what do you suppose your batting average would be?”
Cobb replied, “About .300.”
“Only .300?” said the startled reporter. “You have the highest [...]
A Better Version of Yourself
Postings have been small the last couple of days because of a demanding travel schedule.
Still, we have to note the holiday that celebrates the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Over the weekend, a coach challenged me with this question: Do you think of others before yourself?”
The answer is, “Not nearly enough.”
At the same [...]
Passion and Problem-Solving
Here’s a different point of view on something you’ve heard a lot: follow your passion.
It comes from Oliver Segovia, a young author and entrepreneur, who argues that following your passion can leave you feeling empty (as well as poor). Segovia instead suggests finding big problems.
“Happiness comes from the intersection of what you love, what you’re [...]
Five Things Great Coaches Know
The mood at a coaches clinic always excites me. People are there because they want to be, not because they have to be. They want to learn. They talk shop.
Right now I’m in Elmhurst, Ill., speaking to the Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches Association. While here I’ve already met great coaches. One of them [...]
Is Today Your Lucky Day?
A wise man once described the difference between superstition and ritual.
Superstition is doing things to avoid something bad. Rituals mean doing certain things to make something good happen.
Superstition involves belief in things beyond your understanding and control. Rituals are a way to organize the things that you can control.
All this comes to mind on Friday [...]
