BEHIND THE MICROPHONE

The Conundrum of Leadership

Sunday morning, I received word that University of Georgia linebacker Cornelius Washington had been arrested for DUI and speeding only hours after his team's 24-10 victory over Mississippi State.

I was thankful that that no one, including Mr. Washington, was injured by his actions.

Immediately, Washington was suspended for a minimum of two games.

Cornelius played a great game, recording two sacks for a Georgia defense that is coming on strong. The Bulldogs pass rush has been superb in recent weeks, and Washington has been a big reason why.

Now, his loss affects the team in a big way.

But his post-game poor judgement got me thinking about teamwork, and leadership, and the buy-in from all on the team.

I spent considerable time last weekend with Georgia players and coaches, and many mentioned the true team spirit that had galvanized their group from the inside.

Many pointed to leadership lessons gleaned from Jon Gordon's highly acclaimed book, "The Energy Bus", where Jon describes energy vampires and his famous No Complaining Rule.

What struck me then, and today, is how everyone was on board with this thinking and the positive impact it was making.

So what has me puzzled about Washington's poor decision was this: what is the leader supposed to do when he or she thinks everyone is On The Bus and someone strays?

And what is the tipping point for that person who momentarily gets Off The Bus?

Certainly, head coach Mark Richt has been down this road before. He acted swiftly, suspending the player, and making him apologize to the team. Washington will be missed.

As for the person  involved, what causes someone to forget about the lessons learned, and begin a chain reaction that clearly will be detrimental to himself, his family, and his team?

It's an age old question to be sure. We all have an override button. It's called free will. What makes us push it from time to time? Ego? Arrogance? Alcohol? Philosophers have been wrestling with this one since the beginning of time. Trying to figure out human behavior is a centuries-old proposition.

As for the leader, how do you handle the blind-side hit? How will effect the rest of the team? The leader must press on, stick with what he or she thinks is right, and keep the team together.

It looks like this to me: if you say you are going to get on the bus, then stay on the bus. But if you don't want to get on, don't. If you want off the bus, tell someone first. Don't let the leader get a phone call at 2 in the morning from the Highway Patrol announcing your decision.

How To Stay Ahead of the Pack

One of my greatest challenges is not to give in to my own negative thinking.

It's always more regret than anger. Watching tape back of a broadcast or a speech, my own selftalk can get pretty harsh. I know, we are always harder on ourselves than anyone else could be, but that doesn't ease the pain of mistakes made, or the regret of having let a moment pass where I was not at my absolute best.

It's also true that the chatter we hear from others plays a role. And that, we can all do something about.

My friend Karon Cook (www.karoncook.com) wrote an intresting blog piece on that very subject, "Focus on Your Dream and Ignore the Hecklers".

Here are a few excerpts:

When you think of the word “Heckler”…what comes to mind?  I see Jerry Seinfeld doing his stand-up routine and having to contend with some drunk yelling at him from the dark. 

 

Did you realize that we all have “Heckler’s” in our lives?  Some of these people may even be our friends and family.  Their contribution is sitting on the sidelines, trying to distract you and willing to do anything so that you will miss your shot.  Often times their words of criticism come easily and it ends up getting in your way which can lead one to believe that they don’t want you to succeed.  Hecklers tend to support the opposing team....

 

What about the Cheerleaders?  No, I’m NOT talking about the women on the sidelines of certain Sporting Events. 

 

The Cheerleaders I’m referring to, are the people in your life who are encouraging, are on your side ~ especially when you are trying to reach out for something new.  They are excited for you, saying things like: “Yes, it’s going to be a challenge, but you’re up for it” and “You’ve studied, you’ve got the knowledge to pull this off”.  They roll up their sleeves to work with you and when you’re not listening … brag about you to others....

 

Yes, indeed. Be a cheerleader. First for yourself, and then others.

 

To read Karon's entire blog post, click here: http://karoncook.posterous.com/focus-on-your-dream-and-ignore-the-hecklers

 

Until next time,

 

Bob

 

 

The Care and Feeding of Your Brand

I've been spending the last few weeks watching endless pre-season college football media days...those staged events where every coach and select players preview their teams' up and coming season.

And it struck me how easy it is for an "accredited" journalist to open up his smart phone and start broadcasting YOU--Mr. Coach, Mr. Wide Receiver, etc.

How that brand---your brand---comes accross is so important.

It is imperitive that these opportunities be taken very seriously. The image that you portray helps define you. Do you come accross as intelligent? Thoughtful? Insightful?

Mr. Executive, do you answer the questions with genuine interest, or do you rely on "coach speak" just to get through?

Ms. Athlete, do you go back and watch the tape of yourself? How did you do? What kind of a grade would you give yourself? Speak in cliches? Repeat verbal crutches as you tried to come up with the right words? Did you offer anything original?

These are very important questions. Because social media is EVERYWHERE, 24/7/365. And much of today's sports news is being generated by reporters who use only new media, espcially the blogs.

What should be your responce to this? Embrace it. Become one with it. Start your own website. Write your own blog. Get out ahead of the pack. Set the tone.

If you are in a positon where you might be interviwed, take the time to prepare yourself and put your best self out there. Treat all with diginity and respect. Leave the interview space better than you found it.

More on this in the days ahead.

Have a great weekend!

My Meeting with Coach Wooden

The date was November 11, 2002. The place, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Marina Del Rey, CA.

 

Then Atlanta Hawks GM Pete Babcock arranged a meeting for the team with Coach John Wooden.

 

The entire traveling party made its way to a small banquet room, and in came Coach Wooden. He sat with us for over an hour. He knew our coach, Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkins very well. (How incredible to have two men in the same room who were selected as Hall of Famers as both players AND coaches.) But for many of us, we were stangers.

 

That did not matter to Coach Wooden. He spoke to us like we were an extension of his UCLA teams, reviewing his Pyramid of Success. He stressed conditioning (physical, mental, moral), skill (do it quickly), and team spirit (be considerate of others on and off the court).

 

Coach spoke of how winning was a by product of all of those characteristics. He stressed how the game was OFF the ball, both offensively and defensively. I was taking notes as fast as I could write.

 

We were all mesmorized. At the end, coach Wooden took the time to autograph each person’s copy of his book, "Wooden. A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court".

 

“For Bob. Best wishes John Wooden.”

 

An unforgettable moment in time that I will take with me forever.

From this week's Speaker Net News

Video showing how ridiculous some negotiations are — Beth Terry

Wondering why retailers and service providers are clear on the concept that being in business equals getting paid; and speakers and artists seem to think this is a concept to wrestle with? This well-done video, “The Vendor/Client Relationship — In Real-World Situations” illustrates what we face with those who want to negotiate.

What It Is All About

Thanks to TJ Hanson for the tip on this story!

Duke University Graduate Parker Goyer Dreams Big, Delivers

Thursday, Dec. 4th 2008 8:24

All great journeys start with a dream - Osborn Earl “Ozzie” Smith.

It is likely that at every high school or college graduation ceremony, at some point in time, at least one of the speakers will insist that the secret to a life of fulfillment is to remain true to one’s dreams.

Yet, at the same time, it is also likely that a look towards the audience would reveal at least one adult with a cynical eye dismissing such blatant optimism in a most scornful manner.

Fortunately, however, there are still some students who not only listen to the speaker’s message of hope, they take it upon themselves to test the theory.

The Desire to Make a Difference
When asked about her involvement in Division I athletics at a high-profile school, Parker Goyer could point to many key lessons from the world of sports: persistence, work ethic, setting goals, and overcoming setbacks. She also could point to the year-round commitment necessary to compete at such a high level and the subsequent time constraints that participation had on her ability to utilize these important skills while being of service to others.

But the year-round commitment to school and to athletics left Goyer little opportunity to travel abroad or to partake in community service. For the 2007 graduate of Duke University, the latter was a big issue.

Inspired by the likes of Wendy Kopp, the founder and CEO of Teach for America and Greg Mortenson, a one-time mountain climber who has dedicated his life to building schools in remote parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan, Goyer chafed at the lack of opportunities student-athletes had to be of service to others.

Recognizing that there had to be other collegians with similar sentiments, Goyer came up with a bold plan, one that would allow student-athletes to utilize their skills and talents to help serve young people in countries less-developed than her own.

Coach for College
Now in her first year at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Goyer conceived of the “Coach for College” program while visiting Vietnam and Belize the summer following her graduation. While visiting those countries, Goyer saw first hand an underdeveloped educational system and countless young people who simply did not have a cadre of role models to help lead them.

The former Duke tennis player saw an opportunity, a true win-win in the proverbial sense. If she could create a program that would allow American student athletes to put their athletic lessons to work in real life settings, the youngsters in some of the world’s poorer countries would not only have access to some key role models, those youngsters would have the chance to learn some valuable skills as well.

“A major guiding principle of the Coach for College program is that student-athletes have great traits they develop through sports,” explains Goyer. “But they don’t always apply these traits which they perfect on the playing field in other settings.”

“I wanted American student-athletes to realize that, by virtue of being highly-skilled sports players in some of the best higher education institutions in the world, they have tremendous power to make a difference.”

Program Launched in Summer of 2008
With a goal of utilizing sports to teach key life lessons, Goyer envisioned a group of college athletes giving up some of their summer time to help the youngsters in underdeveloped countries learn “critical thinking skills” and promote “excitement about academics.” While the need for funds was significant and the task of raising half-a-million dollars a daunting one, the 23-year-old never doubted the worthiness of her concept.

“A lot of people were skeptical at first and thought that I was too young, that this was too big of an idea, and didn’t know if I could pull it off,” reveals Goyer. “I think I was able to succeed by setting concrete goals, identifying key supporters early on, and using their advice and support to make steady progress towards my goals, one step at a time.”

Adding to her belief in the program concept itself, the idea of teaching life lessons through the world of sports, Goyer found herself drawing on the lessons she had taken from being a competitive athlete.

“Setting up the Coach for College program reinforced the value of sports in transmitting key life skills. I found myself drawing upon some of the same skills – persistence, work ethic, setting goals, overcoming setbacks, etc. — that I had used to make progress as a tennis player.”

Putting her organizational, goal-setting and perseverance skills to the test, Goyer secured more than $480,000 to fund the first two years of her concept. The monies came from two Atlantic Coast Conference rival colleges, Duke and the University of North Carolina, as well as the National Collegiate Athletics Association, the U.S. State Department, and a number of other individual and corporate donors.

With funding secured, this past summer student-athletes from both Duke and UNC made their way to rural Vietnam for the first ever “Coach for College” sessions. In addition, bilingual students from Can Tho University also led the training that involved the games of badminton, basketball, soccer, tennis, and volleyball.

A key component of the program included the building of a five-in-one sports court, with lines for the sports that would be taught in the program. Constructed on the grounds of the middle school, local workers built it using money from the funds Goyer had raised. The permanent construction meant that the Vietnamese children could continue, during their school year, to play the sports they had been introduced to by the Coach for College program that summer.

Working alongside their Vietnamese counterparts, the American student-athletes conducted two three-week units featuring a number of sports clinics and classroom lessons to 200 children ages 11-15. The group also managed to blend in Vietnamese high school students who benefited from the program but in turn served as next step role models for the younger children.

The basic lessons taught within the sports clinics were reinforced by academic offerings that featured the application of sports to Health/Biology, Physics, English, Leadership, and Education/Psychology. The program, free to interested children, provided a wealth of prizes/gifts based upon outcomes in team-based sports and academic competitions as well as each student’s completion of the various academic modules.

The Translatable Goals of Athletics
Wise beyond her years, Goyer created a program that offered lessons for both groups, the American students who accompanied her and the youngsters in Vietnam that participated in the clinics. Both groups saw first hand that teamwork, sacrifice, hard work, and determination often form the basis for success in many other settings.

“The overarching idea is that skills like perseverance, determination, setting and achieving goals, and overcoming setbacks, all of which can be learned through sports, are the keys to success in education as well,” notes Goyer. But as for the lessons for her fellow athletes, the Coach for College founder was unequivocal as to what came first for her.

“Personally, my primary goal is to help the middle school youth, and I intended the benefits to the coaches, both the American student-athletes and Vietnamese college students, to come as a natural by-product of their participation in the program.”

Still, Goyer attempted to work on the highest plane imaginable. More than simply providing Vietnamese youngsters with a cadre of role models, Goyer sought to inspire these 11-15-year-olds to consider higher education. To further that notion, the Coach for College concluded every daily camp session with a 30 minute class on the topic.

Following One’s Dream
Perhaps most importantly, the goal-setting Duke graduate has established other possible plateaus for her concept. Her vision is to see the program “partner with professional athletes” as well as “sports-related companies such as Nike.”

In addition, Goyer is set to invite other “universities which are athletic rivals to sponsor Coach for College programs at new sites.” The plan includes “utilizing the existing conference structure present in intercollegiate athletics” with the idea that each conference could perhaps sponsor a program in one particular region of the globe.

Once upon a time, Division I student-athletes may have had little to no chance to travel abroad or engage in meaningful service to others. But thanks to one young woman with a vision and a thorough understanding of the lessons that athletics can offer, student-athletes with a service mind set now have a concrete model to follow.

Editors Note: On Saturday, November 22nd, Parker Goyer was one of 32 Americans selected for a Rhodes Scholarship. Valued at $50,000 per year of study, the scholarship will enable the Coach for College (CfC) founder to study comparative international education at Oxford. Her hope is to learn more about the different education systems, academic curricula, and personnel of different countries to determine which ones will provide the best fit for the CfC program moving forward.

All Great Leaders are Readers

OK, troops, how are those New Year’s Resolutions coming?
Well, all righty then! Let’s hit that re-start button!
One of the great people in sports and education is Dr. Paul Schempp from UGA’s Sports Instruction Research Laboratory.
Paul was kind enough to send along his study of readings recommended by expert coaches.
One distinguishing characteristic propelling experts to consistently superior performance is their extensive knowledge. One source often identified by experts as fundamental to their knowledge base is reading. Paul has done us the favor of asking coaches to identify the books that the great coaching leaders would recommend to beginning coaches.
I can think of no better way to get 2008 started than by going out and getting these books to start your own high performance library.
392 coaches from 29 different sports were sent letters explaining the study. 107 coaches from 17 sports responded. The participants recommended 156 authors and 177 book titles.
With Paul’s permission, here are the Top 5:

1. The Winner Within. Pat Riley, 1993. New York: Putnam’s Sons.
2. Wooden, A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court. John Wooden and Steve Jamison, 1997. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary Books.
3. Search for the Perfect Swing, The Proven Scientific Approach to Fundamentally Improving Your Game. Alistair Cochran and John Stobbs. Chicago, IL: Triumph Books.
4. My Personal Best, Life Lessons from an All-American Journey. John Wooden and Steve Jamison, 2004. new York: McGraw-Hill.
5. Season of Life, A Football Star, A Boy, A Journey to Manhood. Jeffrey Marx. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Isn’t it interesting that three of the top five books are authored by basketball coaches? And Paul notes in his research that the authors most frequently identified were Wooden, Riley, and Dean Smith.
Marx, the Pulitzer Prize winning author, wrote A Football Star to chronicle the work of Joe Ehrmann, the former Baltimore Colt, and his teaching of life lessons through football at Gilman High School in Maryland.

Dr. Schempp will present these findings later this month in Japan at a Sport Science Conference. The entire reading list of 177 book titles would keep you going for years. Exceptional material.

My goal for 2008 is the same as 2007—a book a week, minimum of 52. I’ve got my first one done, working on number two. Paul has given us five must-reads!

The Homecoming

There is no question that Acie Law has turned the corner in his rookie season and now should be considered a skilled “vet”.

No, I’m not talking about his on-court play, although Law had his best game of the season in Dallas last Saturday. I’m referring to how Acie handled his homecoming.

Law did everything right in his return to his native Dallas last weekend. The former Texas A&M and Dallas Kimball guard had many family members and friends come to see him make his home debut as a member of the Hawks, but he didn't know how many.

"My mom took care of that," he said when asked how many tickets he had to get. "I didn't have anything to do with it."

Procuring tickets is a distraction for all players, but Law handled it expertly -- better, in fact, than he handled one trip through the lane. Law got whacked in the mouth and a tooth went through his lip. He was headed to the doctor's office after the game for stitches.

Law had a solid camp and first month, but has had a hard time adjusting to his comeback from a nasty ankle injury that caused him to miss 10 games. Remember, he missed only two of 122 games at A&M due to injury. So coming back from an injury is foreign to Mr. Law

"I can play a lot better," he said. "I've been up and down a little due to my injury, but I have no excuses. I need to pick it up."

Acie also invited over 150 students from his foundation to the game. The youngsters from Acie’s former elementary, middle, and high schools had to write an essay to get the free tickets.

Still, he said coming home was "a great feeling. "My friends and family get to see me live my dream," Law said. It will not be much longer before Hawks fans see Law living his new dream as a starting point guard in the NBA!

The Big Three

What does it take to win?
Here are three things, that if even one is missing, your team might be in for a very long season.
Here are three cornerstones that are essential:

1. LEADERSHIP

We all know this, but it is amazing sometimes how lightly this key component is taken. As Dr. John C. Maxwell so rightly says, “Leadership is influence. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
A successful team must have leaders, some vocal, some by example. But unless there is a take charge person in your organization, the team will be rudderless.
And in today’s professional sports climate, if your best player is not your best person, you don’t have a chance. It will be the death of your team.

2. TALENT

We all know that a jack-ass has never won the Kentucky Derby. You must have the horses. But you don’t need the “best” players to have a successful team. You need to have the best “right” players for your team.
If I were to ask you to name the 10 greatest players in NBA history, you all would turn in a list that would include these three names: Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, and Elgin Baylor. And these three did play together. They did not win the championship. In the 1968-69 season, The Big Three lost to the Boston Celtics, who finished fourth in the East during the regular season. You need the best “right” players to unite and inspire the rest of the team.

3. CONFIDENCE

This is always a tough one. Does success breed confidence? Or the other way around? One thing is for sure, in pro sports if you don’t think you can win, you’ll be right. How do you become a confident player? With your personal preparation, i.e., those long, lonely hours in the gym, far away from the cameras and the bright lights, working on your game. Busting you butt in practice. Knowing your play book inside-out. And not just your position, everyone’s position on the floor. (80% of a team’s offense is played without the ball). KYP which stands for Know Your Personnel. You have to know every night who you are up against, what he likes to do, what he doesn’t like to do, what is his pet move, what will he do when the pressure is on?
This may be the biggest challenge for the Hawks. The group that has been here the last three years has won 69 games out of 246. How quickly can they establish confidence and keep it through an entire season will be a major key.
Winning early will go a long way in establishing the baseline of confidence for this team. They are looking at opening with six straight playoff opponents. The tests will come early.

Next week, the Hawks season preview.

Best of luck to new Atlanta WNBA owner Ron Terwilliger has he steps up bring us the league’s newest team. I’ve always wondered why Atlanta has never been on a short list for cities getting a team. This markets’ TV ratings for the WNBA have always been amongst the best in the country (with Knoxville and Memphis). But thanks to Ron, we now have a team. Can’t wait for May of ’08 when we can watch them play at Philips. And for all those ripping the idea and making jokes about it, you obviously don’t have daughters. This is a great thing for our community. At last week’s press conference, Atlanta's sports movers and shakers were all there lending their support. Didn’t see any of the naysayers, though.

Tough Times Never Last...

Memo

To: Jeff Genthner, FSN South/SportsSouth

Re: Show idea

Hey, Jeff. Bob here.

Maybe we could pull this off before the end of September: Let’s get Bobby Cox, Bobby Petrino, Mike Woodson, Bob Hartley, Mark Richt and Chan Gailey together at Fox Sports Grille, turn on the cameras, mics, and lights, and let the tape roll.
Subject: Leadership through the tough times. How do they handle it in each of their sports? What’s the best thing about their jobs? The worst?

Call me.
Bob

Wouldn’t you love to hear and see this?
The idea came to me over last weekend when both Georgia and the Falcons went down.
Both teams, it seems to me, have to fight through the notion proposed by so many fans and media, that their seasons are over.
After just one loss.
That type of negative thinking never got any team anywhere. But admit it. If you root for the Dogs, you feel that it will take a Herculean effort to win the SEC East after the loss to South Carolina.
And who among us watched the Falcon loss at Minnesota and muttered, “It might be a long year”.
That’s why I would like to hear from our coaches, pro and college. I bet they would enjoy the evening hearing from each other. Great leaders are always learning.
We are blessed to have here in Atlanta one of the world’s leading leadership gurus, Dr. John C. Maxwell. His best-selling books set the industry standard. It’s been a real thrill for me the last few years to introduce John’s monthly lessons to his Maximum Impact Club members.
One of John’s best friends in the coaching fraternity is Dick Vermeil. The former Eagles and Rams head man was asked about team unity. Dick had this to say:
“The morale of a football team is a direct reflection of its coaching staff, so it is imperative that the players see us as a group who really care about one another.
“Do not allow any difference of opinion to carry over into a personal ego battle. It is not a matter of who is right or wrong. It is critical that players read us as being a unified group.”
The coaching staffs of the Falcons and the Bulldogs have been doing just that these past few days. They know they have to prevent any negative outside influences from penetrating the locker-room at this crucial time.
And how they do it would make from some great sports television.

THOUGHTS FROM THE WEEKEND

Bob Davie made an interesting comment late in ESPN’s telecast Saturday night from Georgia. He made the comment about college football NOT having a playoff. He said, “Hey, this is a playoff game. Right now! On September 8th!” How true….the next “playoff game” comes up Saturday night at Bobby Dodd when Tech hosts Boston College. In the Jackets 2-0 start, the team has yet to turn the ball over. The N.C. State victory moved BC (2-0) into the rankings at No. 21. Georgia Tech moved up to 15th with a 69-14 beating of Samford one week after a 33-3 win at Notre Dame. The Eagles were second in the nation last season in turnover ratio and are 2-0 in the ACC. Yellow Jackets defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta has a zone blitz that BC coach Jeff Jagodzinski calls more "creative" than many. "He does a lot of things with his zone blitz package. Actually, he does a lot more than most coaches do," Jagodzinski said Sunday. BC last played Georgia Tech in 1999 so they don't have much familiarity with each other. The Eagles do know that the Yellow Jackets had their highest-scoring half Saturday since 1916 and had nine touchdowns rushing. Georgia Tech last scored that many points at home in 1921 when it beat Furman 69-0…. Meanwhile, down in College Station, Texas, the biggest cheer for any Aggie other than Stephen McGee for his first-quarter, 65-yard TD run in the opener came at the 7:54 mark when Acie Law IV was introduced to the crowd during an A&M timeout. A&M scored on the next play. The Hawks rookie is back in town for the club’s pre, pre-season workouts. Law, Al Horford and the Thrashers Kari Lehtonen stole the show at the two teams’ Caravan stop at Mercedes-Benz of Buckhead last Friday night….Ken Klee, the new Thrashers defenseman, wowed the crowd at the Gwinnett Chamber event last week…I still stay in touch with my former Braves color man, Jeff Torborg. I saw this note last week: Jason Varitek became the 12th catcher since 1900 to catch three no-hitters in his career. Varitek previously caught no-hitters thrown by Hideo Nomo (2001) and Derek Lowe (2002) before Clay Buchholz tossed one against Baltimore. The other 11: Ray Schalk, Bill Carrigan, Val Picinich, Luke Sewell, Jim Hegan, Yogi Berra. Roy Campanella, Del Crandall, Alan Ashby, Charles Johnson, and my boy Torborg….I got all excited at Barnes and Nobles last week. The first pre-season college basketball magazine has hit the stands, Lindy’s. They’ve got UCLA, North Carolina, and Tennessee as their pre-season top 3. Tech is picked 6th in the ACC…the Dogs 3rd in the SEC East…Georgia State 6th in the Colonial…..Hawks SF Marvin Williams was in Springfield for the Hall of Fame ceremonies, watching his former coach Roy Williams move into the Hall..