I just returned home from the Final 4 in New Orleans. I wanted to
share a few thoughts and experiences from my trip.....
Faith:
I’ve always had faith that things work out the way that they are supposed to
happen. Enjoy your journey, learn from others, find your niche and be
different. In Tommy Bowden’s book “Winning Character”, which I highly recommend,
He discusses being different. In the
Bible, it talks about isolation. It doesn’t
teach us to isolate ourselves, but to separate ourselves which is totally
different. Being "isolated" makes you repel others and push them away. You turn
your pursuit into a solo sport. Being “separate” means you are unique. You
stand out. There’s something special about you. You have a recognizable
goodness and character about you. Everyone in our business is chasing the same
dreams. “Be remarkably distinctive! Be Uncommon!
I nfluence:
What we do affects others: Things we don’t even remember saying can leave an
impact years later. All day long, we’re making impressions, even when we don’t
realize we are being watched. People look to see if your faith is all talk. Are
you a good influence to your players? Are you a good influence to your friends?
Are you a good influence for those that look up to you? Be careful for there
are eyes upon you always!!! Be a good influence!
N etwork:
Good people are hard to find. It was great catching up with some great people.
I got to see and speak with some head coaches that I’ve always respected. Coach
Charity Elliott(LMU), Coach Joye Lee McNelis(Southern Miss), Coach Amanda
Butler(Florida), Coach Karen Aston(Texas), Coach Danielle O’Banion(Kent State)
and Coach Randi Peterson(Coe College). Thank you for taking time to talk to
young assistants and for being great influences for us to aspire to be like.
A ttitude:
“A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive
thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary
results.” I’ve always tried to have a
positive attitude in all situations in life. Smile, be grateful and enjoy life.
God has blessed us with so much that we take for granted. Your attitude is
something that you have complete control over……so have a good one. Nothing
turns me off more than a bad attitude.
L
eadership: I attended “ The Program” presentation
on selecting and developing team captains. It was one of the best team building
and leadership presentations I’ve heard. Eric Kapitulik and his staff did an
amazing job. One of my favorite quotes from their presentation was this “
Leadership is an action, not a title.” It is so important for us to find kids
with high standards to fit into our programs. Do this if you can. We hope to do this with our team this season.
F
riendships: I have been so blessed to have met some amazing people through
basketball. It was wonderful to see some of those people in New Orleans. Good
friends are hard to find these days. I’m so thankful for the friends I got to
see and for their honesty and trustworthiness that has developed into wonderful friendships. I’ve always heard that “you are
who you hang out with.” I’m so thankful to have not only good coaches, but good
people to call friends in this business. You know who you are and thanks for being who
you are!
Ownership:
Coach Jody Conradt, the long time coach of the Texas Longhorns, talked about
ownership. It is a vital part of our business to find people that are invested
and take pride in being part of their program.
One of my favorite quotes about this topic: “ I don’t believe in
circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up
and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, the
make them.” George Bernard Shaw
U
nique: “To have passion, to have a dream, to have a purpose in life. And there
are three components to that purpose, one is to find out who you really are, to
discover God, the second is to serve other human beings, because we are here to
do that and the third is to express your unique talents and when you are
expressing your unique talents you lose track of time”- Deepak Chopra
Be unique!!!
Be unique!!!
Respect:
Thank you to Vic Shaefer for putting together an awesome panel. “Lessons from
the Legends” was a such a treat and so informative to hear from some of the
best in our business. It was so impressive to listen to their stories of how
they built their teams and how the game has evolved. I am also so blessed to
work for one of the presenters, Coach Jim Davis. What a great mentor and I’m so
fortunate to get to work with him every day. If you missed this…..you missed
out! It was phenomenal. All of the the coaches on that panel have my utmost respect!
In closing, I encourage all of you to strive to be a positive influence in someone's life. Be approachable, Be kind, Be a positive light in someone's life. Let God use you in His way!! Be the background and let Him take center stage.
Verse of the week: Matthew 5:16 "In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone
will praise your heavenly Father."
Song of the week: LOVE IT!!! Listen to the lyrics!
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