Last week, like many of you, I witnessed two prominent news events. On the same day, we celebrated the holiday dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Indiana University won the College Football National Championship. I saw common themes in both.
Building a Team
For years when I stepped on a basketball court, my primary objective was to develop a team. For me, the most important concept in coaching and leading a successful season was getting the players to play together. Sounds simple. But when you peel that onion, you discover that there are many lessons to be learned before you can achieve that goal. You teach them one at a time.
- The first is inclusion. Everyone must feel like they are a part of the team
- Everyone must be respected. No exceptions.
- Everyone must contribute in their own way with their own gifts and talents. Usually different than others on the team.
- Everyone must have the same common goal. A vision of how the team can play together.
- Everyone must believe that if they do their job and play hard, they will have a chance to win every game.
- The team will win together and lose together. (Players do not win alone.)
So we spent many practices working to teach and improve teamwork. Passing. Give and go Looking for the open man. Switching on defense. We spent much less time trying to perfect individual skills. I believed that even teams with mediocre talent that support each other often outplay those with individual stars. The lesson I sought to leave in the backpack of every player was: Together we are stronger. There were few lessons I emphasized more. Over the 13 years I coached basketball, I like to think we sustained this culture for each of our teams. With unevenly distributed talent in a recreational league, to hope for winning seasons every year was not realistic. But it was realistic to come together. To respect each other. For everyone to play their role and do their best. For everyone to see the vision, play the same way and pursue the same objectives. In the end, I believe this approach led to the development of other values. Discipline. Hard work. Perseverance. Friendships that would last forever. All because we learned to play together. Each year new players joined us, but there were also those who had played before. They had learned the lessons. They passed them onto the new players.
A Championship Built on A Culture
On a very different level, from what I have seen, this season Indiana University was a football team that created a culture of caring for each other and playing together. Although they had many gifted athletes on their team, other teams did, too. The difference for them winning the championship may have been the willingness of each player to focus on the good of the team, not just themselves individually. Those overarching values eventually led to superior execution at game time. As a similar example, watch March Madness in a few weeks and I bet you will see basketball teams that move through the championship bracket for the same reasons. A philosophy of solidarity.
Culture usually starts with the coach. At Indiana Coach Cignetti set the standard. He embodied the culture. He required the players and coaches to accept the common goals and to work together. Every day, every game, every play. All the way to Miami. But without the commitment of each member of the team, I doubt they would have raised the trophy last Monday night. As importantly, if Indiana hopes to continue their winning ways, the returning players will need to make the same commitment next year. As new players join, they will need to guide them with the same passion as they did a year ago. To make them understand that each new class owes it to the ones who have gone before them to improve upon what has been accomplished before.
After a successful season, it is sometimes difficult to maintain the discipline and live within the culture that made us successful. As time passes, we tend to lose sight of the teamwork concept that got us there. Acceptance and inclusion become less important as we focus on the shortcuts to winning. A wise man once told us, “An intelligent person works on themselves so he can be better for others.” I want to think that Coach Cignetti would say something like, “Do your job. Do your best. Others will benefit when you do.”
I Have a Dream
On that same championship Monday, as we recognized his birthday, I was reminded of the famous words of Martin Luther King, Jr. in his “I Have a Dream” speech. As the leader and visionary of a movement for civil and human rights, like a coach, he worked to instill a culture of acceptance and inclusion. Many Americans followed him. Many Americans accepted his vision and sought to be inclusive. In my terms, he sought to build a team. Dr. King implored us to see that everyone’s destiny was tied together. He said that we cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. In a sports analogy, he guided us towards a successful season.
Keeping the Culture Alive
I wonder. If we look at ourselves as players who came to believe in a vision of acceptance and inclusion, have we continued to keep that culture alive? As parents are we continuing to school our children on the vision and principles that Dr. King articulated? While the consequences of following Dr. King are much more important that winning football games, perhaps the similarities provide an example as we talk to our children about those values. If the Indiana players do not continue to embrace the vision of Coach Cignetti, their culture will wither and the team will have a legacy as a one-time wonder. As a society, we face similar consequences. If we don’t keep the stories alive, our hopes of “winning” will wither, too.
Even though Indiana University is the number one rival of my alma mater, Purdue, I want to believe in Coach Cignetti.
I want to believe his ideals are ideals we can still pass on to our children and they will pass on to their children. I want to believe we can all embrace the encouragement of Dr. King and “have a dream.” A shared dream. I want to believe that we can still get people to work together towards a common goal. That as a group, people are still willing to work for the good of the others, not just themselves.
With these powerful examples before us, we are reminded that as dads we must pass on the lessons we have learned to our children. We must keep the fire burning. Inclusion, acceptance, respect and hard work. A legacy of teamwork. These are the keys to success. These are the keys to an enduring culture and society. The preparation never stops. Next season begins today.
