Timeout for Leadership-your one-minute leadership idea

Leadership lessons I learned from my seat on the bench #11

In these times, we have to be each other’s Bundini Brown.

You might ask yourself, who the heck is this Bundini Brown? I wrote about him in my December 6, 2018 post. I think it is time to dust off my words about Bundini and apply them in the world we are living in today. Bundini’s words were important to me in 2018 and they were important to Muhammed Ali as he fought his challengers and the world in the 1960s and 1970s. The world is much different today than it was in the 60s and much different from it was in 2018 when I first wrote about him.

Brown was an assistant corner man and trainer for Ali. However, he was much more than that to Ali. He was a gifted man of words and used these words to motivate Ali. He was the guy one always heard telling Ali that he was the champion. That he was the greatest. That he could beat all challengers. He was a broken record in Ali’s ear.

Bundini (Drew “Bundini Brown, 1928-1987), was the ultimate promoter for Ali. Perhaps he was the very first “hype man” in the world of marketing. His goal was to keep Ali relaxed and confident. Maybe he was the first sports psychologist in history. Who knows?

So, why do I tell this story of Bundini today? Because today, we all need our own personal Bundini Brown to help us navigate life. We need that special personal promoter. We need someone to boost our confidence. We need someone who will ignore our warts and tell us all the positive things about oneself.

More impotently, we need our Bundini Brown to help pick us off the mat when something knocks us down. Brown was perhaps the lone positive voice when the negative wolves came calling.

So today, I challenge each person to become someone else’s Bundini Brown. Teachers need their Bundini Brown. Students need their Bundini Brown and, yes, principals, need their own Bundini Brown. To all the teachers out there, especially for those that feel so isolated, I call on you to go be your neighboring classroom teacher’s Bundini Brown.

And I call on all school personnel to ensure that each child has his or her own Bundini Brown. Each student needs that personal motivator.

And please, let’s not forget our principals, because they could in fact be the most isolated person in the school. Your principal needs his or her own Bundini Brown.

Let’s all act like Brown and wrap up our close contacts with nothing but positive vibes and let’s try to keep all negativity away. There is enough negativity in the world right now. Work to keep it out of our schools.

We need to protect each other. Yes, keep each other emotionally safe. Each person must realize his or her own potential.

And please never forget that YOU ARE A CHAMPION!