Timeout for Leadership-your one-minute leadership idea

Tip Sheet #43

“My bar is to take this team to a championship.”

I really don’t think it is selfish motivation but I always want that “ring.”  I always want to be the champion.  Although my competitive drive has waned over the years, I still want to be that champion.  When I beat my wife playing pool, I start singing the Michigan fight song.  Yes, I know this is obnoxious and I am playing around, but I enjoy the competition and I enjoy the win.

I always wanted my school to be the best.  When I was teaching, I wanted my class to be the best.  And when I was coaching, I always wanted my position players to be the best on the team.  I could find some solace in a loss if my players played well.

I was driven to make sure my high school students were ready and prepared to go to the best universities in the nation.  I focused a great deal of my attention and energy on this task. My “kids” were able to compete with the best and brightest students in the country and I was driven to prove this.

You get my point.  I want to win. I think many people share my desire.  However, do you want to pay the price to be that champion?  Ah, yes that is the big question.  Are you willing to prepare like a champion?  Unfortunately, as a young man I did not know how to prepare like a champion.  I did not know what personal sacrifices had to be made.  I thought I was there, but I really wasn’t.  I wasn’t physically or mentally tough enough.

A champion has to have a laser-like focus.  A champion needs to prepare tirelessly for the next competition.  He or she must be able to push themselves beyond personal limits. You must at times compete against yourself. When exhausted, one more rep must be performed.

A champion must stay the course when all others throw in the towel.  A champion must be able to act like a champion when all others don’t.  And finally, a champion has to be able to pick themselves off of the ground after a defeat and compete again.  The champion has to enjoy this cycle when it is both physically and mentally challenging.

So today, when you attack a mundane task, attack it like a champion. Never settle.  Never just get by.  Never be just satisfactory when you can be excellent.

It is important that before you expect excellence from others, you expect excellence from yourself.  Go get that championship ring in everything that you do!  Good luck.