July 9, 2007

Bridging THE GAP

Lessons in life from sports coaches

KRIENGSAK NIRATPATTANASAI

We are Marshall is a movie based on a true story set in Huntington, West Virginia. On Nov 14, 1970, a chartered jet carrying Marshall University's football team, coaches and fans, crashed without survivors. The university had to rebuild the team from scratch under a new head coach.

The DVD of the movie features interviews with six leading US sports coaches, who provide a lot of coaching tips that are just as valuable in life and business as in athletics. I've selected a few of the more inspirational ones.

Jack Lengyel, the Marshall University football coach from 1971-75, says: ''You have to set your goals high and find ways to achieve them as a team...We share common things such as hope, perseverance, dedication, loyalty, comradeship, and as a byproduct we had become part of those core values.''

Bobby Bowden won national championships in 1993 and 1999 as head coach of Florida State University, and is the all-time winningest football coach in major college history. He says: ''We have 85 guys out there, some work hard, some do not, and some guys don't know how to work, and some they don't want to be drilled.''

Coach Bowden understands that recognising people's differences is a core principle in coaching. ''You're going to lose some and win some. You have to learn how to get over the bad times. If you have not experienced adversity, you don't learn anything. You have to have adversity to build your character and find out how tough you are, how good your judgment is.

''A person who's born wealthy and has never faced difficulty, I don't know how he could face the world when he's growing up.''

Pat Summitt is the head women's basketball coach at the University of Tennessee, a six-time NCAA champion, and the most successful coach in NCAA basketball history:

''I love these kids to death but I demand a certain level of performance. And if it doesn't happen I am not happy and they are not happy. But we try and work together through the process to turn thing around.

''It's all about what I can do to help other young women succeed. I coach them in so many aspects of life not only basketball.''

''We have to be ready to say, 'This is not going to be an easy.' You want to win, and you want to win a national championship. Then you have to understand that you have to roll up your sleeves and you've go to go to work. No one else can do that for you. You must do it for yourselves.

''Kids come in today and it's about Instant gratification. Well, it doesn't happen. You make it happen.

''Olympian coaching experience made me understand the journey. Success comes from giving everything I have. I am not being afraid to compete, won't hesitate to go for what I want, I am not afraid of failure. Focus on the end result. Teaching is my absolute passion.''

Lute Olsen of the University of Arizona made 22 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and coached the 1997 National Champions. He says: ''A coach's duty is to make them better than they think they can be. That's not easy. A lot of pushing, you know, some tough times.

''Now people look for quick fix _ 'I want this but I don't have time and don't want to put in the effort' _ it's not possible. It takes dedication, work hard, fundamentals and concentration. Basketball is a team game. People support on each other.''

Coach Olsen lost his wife while the team was in a bad shape. People wondered whether he would come back. He decided to come back. ''If I want to be a leader I have to deal with adversity as a good role model for the team,'' he says.

George Horton of Cal State Fullerton was the 2003 national coach of the year and won the 2004 national baseball championship. he says: ''We use 3P: in competition and every day life; Present, Positive, and Process (one pitch at a time).''

''Baseball is about how you deal with failure. You miss seven out of 10 times. How you deal with that failure separates men from boys and also prepares them for life. I give them tools to deal with that, turn something around to bounce back.''

John Wooden, the UCLA basketball legend from 1948-75, had eight undefeated seasons and led his team to 10 NCAA championships. ''A coach is a teacher, we follow the law of learning,'' he says. ''The two most important words: love and balance. Balance is keeping things in perspective, not too high or too low.

We must have physical balance, mental balance, and emotional balances.''

''Before the season I will tell the team. I'm not going to like you the same. You will not like me the same. You won't like each other all the same. I'm going to love you all the same but I will not treat you all the same.''

''I will do some things wrong, more or less. But if I do too many wrong things, I will be fired. Don't worry about me _ worry about yourselves''.

This is one DVD that will keep you both entertained and educated.

Kriengsak Niratpattanasai provides Executive Coaching in leadership and diversity management under the brand TheCoach. He can be reached at coachkriengsak