What defines you?
What differentiates you?
How can I improve my team?
Before you ask yourself any of the above, think hard about your commitment level to become your best and your willingness to change.
Your defining qualities or values don't exist in isolation. You might be a great reservoir of information yet be a poor communicator or poor teacher. Those aren't fatal flaws as long as you are willing and committed to change. You might be a wonderful communicator but lack the breadth and depth of knowledge needed to add value to your organization. You must embark on a learning journey, much as Charles Darwin did during his five-year 'mission' on the HMS Beagle.
Are you willing to embrace (not just accept) criticism and mentoring? Great players and coaches want feedback on how to improve, to build skills and even greater consistency.
A Physicians' Assistant asked me for "life defining advice" as he asks everyone. My answer was "share something great." That could encompass anything from a pithy quote, to life insight, or a peanut butter cookie recipe. Because everyone has both God-given and developed talents, why not share?
There's a story about a poor young man who walked hundreds of miles to see a guru to seek advice. He asked the guru for information about his future. The guru paused and said, "for the next fourteen years you will be poor and often sad about your state in life." The young man responded,"and then?" The guru answered, "you will be used to it."
Sometimes we are quick to accept our circumstances. If we seek something more, then we must constantly learn, seek solutions, and be open-minded. "Be more to do more. Do more to become more." But that means spending time thinking and changing to differentiate yourself from our peers or our competition. That means finding a process of reading, study, reviewing where we have been and where we want to go. It doesn't mean "style drift" from one area to another, but finding areas of expertise in which to excel and grow.
Whether basketball is your passion, vocation, or avocation, do you have any idea what you know and what you don't? That means having a willingness and openness to seek and experiment with ways to study better, teach better, and develop and refine your process. For example, working mostly on strategy and tactics means little if you or your players lack fundamentals. You can't employ complex systems that MIGHT work for another team if your players lack the basketball IQ or have learning problems.
"Man's reach must exceed his grasp." Aspiring to greatness has merit, but preparation and perspiration gets you more than inspiration.
It applies in all areas of your life. Yesterday, I read an article on updates in acute leukemia, did continuing education case studies with new blood thinners, and today attended an hour conference to update information on acute pneumonia. Nobody requires me to do that all the time, but I want to share the best information I can.
"Share something great."
