If you went to a dermatologist and asked, "do I have perfect skin?", I expect she'd say, 'very good but not perfect." In my case she might ask, "are you nuts?"
But if someone candidly asked us to assess our weaknesses, via real self-examination, I'm confident that very few of us would find a blank slate.
In "Ego Is the Enemy", Ryan Holiday divides the book into three segments - aspiration, success, and adversity. We can exhibit flaws during any and all of these life stages. In this piece, I focus on aspirational flaws.
For example, it's easy to imagine failings during the aspiration phase - cheating, shortcuts (the Rosie Ruiz story), lying, rumor mongering, plagiarism, gaslighting, sabotaging others, a myriad of dishonest pathways. But we can fail because of self-absorption, ignoring our families, selfishness, laziness, and other errors of omission.
1. Lust. Lust manifests in a variety of ways. Coaches complain or manage expectations ("We don't have the material needed to win") or will sell their souls to recruit and retain players. Lust relates to ego - entitlement, control, and paranoia are symptoms.
2. Gluttony. Some teams exult in running up the score, relegating sportsmanship to the bench. Some parents want the minutes, shots, and exposure for their children. I heard a parent tell their child before a high school playoff game, "you get your shots; you get your points." Dean Smith felt that recognizing players who didn't get as much media attention helped his Carolina teams.
Many parents "would rather see their child be All-State than their team win the State Championship."
3. Greed. In the professional world, owners, coaches, and players 'scrap' for the last dollar. Minutes and shots appear in the greed column. Unwilling passers are greedy. Chuck Daly used to say players want 48 minutes, 48 points, and 48 million dollars.
4. Sloth. Laziness appears in overt and subtle ways. Failed transition defense, "buddy running", unwillingness to pass and cut, lack of defensive stance or ball pressure, poor closeouts, half-hearted challenging shots and blocking out, and failure to prepare and practice are just some ways a lack of effort appears. "Don't cheat the drill."
5. Wrath. We can take out wrath on each other, families, and even fans. Manny Ramirez was incensed about not getting tickets he requested. Kermit Washington's punch of Rudy Tomjanovich is unforgettable.
6. Envy. Jealousy occurs over money, minutes, accolades and recognition, role, and so much more. Madeleine Blais' epic In These Girls Hope is a Muscle articulates how a team won a state championship as the stars learned to play as one. I have seen similar ego-driven battles play out in high school basketball. Was "football inflation pressure" about competitive balance or "Patriots envy?"
7. Pride. Players and teams can get a "big head". In addition to injuries, I think that the Celtics' slow start this season corresponds to media attention.
Pride and hubris ("professional arrogance") can show up as a lack of effort, poor team play, and sometimes as "dumb play." In almost every game, you will see a bad play (e.g. forced shot, bad pass, turnover) get doubled down as the player commits a stupid foul within seconds. Trying to compensate for a poor play creates a second mistake. Pride and lack of discipline can go hand in hand. Pride can show up in poor practice habits or failed preparation.
These examples represent only a tip of the iceberg. As coaches, managing relationships among fellow coaches, players, and players and coaches is vital in order to avoid fatal flaws. But taking ownership to our flaws is the first step to finding solutions. When we stand for anything, we stand for nothing.
