Winning is a privilege not a right. Our process invariably conflicts with our goals - development and winning.
Programs arise from content and context. Language isn't just vocabulary. It's grammar, syntax, and style. How we weave our words makes all the difference.
"Look at all the things you have to do to win: You have to sublimate your individual greed for the sake of the team. You have to conform to certain training rules that deny you the chance of having as much fun as your friends are having. You have to provide total mental concentration. All those require a great deal, whereas losing requires absolutely nothing." - Pete Carril, The Smart Take from the Strong
The distillate of sacrifice, discipline, and focus offer the chance at skill and will and their byproduct, winning.
How can we best prepare the way? My coach, Ellis "Sonny" Lane emphasized sacrifice. Sacrifice means fulfilling roles that best advance the team.
Sacrifice speaks in many dialects:
"The scoreboard is more important than the scorebook."
WE (We over me)
ME
Letters (Letters...wins...over numbers)
Numbers
Ubuntu
"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few...or the one."
Unity stands out as a Don Meyer prescription.
In Why the Best Are the Best, Kevin Eastman defines sacrifice as "giving up something that may be best for you but not what's best for the team."
But how do we convince individuals to sacrifice for the group? Sell it as our culture, our shared ownership. Build collective skill and will. On selfishness, Coach Shawanda Brown preached, "that is not how we play." The Navy SEALs teach, "two is one and one is none."
In Daly Wisdom, Pat Williams quotes Kelly Tripucka about Chuck Daly, "Chuck's philosophy was to get his best player to buy into his philosophy. If you can accomplish that, the others will follow what you are trying to do. Things will take care of themselves."
Learn the psychology of influence. The Greeks used ethos (character), logos (logic), and pathos (emotion). Model excellence. Sell truth. Appeal to emotion.
Learn Robert Cialdini's techniques from the landmark book Influence, especially the practical ones:
- Commitment and Consistency ("sticking to your guns")
- Social proof ("everybody says")
- Halo effect (liking)
- Authority ("they know their stuff")
- Scarcity ("winning is rare, it's special")
Many of history's great leaders lived lessons of sacrifice - Mother Teresa, Mandela, Gandhi, Lincoln. Sacrifice endures.
Lagniappe: Sacrifice recurs as a basketball theme. @BBallImmersion
