October, 2014 | Coach Pat Sullivan

29 Oct

Lessons from the Grand Ole Opry

My wife, Peg, and I were recently at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Three things stood out during the two hour show – God, the elderly, and humor. Three thoughts that leaders may want to reflect on.

“God bless you” and “thank God” were frequently heard from the performers throughout the evening. Those words were refreshing to hear.

I have always felt that it is ironic how political leaders want to take “God” out of our national vernacular, but when tragedies come, the first thing they ask everyone to do is to pray. In concert with that how often do we hear them end their speeches with, “God bless you and God bless America?” Why, if a prayer in school is forbidden?

Leaders have an awful lot to be thankful for and not being ashamed to thank God, like the performers at the Grand Ole Opry often do, may be something to consider.

The Opry cherishes and honors its older performers. One emcee had her first performance there 48 years ago and another 53 years ago. Too often organizations rid themselves of their aging people and thereby lose parts of their tradition and the wisdom that comes from the older people’s experience.

I have known a number of younger leaders who have reached out to their predecessors and learned a great deal from their knowledge. They were glad they did so.

Humor was recurrent throughout the night. Bill Anderson may have led the league when he said he wrote a song for his “ex” titled, “The Only Good Years We Ever Had Were the Tires on Your Car.”

Leaders can and should bring humor and fun into the workplace. Great leaders demand effort but also bring lighter moments to their organizations.

Thanking God for your many blessings, honoring and learning from older people, and bringing laughter to your organization are three concepts worthy of consideration.

16 Oct

Al and Life

“Every college graduate should take a year off and work as a cab driver or a bartender.”
“When we win a championship we may cut the net down with a switch blade, but we will be the most disciplined team in the country.”
“Either we all go uptown together or nobody goes uptown at all.”
“Excuses are weaknesses.”

The above represent the wit and wisdom of the late Al McGuire, the outstanding Marquette University basketball coach and NBC basketball analyst.

I was very fortunate to get to know Al pretty well during the fifteen years that I co-directed his Chicago camps along with the late Bill Gleason.

I never met anyone who lived life more on his terms than Al. When he took his motor cycle to work at Marquette and came to a certain stop sign, he had to make a decision. If he turned right, he went to work. If he turned left, he rode to the countryside and enjoyed the day.

One night John Wooden had this to offer on Al. He said Al had worked his UCLA basketball camp and on the last day the coaches would have a party. Al was bartending when Coach Wooden brought him his plane ticket to get back to Milwaukee. Al thanked him, introduced Coach Wooden to the bartender whom Al had just met that night, and then told him he would not be going to Milwaukee as he and the bartender were going to Vegas. Coach Wooden was stunned.

My friend, the late Kevin Donlan, was refereeing a Marquette-Notre Dame game and when he went to administer a free throw, he turned around and Al was at the free throw line commenting on Kevin’s officiating. Kevin told him he was going to assess one technical foul for each step that it took for Al to get back to the bench. Al thought for a moment; called two of his players to him; and had them carry him to the bench. Kevin ruled no steps; no technicals. Digger Phelps, the ND coach, went nuts!

NBA teams would call to offer him their head coaching position. Al felt the players made too much money compared to the coaches. So, he told the owners he would only come if they gave him a percentage of the gate. He knew his teams would bring in spectators.

On recruiting he had two insights: recruit Mom and don’t recruit guys with a front yard of grass.

Can leaders take an insight from Al’s wisdom? We may have a lot of responsibilities but we are here only once. Take that left turn at the stop sign and enjoy life and the blessings we have.

06 Oct

Patience and Focus

Willie Young, a defensive end on this year’s Chicago Bears, recently said in the Chicago Tribune, “To some extent, patience is the key to success….But it’s all about staying focused, staying patient.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, speaking about time healing difficult tragedies, had an interesting insight in his book, Why We Can’t Wait. Paraphrasing, he said time alone does not heal. How you USE the time is what heals.

Just as the use of time relates to healing, focus relates to patience. Patience can and often does lead to success. But patience without focus will not bring success.

When we first got to the University of St. Francis, we hoped to eventually be good enough to get into the six-team NAIA state playoffs, which led to a national tournament appearance. That was our focus. We were fortunate to recruit players who achieved that goal.

The playoff format changed and our goal changed. We then strove to win the post-season playoffs and get to the national tournament. We lost once in the playoffs when we were ranked first in the state and we lost twice in the state championship game, but our focus to advance to the national tournament remained.

Our patience was rewarded and we finally reached the tournament. I always believed it was the focus that led to the success even more than the patience.

This is why leaders set goals. The goals create the focus and how you use the time creates the success. Focus, use of time, and patience all work together.