Be A Competitor

I'm often asked what is the biggest take away I have from being an assistant at the University of Tennessee and working with Coach Summitt.  Though I learned so many things the greatest take away is--competing at your highest level.  It's no wonder that "Be A Competitor" is a part of the Definite Dozen.  But being a competitor isn't about beating someone else.  It's competing at your highest level, whatever that might be.  Below are a few of the thoughts I want to bring to our culture here at Lipscomb:

1. What do you see in great competitors? Best at everything they do.  They don't take possessions off.  They push through being tired.
2. Compete in everything you do.
3. Are you underachieving or overachieving?  It's never too late.
4. Influence your opponent:  By being competitive, you can affect how your adversary performs.
5. Competition isn't social.  It separates achievers from the average.
6. You can't always be the most talented person in the room, but you can be the most competitive.
7. Competitors do not simply do things just to finish.
8. Competition should inspire you in all that you do.
9. You let others down when you take a day or a possession off.
10. Competition allow you to set yourself apart.
11. Only by learning to compete can you discover just how much you are capable of achieving.  You have more within you than you realize.
12. Too many people elect to be average, out of timidity.  As I look around, I see scores of underachievers.  The world if full of them.  The reason so many people underachieve, instead of overachieve, is simply because they are afraid to make a mistake or to fail or to be wrong.  They're afraid to find out what's inside of them.
13. Competitiveness is the opposite of complacency.  It's disquieting and uncomfortable.  It requires commitment and risk and soul searching.  When you choose to compete, you take a huge gamble.  You might just lose.  You might just have to admit, "That's the best I can do."
14. It's my experience that people rise to the level of their own expectations and of the competition they seek out.
15. Refuse to limit yourself.
16. It's not a matter of talent, it's a matter of effort.

Definite Dozen Lesson--Put The Team Before Yourself

This week we are sharing defining elements of our culture from Coach Meyer and Coach Summitt.  From Coach Meyer we are using the ATTITUDE acrostic and from Coach Summitt the Definite Dozen.

Today we are discussing PUTTING THE TEAM BEFORE YOURSELF.  Here are a few thoughts from notes I have taken from Team Meetings, etc.

1. Must commit to each other and the system.
2. Teamwork doesn't come naturally. 
3. We need each other.
4. Allows common people to obtain uncommon results.
5. Don't let your teammates down.  Your actions affect others.
6. No person on a team is more important than another.

The Gift of Love

Coach Summitt carried this passage in her planner.  It's a great summary of our responsibility as leaders and teachers and parents.

You can love me,

but only I can make me happy.

You can teach me,

but only I can do the learning.

You can lead me,

but only I can walk the path.

You can promote me,

but I have to succeed.

You can coach me,

but I have to win the game.

You can even pity me,

but I have to bear the sorrow.

For the Gift of Love

is not a food that feeds me.

It is the sunshine

that nourished that which I must finally harvest for myself.

So if you love me

don't just sing me your song.

Teach me to sing,

for when I am alone,

I will need the melody.

--Dan Baker

Thoughts on the passage above:

"The worst thing you can do to someone you love is to do something for them that they can and should do for themselves."--Abraham Lincoln

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.  Teach a man how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime."

UCF Women's Basketball To Honor Coach Summitt In Alzheimer's Walk

One of the greatest learning experiences for me each year while on the staff at the University of Tennessee was the first team meeting when we discussed the Definite Dozen. We discussed each element as a group. We talked about what each meant to us and Pat would share what each meant to her.

After receiving the news about Pat's diagnosis, I went through a notebook that I have with all of my notes from our Definite Dozen meetings. Number 11 from the Definite Dozen jumped out at me--"Change Is A Must".

Recently, George Diaz, of the Orlando Sentinel called me about the Orlando Walk to End Alzheimer's  and our team participating. Our staff and team are excited to be a part of this event. George and I spoke about his mother suffering through disease, my first hand knowledge of the disease and the effects on a family.  My wife lost grandparents from both sides of her family over the last few years from the disease. 

My first year at Tennessee was Kara Lawson's senior season. Then, as now, Kara is very proactive.  After learning of Coach Summitt's diagnosis, Kara nad her husband made plans to raise funds and honor Coach Summitt. To learn more about Kara and her plans click here--Kara's Plan To Honor, Kara's Fundraiser

The UCF Women's Basketball Team is uniting with Kara and so many others to honor Coach Summitt and raise awareness of Alzheimer's. We ask that you participate. Find a local walk, or any event. Pledge to support Kara or our UCF Team or a group in your local community.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at gbrown@athletics.ucf.edu.

Our team is participating in the Walk To End Alzheimer's on October 22nd at Lake Eola in Orlando.

I'm sure Coach Summitt will approach this "Change" in her life as she does every part of her life by using her Definite Dozen Philosophy to guide her.

 I chose a "dozen" thoughts from "Change Is A Must " from my notebook.

1. Everything in life changes, transitions.
2. You do your best and we are here to help you.
3. There is always change, but something special brought you here.
4. Keep your confidence through change.
5. Change can equal self-improvement.
6. Push yourself to places you haven't been before.
7. There must be change before there's growth.
8. Change is the opposite of security and familiarity.
9. Overcoming fear is the most broadening thing in the world, if you make yourself do it.
10. Success in any field is about who is best able to change fluidly.
11. In any line of work, you have to be able to adust to emergencies. THings rarely go as planned, no matter how meticulously you keep your appointment book or how organized your planner is.
12. Think about all the reasons we resist change. Change can make you feel out of control. But, in fact, if you learn to be comfortable with it, the opposite will be true: You will find yourself in charge of every situation.

Responsibility Never Ends

I'm often asked, "What is one thing that you learned while working on Pat's staff".  The following quote best summarizes the lessons Pat teaches:

Responsibility never ends. It’s not a step. Or just a chapter. You don’t finish it and then move on to something more fun or interesting. Responsibility is a constant state of being…”

Definite Dozen--Work Smart

I consider the opportunities to have worked with Coach Meyer and Coach Summitt as experience in laboratories of excellence. As each day passes, I realize the many lessons they passed on, that I didn't get at that time. I treasure those lessons more and more as I continue to grow on and off the floor.

Both Coach Meyer and Coach Summitt taught not just to work hard, but to work smart. Here are some more Definite Dozen thoughts:

• Don't mistake activity for achievement--Wooden
• Know what you can do to help the team
• "Great compliment for this team, you're not only athletic, talented but smart.
• Becoming smarted as a team begins individually.
• Be a student of the game. Challenge you to watch more tape, study the game more.
• Don't put things off. Catch things early.
• Don't be afraid to ask for help. Don't pretend you understand.
• Spend your time and energy on things you need to produce.

Definite Dozen--Loyalty

Loyalty is a word used throughout business and sports. Loyalty separates a lot of successful teams and businesses. Here are a few thoughts that we emphasize and discuss with our team and that were shared at Tennessee:

• Don't say things you wouldn't say to some one's face.
• Loyalty has disrupted a lot of teams.
• Must have respect to have loyalty.
• Negative thinkers suck the energy out of programs.
• It is a trust, a commitment to each other.
• Treat each other as family, not just saying it.
• It is essential when games start and people begin pulling at you asking, "Why are they doing this, You could do this...etc." Because people try to plant seeds of discontent.
• It is not something you can demand or enforce.
• It is not a bargain or an exchange. It's something that must be tended to daily.

Definite Dozen--Hard Work

In our recent staff meeting we were discussing work ethic and work habits. One of our keys to success is not just getting our players to work hard, but to enjoy working hard, and to understand that there is a price to pay for everything.

Here are a few notes from some team meetings discussing The Definite Dozen and Hard Work:

• Mutual respect makes you work harder.
• Commitment to your teammates makes you work harder.
• Hard work is part of our culture here, maybe not at other places.
• The Law of the Farm--"Cows don't take days off."

Coach Meyer would always remind us to, "look for work." I remember Pat telling me one time while I was still coaching high school, that a lot of people look for jobs, but not many look for work.

Definite Dozen--Responsibility

Responsibility is a key characteristic of all successful teams and leaders. It has to be emphasized and cultivated daily. We always try to emphasize the various ways responsibility manifests itself in our daily lives. Here are a few thoughts on Responsibility:

• Time management
• Accountable for your own mistakes
• Separating various aspects of our lives
• Work ethic is your own responsibility
• Be mature and communicate
• Responsible for your own improvement
• Take time to get organized.
• Prepare and plan
• Getting paperwork turned in on time. What might be small to you could have a huge effect on someone else.
• Accountable for my role on and off the court
• To be successful you must accept full responsibility
• The more successful you are, the more responsibility you must assume.
• Responsibility never ends.
• None of us start out responsible. It's something that must be taught and it can be self-taught.
• You can't pick and choose the days you want to be responsible.
• The best way to handle responsibility is to break it down into smaller parts.
• The only effective way to teach responsibility is by making them responsible for the small things, day in and day out.
• Ask yourself everyday what your responsibilities are, and be accountable for them. When you've fulfilled those, ask for more.

Definite Dozen--Respect Self & Others

Every successful program has a core set of values, principles that guide them in all that they do. At UCF, everything we do on and off the floor centers around our core values. Though we have a different title for our "Definite Dozen" they embody what we want in our program.

At the beginning of each season, we would sit in a circle in the team room and go through the Definite Dozen one by one. Pat would ask for input from players, coaches and staff. Here are some of the thoughts discussed:

RESPECT YOURSELF & OTHERS

• Look at the relationship that recruits have with their family.
• Body language.
• Are you happy with yourself?
• Being on time. Lots of responsibilities, our time isn't more important than others.
• Actions show more respect than words.
• Don't get hung up on titles, treat everyone how you would like to be treated.
• Can't demand respect.
• Make eye contact.
• Be your own person, decide who you are going to be.
• Ambition can transform you. The starting point of ambition is self-respect.

Pat Summitt's Definite Dozen

I've been very fortunate in my coaching career to work with some of the greatest coaches in the game. One of the things I treasure the most are my notebooks from those coaches. This morning I began reviewing Coach Summitt's Definite Dozen. I look forward to sharing some of my notes over then next few days.

Introduction to the Definite Dozen:

• Pat always stressed the importance of having a philosophy, a system of life. How will you run your company? Your team? Your family?
• A philosophy helps you maintain and keep focus and discipline.
• Pat would start the first meeting by asking how many games do you want to miss because you violated Team Policy/ Definite Dozen. These standards apply to everyone in the program.
• The Definite Dozen is a tool to help you raise your standards.
• The Definite Dozen came from Pat's parents.
• She has a goal to teach something everyday to make the players a better person.
• Be defined as an overachiever.