PAT RILEY'S DISEASE OF ME
QUOTE: “The most difficult thing for individuals to do when they become part of a team is to sacrifice; it is much easier to be selfish.” — Coach Pat Riley
Here is his list that he deamed "the disease of me" from his Laker days:
SIX DANGER SIGNALS OF THE DISEASE OF ME:
1. CHRONIC FEELINGS OF UNDER-APPRECIATION – FOCUS ON ONESELF.
2. PARANOIA OVER BEING CHEATED OUT OF ONE’S RIGHTFUL SHARE.
3. LEADERSHIP VACUUM RESULTING FROM FORMATION OF CLIQUES AND RIVALRIES.
4. FEELINGS OF FRUSTRATION EVEN WHEN THE TEAM PERFORMS SUCCESSFULLY.
5. PERSONAL EFFORT MUSTERED SOLELY TO OUTSHINE ONE’S TEAMMATE.
6. RESENTMENT OF THE COMPETENCE OF ANOTHER – REFUSE TO ADMIT HIS CONTRIBUTION.
THE FOXHOLE TEST
I think this is in some notes created or passed through legendary Don Meyer.
The Foxhole Test
Have your players take the foxhole test. Draw a circle to represent their foxhole. Write their name at the front of the foxhole. Draw a line at their rear, their left, and their right. On each of those lines they write the names of teammates they would want in their foxhole if they were fighting a life and death battle.
The position to their rear is worth three points and is awarded to their most trusted, courageous, and tough teammate. The position to their left is worth two points and is awarded to the second most trusted, etc. teammate, and the position to their right is awarded to the third teammate they would pick and is given a value of one point.
This test cuts through all the friendships, cliques, and is the truest measure of what players really think of their teammates. It might be a good idea for each coach on the staff to do this with his/her coaching staff, administrators, teach associates, and of course your team.
INVESTMENT VS ENTITLEMENT
This was sent over by Oregon State women's assistant coach Mark Campbell. Phenomenal stuff. Pat Summitt consistently used the word investment and invested when she spoke at the Pump's Collegiate Business Conference.
ENTITLEMENT: Belief that one is deserving of or entitled to certain things.
INVESTMENT: The commitment to something with the expectation of some future benefit.
As I travel around the country and workout with the best of the best from the high school, college, and NBA levels, I am continually reminded of what these players have in common that makes them great:
• They WANT to get better
• They are coachable
• They WANT to learn everything they can that will help them become a better player
• They are committed to improvement of their game and bodies
• They are very serious about improving their game every time they step on the floor
• They do everything at a high intensity
The best example I can give you is Kobe Bryant. He once told me that he doesn’t work out any more. . . .he now BLACKS OUT. He said that a workout isn’t enough anymore if he’s going to stay on top of his game and take on all the players he knows are coming after him. He said he has to go beyond what all the other players are doing. He took his workouts to another level.
What Kobe is saying is what all players need to hear and need to know. He is willing to INVEST in his game and not stay the same. He was willing to INVEST in his future. He doesn’t feel ENTITLED to be great, ENTITLED to take every shot, ENTITLED to have everything given to him. Kobe has paid the price and continues to pay the price.
The lesson here is one that I tell every one of the players I work with, “it’s not about entitlement if you want to be the best. It’ about investment.”
IMAGINE YOURSELF AT YOUR OWN FUNERAL
This strategy is a little scary for some people but universally effective at reminding us of what’s most important in our lives.
When we look back on our lives, how many of us are going to be pleased at how uptight we were? Almost universally, when people look back on their lives while on their deathbed, they wish that their priorities had been quite different. With few exceptions, people wish they hadn’t “sweated the small stuff”so much. Instead, they wish they had spent more time with the people and activities they truly loved and less time worrying about aspects of life that, upon deep examination, really don’t matter all that much. Imagining yourself at your own funeral allows you to look back at your life while you still have the chance to make some important changes.
While it can be a little scary or painful, it’s a good idea to consider your own death and, in the process, your life. Doing so will remind you of the kind of person you want to be and the priorities that are most important to you. If you’re at all like me, you’ll probably get a wake up call that be an excellent source of change.
-“A Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff Treasury” Richard Carlson, PH.D
A SNAKE IN THE BOAT
A man went fishing in a swamp and upon passing under trees watched a snake fall from a tree into his boat. Responding quickly and in fear, he grabbed his gun and shot at the snake. He missed the snake, but managed to hit his boat and create a hole in the bottom. The moral of the story: We as a team will not use the shotgun approach when down in a game or we may find ourselves sunk! One basket at a time, one defensive stop at a time!
SUCCESS IN FAILURES
Be a Successful Failure The successful entrepreneur has averaged 4 business failures in his lifetime. According to leadership expert John Maxwell, "Failure is the price you pay for success." The key is to fail well...meaning you learn from your mistakes. It’s no different when our team loses a game. Are you a successful failure? Or does your pride in not admitting your shortcomings build a wall between our team? The best thing we can do for our team is to get ready for the next game. The idea is not to have a perfect team but a learning team. And that can only start by admitting mistakes.
THE POISONOUS FRUIT: THE UNWILLING BUT ABLE ATHLETE
THERE ARE 4 TYPES of ATHLETES
Willing and Able
Willing and unable
Unwilling and able
Unwilling and unable
WHICH TYPE GETS YOU FIRED?
The answer is the one that is the poisonous fruit. The unwilling and unable is easy to spot, some of the willing but unable are warriors that are simply not good enough, those that able but unwilling will get you fired because they look good in a jersey but are unreliable. Playing hard is a talent! If you have to motivate a kid everyday then you are not teaching him. You can only teach or motivate at any given moment and you cannot teach an unmotivated kid. Which makes you better prepared for game day?
THE PARADOXICAL COMMANDMENTS
People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Thing big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.
212: THE EXTRA DEGREE
Nowhere in the 96 pages of the S.L. Parker book, can be found instructions on how to play cornerback in the NFL. Charles Tillman feels much more equipped to do his job after reading Parker's self-help book in the off-season at the suggestion of a friend.
Tillman was open to any and all suggestions after his tangled feet became the symbol of the Bears' playoff collapse against Carolina, especially advice on the effects of pressure on performance.
"At 211 degrees, the water's hot and at 212, water boils and you get steam and with that steam you can power a locomotive -– meaning that extra degree is so huge,'' Tillman said in front of his locker as if he were reading the book jacket in a place with dim lighting that served café lattes.
"If you apply that your job as a reporter, photographer, Christian, pastor, parent (or cornerback),'' Tillman said. "That one extra degree can make you much more successful.''
ATTITUDE
The longer I live the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past than education,than money, than circumstance,than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company....a church......a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...We cannot change the fact that people will act a certain way . We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude..........I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you .......we are in charge of our attitudes.
MAKE THE BEST OF EVERYTHING
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.
When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink.What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups... And, then you began eyeing each other's cups.
Now consider this: Life is the coffee(TEA); your jobs, money, houses, cars and your position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of Life we live.
Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee provided us." We brew the coffee(tea), not the cups .......... Enjoy your coffee(tea)!
The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything."
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF CHARLES SCHULTZ
The following is the philosophy of Charles Schultz, the creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip. You don't have to actually answer the questions.
1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners
3.Name the last five winners of the Miss America Contest.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name t he last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and>actress.
6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.
How did you do? The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But theapplause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.
Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:
1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with
Easier?
The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care
"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia."(Charles Schultz)
TWO WOLVES
One evening a Coach told his Team about a battle that goes on inside Teams . He said, " Every Team has the battle between two 'wolves' inside of them.
One is Bad Team Chemistry. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.
The other is Good Team chemistry. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."
One Team Member thought about it for a minute and then asked his Coach "Which wolf wins?" The old Coach simply replied, "The one you feed."
THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE
Now this is the law of the jungle-
As old and as true as the sky;
And the wolf that keep it may prosper
But the wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk,
The law runneth forward and back-
And the strength of the pack is the wolf
And the strength of the wolf is the pack.
RUDYARD KIPLING
English Poet/Novelist
