“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
-Theodore Roosevelt
Life is challenging. Accepting a leadership role is challenging as well. If you accept the responsibility to be a leader you will make mistakes; some minor and some critical. Today, we will steal a phrase I heard used for evaluating quarterback play: P.A.C.E. (Play After Critical Error/Event). There is not a more demanding job in professional sports than a NFL quarterback. Physical tools are not the issue; there are lots of athletes who possess the arm strength, size and accuracy to play the position. In addition, nearly every quarterback in the NFL studies film and prepares at an incredibly high level. So, what makes a quarterback elite? It’s how they respond after they make a mistake.
If you play QB you will make mistakes and oftentimes cost your team a victory. If you are a coach or leader the same theory applies; you will make critical mistakes that will sabotage your teams chances of winning. Every leader makes crucial mistakes; the elite leaders respond in a smart, decisive and powerful way. Let’s take a look at two ways crucial errors and events manifest themselves in the game of baseball and life.
1. You make the Error: A scenario: It’s 3-2 going into the 9th inning. Your ace has given you eight outstanding innings of work and the look in his eye says it all: he is finishing this game. However, you have a closer who has been great all year. He’s rested and ready. You think the closer gives you the best shot of winning, but you feel your starter has earned the right to go out for the 9th. You send the starter out and he walks the first batter. You get your closer in with a guy on 1st. Unfortunately, he gives up a 2-out walk-off home-run to lose the game. The players are devastated. More importantly, you are devastated because you made a poor decision.
If you have coached in the game long enough you can relate to this situation. I truly believe our job as a skipper is to give your team the best chance to win; when you fail to live up to this standard it is crushing. It is an incredibly lonely feeling; trust me, it has happened to me on several different occasions. My advice is to accept responsibility in these situations. Stand up- let your men know you made the mistake and you will be better in the future. This isn’t the time to blame others, nor is it the time to play “poor pitiful me.” Athletes (and people in general) appreciate honesty with the promise that you will learn from the mistake and improve. Once you recognize the mistake and analyze what you could have done differently, then it is time to move on. You cannot allow your previous mistakes to effect your future decisions in a negative fashion. Tony LaRussa said it well, “You can’t allow what happened the day before to distract from your competitive edge.”
2. Your Player Makes a Critical Miscue: Most coaches are competitive people. Unfortunately, our ego frequently gets involved. For example, you lose a game because one of your players makes a mistake that you rehearsed several times. They know better, YOU COACH THEM BETTER- there is no way that mistake should have occurred. You just lost a big game to an inferior opponent. What is worse, it appears that you were out-coached by your opponent. How you handle this situation is critical.
We already stated that what oftentimes makes an elite athlete is their P.A.C.E. Your initial reaction will be to come unglued on the young offender. You will want everyone to see that it was his fault, not yours. Next, you will want to punish them by burying them on the bench. While this may be necessary, please keep in mind that you are limiting their ability to respond to their critical error. As coaches, I think it is vitally important to control our ego in these situations- we can not take it personally. I know, this is easier said than done. However, I am a big believer in teachable moments. Big mistakes give us raised attention levels to deliver a clear message. Sometimes this involves yelling, but not always. The important thing is that what ever happened is now in the past and we must all learn from it.
You are going to make mistakes. The great news is so is everyone else. Any time you are in the arena there will be critics and second-guessers. Take comfort in knowing that failure and mistakes are a part of life. Change your mind-set: the next time you make a critical mistake be excited. Only thru failure and mistakes do great things arise. If you have made a crucial error something special is right around the corner. Don’t miss the opportunity.
Be Outstanding,
Mike Deegan
P.S.
How about the P.A.C.E. from the Little League coach this summer? In case you missed it here’s a link:
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=11373945
Reblogged this on Skip Deegan and commented:
Russell Wilson just gave us a lesson