been gone

We'll folk's I've been working a bunch (5 appointments today). LaDonna and I have also been on vacation to Maui (first time to any island) as well as had a couple of weekend vacations.

I've been writing two new biz plans as an academic pursuit.

Physically I've been training for a century ride in October. I have also been working with kettlebells (fun and a challenge).

Hope all is well and may God richly bless you.

I had to laugh

Since no one really reads this blog it has become cathartic to write here for me.

I recently read a job posting (always looking at the competition) saying basically, is there a leader out there. The large company could not find anyone to fill a leadership role from inside the company. I thought about lessons I learned for a former employer and a couple best selling books.

I wondered if the company, that I'm sure is at least 30 years old, growing and has had success, did nothing to develop leaders.

That's when lessons from the old coach crept in, "I didn't care what they had done or where they had been." That coach won over 85% of his games in over 25 years would hire based on philosophy not a resume. Would this coach fit what we "are." He didn't care about anything else. I fact I interviewed 5 times over 2 months and we never once talked about football. We talked about history, philosophy, leadership, education, values and personal traits. We did it at an old weather beaten picnic table in his backyard. Every coach on that staff went on to become either a head coach or coordinator (mostly in DI).

One of my favorite leadership books talks about legacy. What do leave when your name is no longer on a door. It is the responsibility of the leader to develop others to continue a direction or finish a vision. That means giving them the spotlight. Sometimes the light is hot, blinding and uncomfortable. Sometimes it's easy. Both give opportunities to others to develop leadership. The old coach used to say "lead from the back of the pack," let others learn from their success and failures. If you pick the right people they will learn.

Another way I wonder about this companies leadership is, what is most important. If you ask me the most important job I do it is support the company. If your focus is the company it is more likely to succeed. If your focus is look at me then you are the focus and that leads to being a distraction. A friend put it like this, "If you're the head coach and you have all the ideas, you're in trouble." The other way to look at it is, if you spend your time looking for someone to tell you you're great, you're wasting a lot of time. This comes from another best seller (around the world).

So what are you doing to develop others? If it's watch what I do and you never let others do it, well maybe your just a poor leader. If you're the leader maybe you are setting up your successor for failure. Nice legacy, you can be remembered for all you did, but the old coach would see you a little differently. So would a couple of other smart guys.

I had to laugh

God bless you all.

PS. Just found out the competition is closing.

Pride v. Humility

Pride. Hmmm, In Mark 9:33-34 Jesus asks His apostles, "What were you discussing on the Road?" But they did not answer because they had been arguing about which one was the greatest." Got your attention (it's not me by the way). Simply put pride leads to many wrong doings. It gets in the way of humility, (the opposite virtue). It is self-conceit and if you wonder if you are prideful, here's the basketball stuff, ask this "do I like it when someone snubs me, or refuses to take notice, patronizes me or shows off. " Hmmm.

Lets consider a playoff or unit ranking. Feel left out, snubbed, treated unfairly. Perhaps it's because your pride is competing with someone else. Why do you want more? What don't you have that a different rank would solve?


Don't misunderstand, when you are complemented about a job well done or you're told that you have really improved your game and you feel good about it, that's not pride. It's where you take the comment or what you do with it. My mentor taught me that you are never as good or as bad as people say. Somewhere in that comment is humility. If you start looking for applause, become vain or want praise because you are improving, well that's going to lead to problems.

Jim Johnson retired this year. At his final game the public address spoke about Jim working his final game and the crowd responded with praise. I can't imaging Jim being anything but humbled by the kind gesture Upland HS, the teams, coaches and all the fans offered through their applause. Prideful, no, Jim is the example of humility and continued to be humble as he shared at the banquet. Thank you Jim for being an example. By the way I see myself as a sinner and often prideful about basketball. What I should do when I get full of myself is thank God for the skills He has given me and give Him the glory. Fortunately, God humbles me when I get full of myself.


So next time you feel full of pride, wanting more, ask, do I have enough, why do I want more, or what will more solve?

This blog posting was influenced by a recent reading of "Pride: The Great Sin" by C. S. Lewis.

God bless you all.

I'm not...

Dead or dying or mad, angry, blah, blah, blah. This of course is in response to the emails and apparent voice mails (I have not picked up) regarding why I left as the IC.

I do find myself checking my email address still but not very regular. Today I opened two notes wondering if I was sick, another if I was mad. Dead or dying appears to be the most common question. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo,

I have not answered my hoop phone, I don't even know where it is at this moment. So if you are wondering why I have not returned a call of yours its because I have not listened to it since, I don't remember, but it was before my last board meeting. If your question regards the unit I don't even know where to direct your call, maybe Otis?

I do want to thank those of you who sent me notes of thank you, much appreciation.

I am a happy camper, God is very good to me.

May your lives be richly blessed.

If you read this blog

You know that I have a personal relationship with God. I am washed by the blood of Jesus Christ and have accepted Him as my Lord and Savior. Every time I think of this I smile a little.

I am no longer the IC, I have no regrets as I walk away. I do not feel any sense of loss or disappointment. I made a choice. I expect people to say what they will. I have prayed for both my detractors and supporters, and will continue to do so.

The reason for my departure will, I'm sure, be discussed. Some will delight and others will wonder why. Ultimately, my reasons for leaving are personal. They are about what I see best for me. I thought and prayed about it a long time. I am completely at peace.

As for leaving the unit it is again a personal choice. I don't know how long I will stay away but next year I'm sure I will not be a member.

I wish to thank three people who were constant sources of support, Guy Thomas, Randy Homer and Rocky Bettar. You are good friends and much more important to me than basketball will ever be. Thank you, you're all in my prayers.

May God richly bless you all. Amen

who knew

Who knew one day I would one day not care about coaching football or refereeing basketball.
Who knew one day I would love reading about history and leadership.
Who knew one day I would like getting up early in the morning.
Who knew one day I would not know who won a championship, or care.
Who knew one day I would find TV boring, and a waste of time.
Who knew one day I would rather be anonymous than on the stage.
Who knew one day I would become one of the people I used to make fun of.
Who knew one day I would rather serve than receive.
Who knew one day I would not be interested in what someone heard about someone else.
Who knew one day I would face my mortality with a smile, instead of a fear.
Who knew one day I would stop, and think first.
Who knew one day I would pray for those who would attack me, instead of plan my revenge.
Who knew one day I would appoligize because I wanted too, rather had too.

Jer 1:5-“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.”

God Knew, that's who.

God Bless

How did that help?

Back in the the 70's I was was told a story by a coach for whom I had great respect. I had just begun coaching, in fact I don't think I had been a coach for 12 months. I listened as he shared the story about coaches in a staff room. The story goes, "the runingbacks (RB) coach turns to the linebacker (LB) coach and says, your LB's stink, so the LB coach replies, so do your RB's. The two coaches go at each other for a while tearing each other down. In the end nothing was accomplished but animosity, a riff in the staff, simply put, nothing that would help the team win." Instead of attacking each other, the old coach said, "how about providing advice or a suggestion to the coach. Something constructive, that has direction, solution oriented, instead of attacking one-another and dividing the staff. Riffs just take away from winning."

So the story went. More than 30 years later I still remember it like it was yesterday. A few weeks ago I watched a person attack another person with criticism over a job done, in the attackers eyes, poorly. I watched as the person attacked the other. I sat their remembering the story about the two coaches and said nothing.

I was wrong because I knew better and still said nothing. Did I learn something, yes. Will it happen again, no. Sometimes being a leader means stand up and risk being fired for the betterment of the team. It's all in how you communicate what you say that leads to victory.

God Bless