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Core Purpose
‘We value a commitment to excellence in all we
do’ - part of the What exactly does it mean to ‘commit to excellence’? From Anson Dorrance,
The There is a guy named Herb Greenberg who started a company called Caliper. He is paid a lot of money to analyze athletes for professional sports. His method is relatively simple. He analyzes an athlete’s character through a battery of tests to determine: 1. Self discipline 2. Competitive fire 3. Self belief If an athlete does not possess even one of these traits, it is recommended that a professional team not invest time and energy in their future. We all know that a lot of athletes have talent. Our team possesses a lot of talented
athletes. However, so do a lot of
other teams in According to Dorance, “What is notable about athletic character is that it is a choice. You get to decide whether you will possess the self discipline, competitive fire, and self belief to succeed. These kinds of people are sometimes called champions. “Champion” is another word for individuals willing to do difficult and uncomfortable things on a daily basis that no one else is willing to do.” In summary, your athletic character and value to this team is about choice and accountability. It has nothing to do with talent level; a commitment to excellence has nothing to do with talent. I am convinced it is about committing to a common ideal. According to Dorance, “It’s about making a choice to have athletic character.”
The core values written below are based off of ten years as head coach of this program and doing a lot of reflection after reading Dorance’s values. In many cases, our values are similar to Dorance’s because I also believe in what he does in many cases. However, these values have been written by all of the past and current athletes and coaches whether they realize it or not. They are the compilation of eleven years of perseverance, various personalities, and a lot of experimenting on what works and what does not. Some of these values come from athletes that have graduated and what I learn later about their athletic character in college. I ask that you embrace the core values and commit them to memory. Our culture and core values are only as strong as our leaders and what they endorse and drive as acceptable behavior. The core values will be used to measure our progress and will be the cornerstone of being a valuable teammate. I will use these core values to make decisions on lineups, travel teams, and season-ending awards. You should hear these core values communicated often. The Core Values of 1.
We do something truly extraordinary every day to
achieve a goal. This individual has
remarkable self-discipline, does
every workout from beginning to end, and has a daily plan to do something to
get better. A young man with
self-discipline does the whole workout when the coaches are not around. He does not follow the path of least
resistance; he consistently asks himself, ‘what can I do to improve? “The dictionary is the only place success
comes before work. Hard work is the
price we must all pay for success. I
think we can accomplish almost anything if we are willing to pay the
price. The price of success is hard
work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we
win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.” Vince
Lombardi 2.
We want our high school years to be rich, valuable
and deep. This person leads his life
with the proper balance and makes good choices socially. “Running should be a part of your life, not
be your life.” The same can be said
for school, friends, family, and faith.
This well-balanced individual understands that a good education is
very important and that drugs and alcohol are not needed to change his mental
state. He also recognizes that peer
influence is powerful and places his role as a good team member above their
possible bad choices. “Too many people fail because they give up
what they want most for what they want in the moment.” 3.
We set challenging and meaningful goals. This young man sets attainable,
challenging, and measurable goals. He
does not rest on his laurels if he achieves a goal. He recognizes that success is a journey,
not a destination. We learn from our
experiences and realize the most important step is our next opportunity to
improve. Desire is the key to motivation, but it’s the determination and
commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal – a commitment to
excellence – that will enable you to attain the success you seek. Mario
Andretti 4.
We choose to have a positive outlook on life and
running. No matter what the
circumstances may be, we have the power of choosing to stay positive. We love to run. We love the feeling of being part of a team
and striving for common goals. There
is nothing better than working hard and feeling good about what we have
accomplished. “Nothing great ever happens without enthusiasm.” Ralph
Waldo Emerson 5.
We are very confident in our abilities. Because we work very hard and are extremely
fit, we know that we come to the line well prepared to do battle. Self-confidence
is the intangible trait that separates the good teams from the great
teams. If we get injured, sick, or
fall during a race, we know we can easily rebound from this setback because
‘we have done our homework’. Inner
arrogance is a good thing. As other
competitors go into oxygen debt early in the race, we hold steady due to our
incredible fitness level and knowledge that we are very well prepared. “Confidence... thrives on honesty, on honor, on the
sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish
performance. Without them it cannot live.”
Theodore Roosevelt 6.
We genuinely care about one another. We are a family. We treat everyone with respect. A caring person goes out of their way to
never separate himself from anyone or make anyone feel beneath him. “There is no elitist separation by academic
class, social class, race, religious preference, or sexual orientation.” –
Dorance. Respect in our organization
is shown with a greeting of a handshake and their name. Greetings to one another are genuine and
forthcoming. I judge a person’s worth by the kind of person he is in life – by the
way he treats his fellow man, by the way he wants to be treated, and by the
way he respects people around him” Calvin Murphy 7.
We value a positive and influential leader. “A great leader is less concerned about his
popularity and more concerned about holding everyone to their highest
standards and driving his teammates to their potential.” - Dorrance.
Not long ago, to ‘believe in
your self’ meant taking a principled and often lonely, stand when it appeared
difficult or dangerous to do so. Now
it means accepting one’s own desires and inclinations, whatever they may be,
and taking whatever steps that may be necessary to advance them.” William
Damon 8. We are humble. A humble athlete wins like he is used to it. This is the person who is thankful for everything that he has been given in life and has a contagious optimism. Losing is taken in stride and lessons are learned from the experience to be put to good use during the next race. “To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.” Carlos de Montesquieu 9.
We are fearless and are not afraid to fail. We will not hang back in a race and hope
for the best. We race smart and we
always have a plan. We possess a competitive fire and we will back
down to no one. We deserve the rewards
from our hard work and we are willing to put it on the line and push through
the discomfort. “I never blame failure – there are too many complicated situations in
life – but I am absolutely merciless toward lack of effort.” F.
Scott Fitzgerald 10.
We recognize and KNOW that it is the little things
that add up to make the biggest difference.
This is the young man who eats nutritious foods, goes to bed at the
same time every night, drinks water before practice, and puts out his running
clothes the night before. Preparation
is of the highest priority. Workouts
are planned and made a priority during the ‘off season’. “One
of life’s most painful moments comes when we must admit that we didn’t do our
homework, that we are not prepared.” Merlin
Olsen 11.
We take great pleasure in serving others and make it
a priority. This
young man believes in the intrinsic value of every person and aims to further
the dignity of anyone he can
by influencing them in a positive way.
“Always take the time to show
compassion for those less fortunate, and there are many. Take the time to help a young child cross
the street, or to carry a bag of groceries for an elderly lady. And every now and then, look up into that
big, beautiful, blue sky and admit that there are things in this world more
wondrous that yourself.” Jack Lambert |
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