In case you missed the breakfast in Birmingham a couple of weeks ago, TPI’s own Ron Medved presented the Leadership Innovation Award to Alabama football coach Nick Saban for his team’s incredible championship season this year. This nine minute clip below shows some of the highlights from the event.
If you are a coach, athletic director, or even an athlete looking for a every ethical edge you can get, maybe you should check out our PX2 program and see if The Pacific Institute can help you and your team to do more of the things you know you are capable of.
Congratulations again coach. You definitely deserve it.
A lot has been said about the reasons for Alabama’s resurgence to national prominence as a football powerhouse. Most of these articles and discussions start with head coach Nick Saban, and they should. His leadership has set the tone for every aspect of the football program. While having the best college football program in the country is the goal of the University, producing fine, responsible, and productive young men is the ultimate aim of the program. With each player understanding their responsibilities to the team and taking responsibility for reaching their potential, both the team and the players succeeded.
If you are a college football fan, you know that the Bowl game match-ups were decided this week, and that the BCS title game will feature the University of Alabama and the University of Texas. Both teams are undefeated, and there is little debate that both teams deserve to be there. What you may not know is that the University of Alabama is a client of The Pacific Institute.
Former NFL players Antowaine Richardson and Nesby Glasgow, who are trained as PX2 facilitators, took the players through each of the 12 units during training camp for the last two years. Tailoring the program for application on the football field, the players identified areas in their own skill sets and roles on the team where their were underperforming to their potential.
One of the first questions asked of PX2 participants is “Who’s in control?”. Basically, the question is trying to discover whether it is external or internal forces that drive our behaviors. Truly, it is a mix of both. But, in order for us to be responsible for our behavior, we have to acknowledge that we are in control of our lives. If this is true, then as a result, we ourselves are the biggest limiters of our effectiveness and performance.
If at times you feel like a victim, then you may be able to alter this belief with a greater understanding of how much control you really have. While we can’t control everything that happens to us, we can often control how we respond and react. By removing the victim-mentality, we can see outside influence in a different light. Either it is imagined, or we cannot change it. Either way, our focus should remain on that which we can effect.
Alabama set a goal to win the SEC championship this year. Why not the BCS national championship? Maybe because the last three SEC championship winners have gone on to win the BCS national championship. It’s clear that the next goal is to win the game against Texas in January. No one for Alabama is hoping for referees, weather, luck, fate, or anything else outside of them to work in their favor. When it’s time to play, these guys know “Who’s in control.”
Send me an email if you are interesting in hearing Lou Tice and Nick Saban speak in Alabama on January 25.
Last month, ESPN produced a nice 8-minute piece on Marie Tillman, the widow of Pat Tillman.
While speaking to a group of high school students last month after the Ft. Hood shooting, our discussion touched on the volunteer nature of American armed forces. When someone mentioned how much soldiers have to sacrifice in order to join up, I brought up the professional sacrifice of Pat Tillman. To my shock and amazement, none of the students had ever heard of him.
While sharing Pat’s story with this group, my own personal emotions regarding Pat’s decision and death came surging back to me. While I’m definitely more of a pacifist now than at any other time in my life, I can still draw strength and inspiration from his decision to give up his high paying and high profile position as an NFL player. The act of temporary sacrifice for the sake of a greater good has not been exactly been a hallmark of my own life.
Trying to find a balance between striving for what I want, and denying myself those same desires has been the unresolved theme of my life. In an effort to “die to self” in an aim toward virtue, I often times sabotaged myself (and my family, as a result) as I came too close to reaching my desires. I began to expect failure like a musical virtuoso expects applause. I couldn’t believe Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka when he remarked that the man who suddenly got all that he wanted, lived happily ever after.
I’m not sure that I can say that I completely understand Pat’s decision, but recently, it has taken on new meaning for me. From everything that Pat accomplished (3.84 GPA in 3 1/2 years at Arizona State University, while being named Pac-10 Player of the Year, as a 5 foot 11 inch linebacker) to what those close to him said about his drive, it seems clear that he didn’t do very many things half-assed. So how does someone with that kind of focus and resolve just change his path so drastically mid-course?
What if he didn’t change his mind? What if his decision to enlist was completely in line with his personal goals and desires? If becoming a successful professional athlete was Pat’s supreme goal, then yes, he did make a wholesale change to his values and desires. But if his desire was to be a great man, then it was just his definition of what makes a man great that changed.
It’s another variation of the discussion on life as more of a journey than a destination.
I now understand desire as a virtue. As long as that desire aligns with the ultimate principles that govern life. A desire that leads to a full stomach, an escape from reality, or an orgasm is not one to embrace as life-giving or virtuous. But a desire that leads to a peaceful resolution, a restored relationship, or the benefit of others may be.
Desires and choices come from our goals. When we are immature, we can only see a short distance into the future. As we grow, we can see farther and our goals reflect longer term aims.
Pat’s goal was to be a great man. My goal is the same. But how I’m defining great has changed. A great man doesn’t deny fulfilling his desires for the virtue of denial itself. A great man aligns his goals with the most virtuous truths on the highest level of abstraction that he can reasonably comprehend. Now, if I miss a meal, miss a nap, or avoid romance with other women, it may seem seem like some sort of denial of desire, but it is what I want. And I’m finally OK with getting what I want.
It’s official. After the homecoming beat-down of the number 22 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks, 20-6, the University of Alabama football team is back on top of the AP college football poll. While this game did not feature the offensive explosion seen in previous games, the discipline on the defensive side showcased the Tide’s hallmark of late: mental toughness.
PX2 works. It’s fun to watch the results play out in the national sporting news. But it’s still accessible for local youth sports teams. Read more on this site and send me an email for more information. You can view the first unit of PX2 for free here.
when he remarked that the man who suddenly got all that he wanted, lived happily ever after.
I’m not sure that I can say that I completely understand Pat’s decision, but recently, it has taken on new meaning for me. From everything that Pat accomplished (3.84 GPA in 3 1/2 years at Arizona State University, while being named Pac-10 Player of the Year, as a 5 foot 11 inch linebacker) to what those close to him said about his drive, it seems clear that he didn’t do very many things half-assed. So how does someone with that kind of focus and resolve just change his path so drastically mid-course?
It’s official. After the homecoming beat-down of the number 22 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks, 20-6, the University of Alabama football team is back on top of the AP college football poll. While this game did not feature the offensive explosion seen in previous games, the discipline on the defensive side showcased the Tide’s hallmark of late: mental toughness.