"Row the Boat"

Did anyone else watch the Cotton Bowl (Western Michigan versus Wisconsin) football game yesterday?  As I was watching the game, I noticed several fans holding signs that said, "Row the Boat."  I even noticed that the Western Michigan football players had a set of oars on their helmets, and the front of the helmet had a sticker that said, "Row."  I was curious - the mascot for the Western Michigan football team is the Bronco.  Last time I checked, broncos were horses and had absolutely nothing to do with rowing.  So, I did what everyone else does when they have a question - I searched the Internet!

Apparently, Western Michigan's football coach, P.J. Fleck, created a team slogan ("Row the boat") based upon his philosophy for football, and life.  Based on how successful Western Michigan was this year (they were undefeated until they lost a close game yesterday to Wisconsin), I would say that the philosophy is a good one.  His coaching staff, his players, the student body, and the school's fan base bought into the philosophy as well.  Basically, "Row the Boat"comes down to three parts.  First, in order to row a boat, you have to have a set of oars.  The oars represent "what you bring to life."  An individual can choose either to place the oar in the water or out of the water, but in order to move the boat forward, the oar has to be in the water.  The second part of the philosophy is the boat itself, which represents "what you are willing to give up for something that you have never had."  The third part of the philosophy is a compass.  Every boat has to have a compass to navigate on the water.  In the "Row the Boat" philosophy, the compass helps one to figure out what direction they are going (in other words, what direction one needs to go to successfully fulfill his or her goals in football, and in life). 

As Coach Fleck describes in a videotaped interview on ESPN, he developed the philosophy after his infant son died of a heart condition on February 9, 2011.  He describes the philosophy as a "never give up mantra."  He goes on to explain that when you are rowing a boat, you actually face backward.  "You can't see the future.  You can only see the past, which is the only thing that you can't change.  But you have to learn from the past to create a better future."  What a powerful metaphor for football, and more importantly, for life!  Coach Fleck's name has been mentioned for several college head coaching jobs, but I hope he sticks around for at least another year at Western Michigan!

I am reminded of another great metaphor - this time, not a football team, but a book.  Our CEO recently asked our hospital leadership team to read a book by Daniel James Brown, called "The Boys in the Boat".  The book tells the story of a college rowing team (the University of Washington) who went on to win the Olympic gold medal in rowing at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.  It really is a great story, but it is even a greater metaphor on leadership and teamwork.  I see a lot of parallels between this book and Coach Fleck's leadership philosophy, and I think there is a lot to learn from both.  I highly recommend the book (I recently heard that the book is going to be made into a movie, but please do yourself a favor and read the book first!).  Meagan Flores offered these leadership lessons from the book on her blog:

1. A great team must share a vision.
2. Overcoming adversity makes the team stronger.
3. Excellence comes from focus.
4. Don't micromanage.
5. Empower your team with the courage to change strategy.
6. Hold people accountable.
7. Plan, execute, monitor, repeat.
8. Goals must be aligned across the team.
9. Let it run.

There are many more blog posts on "The Boys in the Boat" - I won't list all of the quotes, lessons, or tidbits of information here, but I encourage you to check them out (just search "leadership lessons" and "boys in the boat").  Better yet - just read the book.  And watch Western Michigan football!