Success

I just finished a book called "When the Game Stands Tall" by sports writer Neil Hayes, which tells the story of the record-setting De LaSalle high school football team (Concord, California), their head coach Bob Ladouceur, and a 151 game winning streak that lasted from 1992 to 2004.  The book was made into a 2014 movie of the same name starring Jim Caviezel, Laura Dern, and Michael Chiklis.  The book focuses on the 2002 season and closely follows the lives of the coaches (especially Coach Ladouceur), as well as the players (including a running back who ended up playing in the National Football League, named Maurice Jones-Drew) who continue the streak during one of the most difficult football seasons in school history.  The last few pages of the book tells the story of how the streak finally came to an end on September 24, 2004 against Bellevue High School in Seattle, Washington (you read correctly - at that point, De LaSalle was frequently playing teams from out of state, including a high school team in Honolulu, Hawaii during the 2003 season).

There is no question that Ladouceur's teams had talented athletes (case in point, Maurice Jones-Drew).  But to say that the team was successful because they always had the best athletes in terms of size, speed, and strength would be false.  There is clearly a lot more to winning that athletic ability.  The writer Don Wallace wrote about some of the keys to the team's success in a 2003 article in Fast Company entitled "The Soul of a Sports Machine".  After reading both the article and the book, you will learn that the keys to success in football (and in life) come from hard work, dedication, commitment, and perseverance.  You will learn that the team is more important than the individual.  

Ladouceur believes that his players should be the leaders.  The team has strict rules about discipline, but Ladouceur doesn't have to enforce them - the players do.  "I expect the kids to lead themselves."  When a player makes a mistake or is not putting forth enough effort, it's not Ladouceur who steps in - it's the players.  "They self-correct," he says.

You will read that the team meets together for dinner after the last practice on the Thursday before a Friday night game to hear about love.  Ladouceur says, "Love.  Why is that word so hard to say?  What is it with us that we find it so hard to say it to each other?"  He will wait, for as long as it takes, until one of his players overcomes his embarassment to stand up and talk about their love for their coaches, their teammates, and the game itself.  The team meeting ends with each player and coach hugging each other.

Overall, it's an amazing story that is worth the investment in time to read about, even if you don't necessarily like football.  During one of the Thursday night sessions, one of the players read a poem by the poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, that I think I will end with here.  Emerson defined success as follows:

What is Success?

To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people

and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics

and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty;

To find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by

a healthy child, a garden patch

or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed

easier because you have lived;

This is to have succeeded.

I think that is a perfect summary of Coach Ladouceur's leadership philosophy and key to winning, both in footbal and in life.