Are You Deserving?

Question 1:  If you work hard and develop the gifts that were given to you, and you have a vision of serving others (teammates), then what do you deserve?

Question 2:  If you do not work hard on yourself and are not concerned about those around you (teammates), then what do you deserve?

"You never get what you want, but you always get what you deserve."

The Scorpion and the Frog

Once upon a time, there lived a scorpion and a frog.  As the frog sat in the warm sun on the bank of a stream, along came a scorpion who wanted to cross to the other side.  He scuttled up to the frog and asked, "Please, Mr. Frog, can you carry me across the stream on your back?"

"I could," replied the frog, "but I must refuse; as you will probably sting me as I swim across."

"But, why would I do that?"  asked the scorpion.  "If I were to sting you, you would die and I would drown."

Now, the frog knew a thing or two about scorpions, and how lethal they were.  But on the other hand, the scorpion had made a point and the point made sense.  So the frog agreed.  The scorpion climbed onto his back, and together they set off across the stream.  About the time they reached the middle of the crossing, the scorpion stung the frog.  Mortally wounded, the frog cried out,  "Why did you sting me?  It's not in your interests to sting me, because now I will die and you will drown."

"I know," replied the scorpion, as he sank into the stream.  "But, you see, I am a scorpion.  I have to sting you.  It's in my nature."

Just as it is natural for the scorpion to sting the frog, it is natural for man to want to avoid change - because change is uncomfortable.  In fact, when we are suffering, if change requires an effort on our part, we'll try to make our suffering more comfortable.  We'll even change our self-talk to keep from becoming uncomfortable.  How many times have you heard someone justify their comfort level?

The fact of the matter is, we need to get comfortable with getting uncomfortable - in order to change anything.

"I guess it comes down to a simple choice ... get busy living or get busy dying." 
Andy Dufresne, The Shawshank Redemption

The Gravel Pit

A young boy was at a gravel pit working with his father and another young man.  They had a team of horses and were attempting to pull a load up a steep road.  The young man driving the horses was loud and abusive.  In response, the animals were hyper and agitated.  They worked against each other and as a result, couldn't pull the load.  With a gentle voice and a gentler touch, the dad calmed the horses and walked them forward with the load.  When the horses cooperated, they could do much more than when they didn't work together.

The boy learned two important lessons from this experience:

1.  Gentleness is a better method of getting cooperation than harshness and:
2.  A team can accomplish much more when it works together than individuals can when they work      alone.

We must find the best way and be willing to not have our way.

Advice from Ron Wolf, former GM of the Green Bay Packers

"Look around at your situation.  Examine your operation for complacency, for a sense of self-satisfaction, for a lack of determination.  The mind-set should be one of ambition, of striving to be better, of desiring to excel.  The elements of failure can be everywhere - employees flaunting rules, reporting late to work, leaving early, spending too much time complaining.

There has to be a purpose in what you do, and that purpose has to be understood and embraced by everyone in the organization. 

You need to put the TEAM first over anything else.  If priorities are different in your situation, you'll never be as good as you want.  This means instilling an obsession within your TEAM that dominates the landscape."

Each of us needs to examine these comments from our individual perspective and more importantly from the perspective of OUR TEAM!  If we are going to turn the corner what can you individually do to make a difference.  This means anything from working harder to influencing your teammates.  We have three weeks left before the end of the summer ... two contact days, three passing league games, three Fourth Quarter Fridays, and 9 weight room workouts ...  Be the DIFFERENCE MAKER for the PATRIOTS!

Think about it!

A study conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported the following:

          Learners retain:
               10 percent of what they read;
               20 percent of what they hear;
               30 percent of what they see;
               50 percent of what they see and hear;
               70 percent of what they say;
               90 percent of what they say and do.

The Lesson of the String

Leading is both simple and difficult. 

Younger or less experienced team members often think that leaders have it easier than the men they lead.  Younger or less experienced team members do not believe that details matter.  Younger or less experienced team members believe that it is easier to lead others by pushing them from behind. 

Once you have spent time leading ... you realize that none of these statements is true.  Leaders work harder, focus on details, and model from the front when they lead.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower, used to say leadership is like a piece of string.  Push it and the string will bunch up in failure.  Instead, he said, you have to pull. 

According to General Eisenhower this represents your chain of influence.  If I want my teammates to run faster I must run faster.  If I want my teammates to work harder I must work harder.  If I want my teammates to make themselves "uncomfortable" I must make myself "uncomfortable", and under no circumstance can I afford to whine while I am working to improve myself.

Winners are always leading! 

Respond to this post to earn your Patriot. 

Mention this post to Coach on Friday and you will receive a token to remind you what kind of leaders Patriot Football needs.

Prove It!

A great story has made the rounds about a scrawny, seeming undernourished old man who entered a restaurant and asked who he needed to see to get a job at a nearby lumberjack camp.  "You don't need to go far," the restaurant owner replied as he pointed to a nearby booth.  "The supervisor is having lunch right over there."

The jobseeker approached the supervisor and exclaimed, "I'm looking for a lumberjack job."  The boss politely tried to talk him out of the idea.  Surely this weak old man wouldn't be able to fell a tree let alone keep up with the daily quotas.  "Give me a few minutes of your time and I'll show you what I can do," suggested the old man.

When the two arrived at a grove needing to be cleared, the slender, persistent old man picked up an axe and proceeded to chop down a huge tree in record time.  "That's incredible," the boss said.  "Where did you learn to fell trees like that?"  "Well," said the old man, "you've heard of the Sahara Forest?"  Hesitantly the boss replied, "Don't you mean the Sahara Desert?"  The old man produced a smile and said, "Sure, that's what it's called now."

Achievers are producers.  They understand the world will not recognize them for what they could have done, should have done, or would have done.  Recognition is experienced by proving what you can do by doing it.