Monday, October 12, 2009

GOALS FOR REBUILDING

Was re-reading an old book this weekend titled "High Hopes" by Gary Barnett which takes you through his outstanding rebuilding job of Northwestern football in the early 90's. If you are rebuilding a team in any sport, this is a good book to read. Here is what Coach Barnett had to say about their goals for that team:

We always approached our goals with more than just the football field in mind, because we didn’t want to be about winning at all costs. The true satisfaction for us was going to be in turning the team around and knowing we had done it properly and fairly, without compromising our values or priorities.

No matter what somebody does in his or her particular walk of life, there are issues of right and wrong to make decisions about. It’s usually harder to do the right thing and honor your conviction. What the right things for us at Northwestern were always seemed obvious. They had to do with belief and trust and patience. Caring. Listening. Having faith. Extreme hard work. Hunger.