Take The Time

Although it is early to be thinking about selecting people for next year's teams, that time will be here before you know it. 

I love these words of wisdom from Coach Mike Krzyzewski that came from him during the period of him selecting the 2008 men's basketball team that won the gold medal. Maybe we can all learn something from Coach K when picking a team or doing business....

Take The Time

"Take the time to choose your people. In doing so, be sure that you are asking the basic but most difficult questions. Let the answers to those questions guide the selections that you make.

Remember that choosing your people is the first decision you will make as a leader. Take the time to make it a good one. Great teams start with a base of talent but consist of a mixture of experienced people who bring instant credibility and institutional understanding, and young players who bring energy and keep you fresh. But be sure that all these individuals are united by a foundation of character that will make them want to give of themselves to be a part of something bigger.

In choosing your people, remember also that you are establishing the foundation for trusting relationships. Take the time to conduct personal interviews, face to face when possible. Lay everything on the line. Be forthright about what is expected, and don’t be afraid to let your people know a little about who you are and why you believe in the team cause. These initial meetings are the first indication of how your team members will communicate with one another.

Leaders sometimes get caught up too early in what the mission will be. And the mission is crucially important. But your team’s people are the ones who are going to accomplish that mission. Before you get into the details of your strategy, your X’s and O’s, you have to decide who is the X and who is the O."

All the best!!

Positive New Year

Happy New Hockey Year. Hope you work to make it a great one!

20 Tips To Help Make 2014 A Great Year

1. Stay Positive. You can listen to the cynics and doubters and believe that success is impossible or you can trust that with faith and an optimistic attitude all things are possible. 
2. Take a morning walk of gratitude. I call it a “Thank You Walk.” It will create a fertile mind ready for success. 
3. Make your first meal the biggest and your last meal the smallest. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card. 
4. Zoom Focus. Each day when you wake up in the morning ask: “What are the three most important things I need to do today that 
will help me create the success I desire?” Then tune out all the distractions and focus on these actions. 
5. Talk to yourself instead of listen to yourself. Instead of listening to your complaints, fears and doubts, talk to yourself and feed 
your mind with the words and encouragement you need to keep moving forward. 
6. Remember that adversity is not a dead-end but a detour to a better outcome. 
7. Don’t chase dollars or success. Decide to make a difference and build meaningful relationships and success will find you. 
8. Get more sleep. You can’t replace sleep with a double latte. 
9. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. 
Instead invest your energy in your purpose, people and the positive present moment. 
10. Mentor someone and be mentored by someone. 
11. Live with the 3 E’s. Energy, Enthusiasm, Empathy. 
12. Remember there’s no such thing as an overnight success. There’s no substitute for hard work. 
13. Believe that everything happens for a reason and expect good things to come out of challenging experiences. 
14. Implement the No Complaining Rule. Remember that if you are complaining, you’re not leading.
15. Read more books than you did in 2013. 
16. Don’t seek happiness. Instead decide to live with passion and purpose and happiness will find you.  
17. Focus on “Get to” vs “Have to.” Each day focus on what you get to do, not what you have to do. Life is a gift not an obligation. 
18. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: 
I am thankful for __________. Today I accomplished____________. 
19. Smile and laugh more. They are natural anti-depressants. 

20. Enjoy the ride. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy it. 

Happy New Year Everyone!

Content by Jon Gordon

Believe

Just a little post about the power of believing in yourself.

The Bayonne Bleeder

You have to believe in yourself so strongly that you are willing to bank on it.

Chuck Wepner never learned this lesson. As a boxer he earned the name “the Bayonne Bleeder”, due to the punishment he took even while winning. In the boxing world he was what was called a “catcher” a fighter that uses his head to block the other guy’s punches…..Wepner continually pressured his opponent until he either won or got knocked out. He never cared how many shots he had to absorb until he could deliver a knockout blow to his opponent. His trainer Al Braverman called him, “The gutsiest fighter I ever met. He was in a league of his own. He didn’t care about pain or embarrassment. If he got cut or elbowed he never looked at me or the referee for help. He was a fighter in the purest sense of the word.”

When Wepner knocked out Terry Henke in the 11^th round in Salt Lake City, promoter Don King offered Wepner a title shot against then heavyweight champion George Forman. But when Ali defeated Forman, Wepner found himself scheduled to fight ‘The Greatest’. Mohammed Ali!!

On the morning of the fight Wepner gave his wife a pink negligée and told her she would soon be sleeping with the Heavyweight Champion of the World. 

Ali scored a technical knockout with only 19 seconds remaining in the fight. But there was one moment, one glorious moment in the ninth round when a ham-like paw to Ali’s chest knocked the reigning champion off his feet. Wepner recalled, “When Ali was down I remember saying to my ring man Al Braverman, ‘Start the car we’re going to the bank, we’re millionaires!!’ and Al said to me, ‘You’d better turn around…..because he is getting up….’

After the fight, Wepner’s wife pulled the negligee out of her purse and asked, “Do I go to Ali’s room or does he come to mine?”

That story would be nothing more than an odd boxing footnote except for the fact that a struggling writer was watching the fight. Suddenly it struck him, “there it is!” he said to himself. So he went home and started writing and he wrote for three days straight. 

That is how writer and actor Sylvester Stallone described the birth of the Academy Award winning movie Rocky.

The movie studio offered the struggling writer an unprecedented $400,000 for his script. But Stallone refused the money, choosing instead just $20,000 and the right to play the part of Rocky for actor’s minimum wage, a paltry $340 per week. He felt strongly that this script and part would catapult him to fame and fortune. He was right.

The studio also made an offer to Wepner since the movie was based on his life. He could receive a flat fee of $70,000 or 1% of the movies gross profits. Wanting the guaranteed payday, Wepner took the $70,000, a decision that ultimately cost him $8,000,000.00………

Chuck Wepner retired to Bayonne, NJ and worked as a liquor salesman.

The moral of the story? A few of things I guess……..

1. Marry someone with a good sense of humor.

2. You never know what your individual efforts will lead to or what results will come from your hard work.

3. Be willing to bank on yourself.

Happy New Year!