Steve Odgers send me an email yesterday reminding me that it was John Woodens birthday and that Coach Wooden never spoke to his teams about winning. Never speaks volumes when you think of the championships and wins his teams accumulated. The message here, a message I have seen in everyone that are consistent winners, is that they focus on the process, not the outcome. If you pay attention to details, have a plan and get absorbed in the process then the winning is an outcome. Conversely think of the losing teams and organizations you see. They are always talking about winning. There are banners and slogans everywhere, but bottom line they are focused on the outcome and they make losing a self-fulfilling prophecy. They seem to find a way to lose. Winners find ways to win to because they have paid attention to the process. If they do lose there are no excuses, just learning, then back to the process.
1 Comment
Paul Davis
Yet, competing is an integral part of the process. I am a believer that practice is where the “process” is most evident; during competitions, it’s time to compete. Wooden trusted in his process during games (what had been taught and learned in practice), but athletes had to compete, since everyone wanted to beat UCLA.
I see the same in Yankees. I watched all of Game 1 vs Rangers, waiting for Yankees to pounce. While the process of the current Yankees is well-known (patience to wear out starter, HRs, get to Mo in 9th), they compete every pitch.
Leadership plays a big role in this; especially shared leadership (coach AND player).