The Will To Compete
One thing I think we often overlook as a coach - talent has an impact on our ability to compete at a high level. When we don't play well, we tend to look internally for the reasons, and that makes sense. We want to figure out what we have to do differently to get better. But in a lot of cases the other team has a lot to do with it. A really talented team that competes really hard can take the will to compete out of your team.
In my second year at RIC, we went to the Elite Eight and lost to Amherst, who would go on to win the national championship. I wrote about the game in my upcoming book Entitled To Nothing, which will be published in the next week (EntitledToNothingBook.com).
The Elite Eight (March 10, 2007 – At Amherst)
The next night, I stood just outside the gym as our guys were warming up, listening to the crowd and the music. It felt like the building was going to explode. It gave me a minute to think about what we had accomplished, and how proud I was to be a part of that team. The environment was incredible, and I made sure to remind our guys that they had earned the right to be there. Mentally, we were ready to go; there wasn’t a doubt in my mind.
The only issue was that Amherst was a great team, and they were ready to go as well. They came out and threw the first punch in the first half, playing with a level of toughness and intensity we hadn’t really seen out of them before. We were a bit shell-shocked. We fully expected to go toe to toe with them, but they were all over us. Their talent and size knocked us back a little bit, and they controlled the edge of the game.
As leaders, we are almost exclusively focused on our own group, and rightfully so. But it’s easy to lose sight of external factors that can impact your team. We hadn’t been ourselves, and I was upset about that. But there was a big reason why – it wasn’t that we weren’t ready to play or focused. It was because Amherst was really good. They were affecting our approach, and deserved credit for that. We had to figure out how to handle it.
At halftime we were down by 11 and I wasn’t happy because we hadn’t been ourselves. We let Amherst dictate how the game was being played, and it had affected our compete level. We were playing hard, we always did, but we didn’t have our usual competitive edge. Amherst was controlling that edge. We had defined ourselves with that edge and now we were losing that battle. I needed to snap our guys out of it.
The Way You Deliver the Message
The way you deliver the message – especially when things aren’t going well for your organization – is often more important than the message itself. I’m not really a screamer by nature, and I tend to keep my composure as a coach because I want my team to do the same. Usually when I got after my guys it was a calculated decision, because I felt we needed a spark.
I thought a lot about my tone when I was delivering the message. If I’m always using the same tone, especially a loud one, the message turns into noise. The team will turn it off. There are times when you have to deliver a stern, sharp message and it might be a little louder than normal. That’s okay. But if you aren’t careful about how often you play that card, you can quickly lose your team. Remember, leadership isn’t so much about what you say as it is about what they hear. The message they receive is on you. Be intentional about your tone to make sure your team can hear you.
I knew I had to get to my guys at halftime, so I walked in the locker room right behind them with a forceful tone. “They’re good, fellas! What do you want me to do??? They’re really good. They might beat us. But I’ll be damned if they are going to beat us because we are afraid to compete. That’s not who we are. If they are better than us, we’ll live with that. But there is no way we are going to back down!” My tone was pretty intense, and the delivery was purposely loud. I walked out of the room.
That team was the best team I have ever coached, and we were built on our competitive edge and our toughness. Competing every day was the foundation of our program. Yet, in the biggest game of the year, we didn't have that edge in the first half.
It was pretty clear our guys were trying. And we were playing hard. But there is a difference between trying, playing hard and competing with an edge. We didn't have that edge, not because we didn't bring it, but because Amherst was really good. They were taking the game to us, and they controlled the competitive edge. It wasn't like we backed down, we were just shell-shocked. Their talent knocked us back on our heels.
I can live with the fact that the other team might be better than us. I can't live with the fact that we were afraid to compete. That's why I took that approach at halftime. I needed to wake our guys up, to get us back to being ourselves. Although we ended up losing the game, we came back hard in the second half and played great. We had a chance to win the game late, but ended up losing to a better team.
Laying it all on the line, without fear of failure, is challenging, even for the best competitors. There is no safety net. If you give everything you have, and you lose, you have no excuse. You aren't good enough. You have to get your team willing to accept that. Sometimes the other team is better than you. Sometimes your best isn't good enough. And that's okay. But losing your will to compete is not.
Create a safe place within your program where your team can compete without compromise. Separate from the results, and make sure they know it's okay to fail. Competing at a high level isn't as simple as committing to doing it. It takes a lot of mental toughness. Make it safe for your team to do so and you'll find competitive excellence.