Scott Frey is a college women's soccer coach at Messiah College. He's a little different though. He's won. A lot. Not just a lot, but more than anyone else in his profession on his level. He's coached 451 games and won 425 of them. His teams have played for 8 national championships and won 4 of them. Maybe more importantly, he changes the lives of the student-athletes he coaches. I've seen it firsthand. I have friends in the profession that have seen it first hand. The student-athletes he coaches become insanely good soccer players, but they become even better people. A book has been written called, The Messiah Method, which describes the leadership principles behind the success of the women's and men's (they've won even more!). I'd encourage it for anyone that enjoys sports and cares about leadership. One of my favorite quotes in the book comes from Coach Frey when he describes enduring the difficulty of conditioning. 'The only thing worse than running is running without a purpose.'
Wow!
I don't care what you are leading, mission messaging matters. If you are a coach, a business leader, a lawyer, a stay-at-home parent, a school principal, or a mechanic you should take the time to clearly pin down your mission. Here's a couple quick points from a presentation I recently made on the topic of 'mission messaging':
Clear: Your message doesn't have to be complex or creative. In fact, there will be others that have almost an identical mission as yours. You message does need to be clear and for it to be simple it needs to be clear. What makes your mission unique is how you clear you describe it and how you go about accomplishing and communicating it to others.
Convincing: If you want to know how to convince yourself or others of your mission just replace the word 'convincing' with 'consistent'. If you consistently remind yourself and others of your mission it will be convincing. I do believe there are only two options for a convincing message: you are either under-communicating it or over-communicating it. There is no middle ground here.
Celebrate: There is an old leadership principle that what you punish you'll eliminate but what you celebrate you'll produce. Whether it's your children, your nurses, your interns, your Sunday school workers, or your athletes, I'd encourage you to stop and celebrate when the mission is accomplished by those that you are leading. You will plant seeds that will produce more of those celebrations.
ESPN College Basketball Analyst and practicing lawyer, Jay Bilas, in his book 'Toughness' describes an experience touring an army base in the middle east with U.S. soldiers. He asked them how they get their duties done in such extreme heat (it can sometimes get above 130 degrees). Their response describes well how important knowing your mission is. 'The circumstances don't matter, Mr. Bilas. We know our mission and we know we have to make mission.'
Do you know your mission? Will you make mission today?
Wow!
I don't care what you are leading, mission messaging matters. If you are a coach, a business leader, a lawyer, a stay-at-home parent, a school principal, or a mechanic you should take the time to clearly pin down your mission. Here's a couple quick points from a presentation I recently made on the topic of 'mission messaging':
Clear: Your message doesn't have to be complex or creative. In fact, there will be others that have almost an identical mission as yours. You message does need to be clear and for it to be simple it needs to be clear. What makes your mission unique is how you clear you describe it and how you go about accomplishing and communicating it to others.
Convincing: If you want to know how to convince yourself or others of your mission just replace the word 'convincing' with 'consistent'. If you consistently remind yourself and others of your mission it will be convincing. I do believe there are only two options for a convincing message: you are either under-communicating it or over-communicating it. There is no middle ground here.
Celebrate: There is an old leadership principle that what you punish you'll eliminate but what you celebrate you'll produce. Whether it's your children, your nurses, your interns, your Sunday school workers, or your athletes, I'd encourage you to stop and celebrate when the mission is accomplished by those that you are leading. You will plant seeds that will produce more of those celebrations.
ESPN College Basketball Analyst and practicing lawyer, Jay Bilas, in his book 'Toughness' describes an experience touring an army base in the middle east with U.S. soldiers. He asked them how they get their duties done in such extreme heat (it can sometimes get above 130 degrees). Their response describes well how important knowing your mission is. 'The circumstances don't matter, Mr. Bilas. We know our mission and we know we have to make mission.'
Do you know your mission? Will you make mission today?
‘Bite Down and Don’t Let Go’ is a collection of writings on
being intentional about life in a way that produces great persistence. Read
about it more here.
Dr. Chris Hobbs is an educational leader and Director
of Athletics at The King’s Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida. He’s earned a few
degrees and won some awards. He’s happily married to his high school
sweetheart and they have three teen age children. Life is messy and complicated
most of the time. You can follow him on Twitter
for all sorts of inspirational thoughts and good laughs.
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