Category Archives: Sports

My basketball team is losing a lot, more so this year then the program ever has in recent memory. Being at the helm of the ship, I will take a lot of personal responsibility. Among the thousands of definitions of leadership, I think the one that is most applicable to team sports is “to allow and promote team members to fulfill their potential.” Unlike any other team activity, sports is the only one where the team truly needs each and every member of a 12 man squad to contribute. You occasionally will hear of a player who “took over the game” but those instances are rare. From the seemingly trivial – making sure water is ready on the bench during timeouts – to the very real and practical on the court, everyone needs to be giving 100% or else the whole thing falls apart. Unlike, say, cross-country, a basketball team lives and dies based on every person’s effort. This makes the experience both exhilarating and frustrating.

Losing – be it games, deals, employees, or whatever – can always be taken in two ways. Do you learn something from it or not. In my opinion, you can’t be an entrepreneur without being competitive. If you don’t feel nervous before something important, and don’t temporarily feel like shit if you don’t win, then you don’t care enough. True competitors, though, do not let the emotions of a win or loss overtake the most important thing which is careful attention to why certain things turned out they way they did.

A hard lesson that my team and I are discovering is that hard work doesn’t always equate to success. A lot of adults tell kids “Keep on working hard and you can be/do anything.” Ding ding ding – it’s REALITY time! Working hard is a critical factor and should be framed as the only factor that YOU can control. If something outside your control goes haywire, well, shit happens.

Last night, I watched a DVD for pleasure for the first time in awhile – Friday Night Lights – based on the popular book and true story. It is a must-see for anyone who is interested in how crazy high school football in West Texas is. The movie put my athletic experiences in perspective, as my life (unlike the students in the movie) does not start and end with basketball.

I always love talking to adults who played high school sports and listen to them reminince about Friday night games, the big crowds, the close games that went the other way, the ref who blew the call in the 4th quarter. I love it because I know am I living those experiences right now and to hear people talk about their memories it helps me think about what kind of memories do I want to create right now.

Last year, I was the only sophomore on the varsity basketball team who started and got big minutes. I also was chosen to the 2nd Team All League group. These two things prompted the coach to name me co-captain of the team along with another senior this year. This is a very unusual move as juniors are rarely captains if there are other seniors on the team. But, I know I earned it, and I know that I will be able to be a strong leader on the team.

It is great to get back into the daily basketball world after being immersed in the business world since March. In the business world, people say “Let’s punt on this point and bring it up in the next presentation” or “We need a score here or else this deal will go into overtime.” It seems like every business situation could be compared to a game of ‘hoops or football or soccer. I like when people use a sports analogy – hey, people understand things better when you talk in a lingo that they appreciate…a basic tenet of oral anthropology.

My co-captain position on this year’s team will also allow me to apply some of the leadership lessons I’ve accumulated over the years. Beacuse of the nature of my company and my current role in it, it is not always easy for me to read a great leadership article and then apply it the very next day. Over the next four months, I will be able to do that.

Like in any business environment, there are substantial interpersonal issues which need to be flushed out. Egos getting in the way. People pissed about playing time. One person is pissed that I was named captain and is trying to systematically undermine my credibility. Over the past week I’ve been meeting with the coaches and my co-captain to finalize the rosters. Today, with the team set, we will be doing a goal-setting exercise.

I do need to be cautious not to be toooo business like in my approach this year for the team. Occassionally friends from school will say “Jeeze Ben, stop taking such a business-like attitude.” My automatic reaction to anything is to make sure everyone is really organized, everyone is communicating, milestones, goals, progress, etc etc. This approach is not always congruent to how people in school approach projects which is usually: First, procrastinate. Second, procrastinate. Third, and most important, procrastinate.

Over the next four months I may share some of my experiences as I work to create a close-knit team and a team that achieves excellence on the court.

When I was 10 or so I really wanted to go fishing. I don’t know why, but it was always something I’d wanted to do. Finally, my godfather agreed to take me on his next trip. Before we were to go, he died of cancer, and I spoke about his promise to take me fishing at his memorial service. Today, I finally got to try my casting at some trout up near Napa Valley with 5 or 6 friends from school and our Outdoor Ed director Chris. It was raining the whole 2.5 hour drive up and back, but out on the lake and river there was no rain. It was nice. How many fish did we get? Let’s not get into that (it was my first time). After a couple hours at this one lake we were heading back to the van to go onto the next spot when we came across some bikers who were resting. We asked the two women where they were biking to/from. They were 70 miles into a “century” ride. One of the ladies asked, “Want to see my raspberry?” I didn’t know what that meant. Chris said “Yeah, let’s see it!” She proceeded to pull down her pants to reveal her entire left butt cheek with a huge bruise. We were stunned. “I saw a little more than a raspberry there!” Chris said. Ah, the great outdoors.