Lessons learned from “Undefeated” Coach Bill Courtney

Want a great metaphor for every aspect of your life?  Listen to Bill Courtney’s take on lessons learned working with the Manassas High School football team as a volunteer head coach.  The story has been told in a grand way by the Academy winning Documentary, “Undefeated”.  I was privileged to hear Mr. Courtney share some of his story first hand, as the Classic Legacy team member that attended the Memphis Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Friday,  April, 21st.

Are You a Turkey Person?

Do you approach solving a problem in your community or in your life with a onetime swing at a solution?  Coach Courtney was told by a player on the Manassas team that the rest of the players were waiting to see if he was a “Turkey Person” before they were willing to trust him.  Was Courtney like those folks that show up in the inner city neighborhoods  once a year and hand out a turkey or a bag of food, and then disappear until next year?  Only when the students saw that Courtney was with them for the long haul were they ready to buy into his focus on commitment, discipline, and character.

Do you work well with the untalented as well as with the talented?

Do you look beyond the immediate flash of someone’s lack of skill and try to find what they can do well, rather than focus on what they cannot do?  As a coach Courtney saw that his job was to love and respect all of the players, not just the stars.

And finally, does the example you set, hopefully as a person of character, commitment, and discipline survive the test of authenticity?

What authenticators are watching us?  Are they our children, our colleagues, our faith family or our community at large? The best authenticators for Bill Courtney, were those football players, watching to see how Courtney responded to the losses as well as the wins.  Courtney passed the test.  He developed a relationship with the football team at Manassas that allowed for success on and off the field.

I had the luck of sitting at the table with some of the teachers and staff of Manassas High School.  These folks practice the same commitment, to the students in their care, every day of their work lives.  What about the rest of us?  Do we approach our personal lives, our lives as members of the greater Memphis Community with this sort of grit and determination?  It is a valid question to ask ourselves.  As for me, I absolutely do not want to be known as a Turkey person.