The Path from "Good" to "Great"

The Path from “Good” to “Great”

Reflecting on my daughter’s softball team’s performance (won three games against teams we should beat, but lost two games against high quality teams—one of which beat us 16-0—they were really good!)  this past weekend I have started to think about the path from being “good” to being “great”. One of my favorite quotes that I have on a plaque in my office is by Theodore Roosevelt (If you don’t know who he is consider this a history lesson!)

“It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose faced is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy course; who at the bests, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he/she fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his/her place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victor or defeat.”

I do not believe the path from “Good” to “Great” is as much our physical ability as it is our mental and emotional state. I know many a player who had a blazing fastball or could hit the ball a mile, but in the moment(s) to define their own “greatness” could not make the play or worse yet would crumple under the weight of the moment. I am a huge Kansas City Royals fan. No one remembers the World Series last year that Alex Gordon’s batting average was .222 or that Eric Hosmer hit .190 (That means they failed 80% of the time!). They are both remembered for a moment in which they seized “greatness” for themselves and their team. In the 9^th inning of Game 1, Alex Gordon, the same Alex Gordon who was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts at this point in the game, hit a 97-mph sinker off Jeurys Familia, one of the best relievers in the game who had only given up one homerun since the middle of the season, into the grassy area behind the center field fence to tie the game (Lily and I were there! It was awesome!). In a similar manner in Game 5, Eric Hosmer, who was also 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts, hit a double off of Matt Harvey to score a run and put himself in a position to make the dash from third base that will live in World Series infamy. Both of these men experienced the “triumph of high achievement” in the moment that defined both of their moment of “greatness” after multiple failures.

I believe these two examples provide valuable insight into the path from “Good” to “Great” and the importance of the mental and emotional state. I hear the chatter many times before games about how “good” a player is, how hard she throws, or how good she can hit. That is our first mistake because it is not about how “good” the other player is but how WE respond. Our mindset should be directed toward the challenge and not how good the other player or team is. Who cares if she throws 62 mph or has hit a homerun in the last three games. Our mindset has to be that we want and desire a challenge against really good competition because to be “great” we have to beat really good competition. We, as a team and personally, have to find a way to be successful when the probability of success may not be that high. We have to have the attitude that we are going to find a way to beat you regardless of how good you are or how good I am doing/feeling that particular day. You may have struck me out twice but you have to have the mindset that I am going to find a way to get to you the next time! This requires us to learn from our failures, “when we err and come up short again”, we have to have the attitude that we are not going to let it negatively affect our next at bat but that we learned something that will help us win the next battle. Alex Gordon learned from Sal Perez’s at-bat that Jeurys Familia liked to quick pitch on the first pitch. He was prepared for the moment and the rest is history! Bottomline, stop chattering about the other team and how “good” they are and start focusing on how you are going to be “great” in the moment. It’s a change in mindset: Prepare for that moment!

Eric Hosmer’s dash to home in the 9^th inning of Game 5 defines the fearlessness one has to have to move from “good” to “great”. I cannot count on one hand the number of plays in which we “feared” greatness. Instead of running in to make a difficult catch, making a throw to make a difficult out, battling with two strikes, or not throwing harder because we feared letting it go--we settled by making the safe play which in turn hurt us as a team. Greatness requires taking chances. You cannot attain greatness if you are worried about failing (e.g. missing the catch, striking out, throwing a ball). Go back to the quote from Theodore Roosevelt, “If he/she fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his/her place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victor or defeat.” Yes, there are times in which you will fail, but do it while attempting to be “great”. There will be many failures on the path to greatness, but embrace those failures. Embrace the opportunities to be great. Embrace the opportunity to make a difficulty play, or the opportunity to hit with runners in scoring position, or the opportunity to pitch the team to the championship. Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player of all time, made only 50% (9 out of 18) of his game winning shots in playoff games. That means 50% of the time Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of our time, “failed” when a high-stakes playoff game was on the line. His team lost because he “failed” to make the game winning shot! Michael Jordan, however, is not defined by his failures, but by his successes. He made 50% of those shots—shots he took! Bottomline, you cannot be “great” if you don’t take the shot! At times you will fail! As all these examples show it is how you react to failures that defines “greatness”. Take the shot, swing the bat, make the throw, throw hard, go hard to make the catch so that “greatness” is a possibility!