“Average players want to be left alone. Good players want to be coached. Great players want to be told the truth.”—Nick Saban
Nick Saban coaches football. (He coaches football extremely well.) I would hire him as a CEO.
Greatness is not genetic. Greatness is indeed a willingness to hear the truth and to act on it. Greatness is a work ethic.
The above quote can be applied across society. “Players” could as well be “employees”, “students”, etc. I would even go as far as to substitute “players” with “leaders”. Even great leaders have at sometime been led (and the truly great continue to seek the mentorship of other coaches). Great leaders want to hear the truth.
If we want to be truly (extra)ordinary at what we do, we need to be coachable, and, moreover, we have to be open to—that is, openly seeking—the truth about our performance. We all have weaknesses, in addition to our strengths. We must seek continual growth (kaizen) in all dimensions of our lives.
Seek mentorship from those who will be honest with you. Be honest with yourself. Accept (i.e., seek) “constructive criticism”.
Each year, as a faculty member, I am required to observe another professor’s teaching and to be observed in one of my classes. While I appreciate the input, it is rarely constructive. It is more an exercise is patting one another on the back. As such, it is a waste of time. At a previous institution, I received a two-page review of one of my Anatomy lessons by my department chair. I thought I gave a pretty good lesson until I read his evaluation. It was the most rewarding observation/evaluation I have received in 20-plus years of teaching. He made me a better teacher by being truthful.
I try to give the same focus to my students. I see exams not as evaluations of what my students know. Rather, I see them as opportunities to educate them on what they don’t know. It is often hard to accept by students who have been taught by teachers who seek to protect (instead of build) their “self-esteem”. I see it as preparing “greatness”. I hope it moves the student from average to good to great.
Seek the truth about yourself. Jack Nicholson was wrong. You can handle the truth. Be (extra)ordinary!
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!
Image: https://yellowhammernews.com/time-nick-saban-chewed-press-conference/