The Power of the Human Dimension

The chief incalculable in the course of battle is the human will. This is why every year we witness what are referred to as upsets. You may have experienced a few throughout your athletic life. I have been very fortunate to experience many as a coach and so I reflect on the underlying factors that may have contributed. The one glaring characteristic of a team that consistently overachieves is everyone is thinking the same way from top to bottom. This is a by product of constant open communication between coaches and players and everyone understanding and buying in to the process goals. Leadership within the team is always an important factor as we all understand but more importantly is the leadership through adversity. Some of the constants that comprise the myriad of adversity are disgruntled players not happy with game reps, a number of team members who are distracted with social involvements that impact accountability, a disconnect with trust and of course, losing games.

An important question to ask ourselves is what are the commonalities and shortfalls of the player relative to character, consistency and peculiarities and that is straight from the Marine Corps War Fighting Skills Manual.

We are concerned with the strength and will of individuals under extreme duress. If they are mentally prepared and armored with principles that have been deeply drilled into the fiber of each member of the team, your team always has a chance. If they are physically prepared and conditioned to believe that because fatigue is the great equalizer along with the fact that they are insured that they have outworked any and every opponent, they always have a chance. The principle of self discipline is power because mistakes are minimized. The principle of accountability is power because the individual can trust every man in the foxhole. The principle of love is power because passion and emotional commitment can take you a long way. Principles are like lighthouses. You can only break yourself against them.