The result should never overshadow the process

When Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel wanted to talk coaching and philosophies, he turned not to another football coach, but to a D-III swimming coach at tiny Kenyon College by the name of Jim Steen.

Last spring, the 60-year-old Coach Steen, whose swimmers have won 47 D-III team titles in his 33 years at Kenyon, spent an afternoon with Coach Tressel, who "sat in Steen’s office and scribbled pages of notes one afternoon as Steen shared his philosophies."

A NY Times article today describes Coach Steen this way:

[He] bears a resemblance to the actor John Lithgow and stars as Kenyon’s version of the absentminded professor. He is 6 feet 5 inches but walks with a slouch, as if he cannot bear to tower over others. His work attire is shorts and flip-flops, but he exudes a formality that is rooted in good manners. During the season, which runs from September through March, Steen frequently misplaces his cellphone or his eyeglasses, and he often forgets to eat. But his focus on his swimmers is so keen, it cuts through the chlorine haze of their lives.

According to one Kenyon professor, "it’s the intangibles that set Coach Steen apart. He has this ability to connect with people, to figure out what makes them tick. He’s a genius when it comes to that."

Though swimming is an individual pursuit, Steen treats it as a team sport. He preaches to his athletes that everybody has a redeeming quality; as teammates, their job is to find the positive in one another and let go of the rest.

“We need to be ready,” Steen said. “You guys as much as anybody will set the tone when we go into the conference meet.” He added, “We could not win it.”

Then he reiterated one of his simple truths: “Not winning the war is not nearly as bad as not winning the battles.”

As you might tell from that quote, Coach Steen "is a big believer that the result should never overshadow the process. It is why he rarely mentions his 29 consecutive national men’s team championships or his 22 overall women’s crowns in his 33 years at Kenyon. (He arrived in 1975, and has taken two one-year sabbaticals.)"

It's his belief that "the pursuit of a single goal often inhibits the risk-taking and creative thinking necessary for personal growth."

The NY Times article tells of how, "in one mass e-mail message" to his swimmers recently, "he wrote, 'Find a place within yourself where success and failure don’t matter, a place where you can engage in battle without compromise.'"

Another of Steen’s simple truths comes from the Bible: The exalted will be humbled and the humble will be exalted. The road to success, he will tell you, has no neon signs to herald your arrival.

One of Coach Steen's swimmers talks about one lesson her coach taught her that's impacted her the most:

“The one that’s really stuck with me,” she said, is, “you can approach anything two ways: under a threat or for the challenge.”

What did Coach Tressel take away from his meeting with Coach Steen?

“One of the things that jumped out at me was Jim’s passion for working to be certain that his young people reach their potential,” Tressel said. “It’s even agonizing for him the thought of that not occurring.”

Fear is what prevents people from growing

Aeneas Williams, an eight-time Pro Bowler who retired four years ago and today serves as a preacher in St. Louis, is described by his former coach Mike Martz as someone with "quiet confidence, unshakability, and resolve."

In this article, Coach Martz "said he found his conversations with Williams helpful, including one after the Rams lost the Super Bowl to the New England Patriots and began with an 0-5 record in 2002."

"I think what happens, as a head coach when you lose the Super Bowl, you come back and you're so intent on fixing it and going back and winning it, that, you know, I was just not myself," Martz said. [Aeneas] helped me understand that I was not the same coach or the same person I was in the past. He's one guy I trust completely to be absolutely honest with me."

The article describes how, "during a recent sermon at his nondenominational Christian church, Williams talked about how he didn't want to play for a new defensive coordinator, Buddy Ryan, before Ryan started coaching him in Arizona. Williams realized he had been scared the coach would make him cover standout players by himself, without a back-up. Ryan, Williams noted, coached him to his first All-Pro season."

"Fear is what causes people not to grow. But you never know it because it hides so well," said Williams.

While at Southern University, "one of his coaches was asked if Williams was good enough for the NFL. The coach said Williams probably wasn't fast enough, running a 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds."

So he got fast enough.

Williams started training with the fastest runner he knew from the track team and the other athlete's high school coach during school vacations.

In 1990, he had 11 interceptions, a tie for the most in the nation that season.

As a pro, Williams, who was named to the NFL's 1990 All-Decade Team, recorded 12 defensive touchdowns and is a member of the Arizona Cardinals' "Ring of Honor."

Coach as conductor

Came across a terrific passage last night in Lance Secretan's book "Inspire."

According to the author, it's a myth that all great leaders were also great strategists.

As he writes, "More than anything else, they found brilliant people and inspired them -- they focused on guiding the contribution of brilliance from others."

In fact, a great leader's "purpose with others is to lift their hearts, to make it easy for them to develop and implement a brilliant strategy."

Secretan uses an example to illustrate his point:

The first violinist of a symphony will generally more about playing the violin than the conductor will ever be able to learn during his lifetime.

However, the conductor is the keeper of the Cause. [His job] is to serve the violinist by providing any personal and professional support required, to help him or her grow and excel.

The leader's role is to guide the contribution of brilliance that lies waiting to be released from within us all. We are all yearning for infusion, not intrusion."

How failure leads to success

By now, you've likely seen replays of Michael Crabtree's catch that helped Texas Tech upset top-ranked Texas this past weekend.

What's interesting is that, last season, Crabtree -- one of the nation's best receivers -- failed on a similar play. As an article in today's Dallas paper puts it:

"Just as sure-handed as Michael Crabtree made the game-winning touchdown play last week over then-No. 1 Texas, last season, he did the exact opposite. When do-or-lose time came at Oklahoma State, he dropped the pass from Graham Harrell in the end zone with 19 seconds remaining."

Crabtree said he used that failure to help him get better.

"I watched that play in the summer because it was something I wanted to work on. Graham [Harrell] and I practiced that a lot. It was never about motivation, just me not wanting to make that same mistake again."

According to the article:

[Quarterback] Harrell said Monday that he remembered sitting in the locker room after the game, upset. Crabtree sat next to him, head bowed, just as upset.

"It was a big learning experience with us, and I think it really helped us get where we are," Harrell said. "We said if we're ever in that situation again, we don't want to be the ones that lose. We want to make the play. I think we really grew up that game."

Channeling competiveness in a postive way

Almost one year ago, the Tampa Bay Rays made a trade that included Matt Garza, a pitcher who "was 8-13 over parts of two seasons with Minnesota and was known for having a temper that could be as explosive as his fastball."

After an incident in June when Garza and a teammate "scuffled" in the dugout during a game against Texas, Garza went to Rays manager Joe Maddon and said, "I need help controlling my emotions." Coach Maddon contends "it was a huge turning point for him."

With the help of a sports psychologist:

"Garza learned to channel his competitiveness in more positive ways. For instance, when he needs to make an important pitch, Garza is apt to walk off the mound, remove his cap and read inspirational writings scrawled inside it."

The results were immediate and clearly contributed to the 24-year-old Garza earning ALCS MVP honors, the youngest pitcher ever to win the award.

Said one of Garza's teammates: "I've never seen a guy mature emotionally and professionally over the course of one season like this guy has done."

A mind once stretched has a difficult time going back to its original form

Philadelphia won the World Series last night, but according to Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon his team came away better for the experience it gained.

“A mind once stretched has a difficult time going back to its original form. I’ve always liked that. Everything about us has been stretched. I don’t think our guys are ever going to be satisfied going home in October again.

If you had been there to follow us closely and see what the culture was like two years ago and what it’s like now, the word is ‘remarkable,’ to be able to come that far that quickly.”

Coach Maddon added that it was less about the games and more about personal development:

"Beyond all of the stuff that happened on the baseball field, I am proudest of their growth as people."

Broadening a player's perspective

Sounds like a combination of playing on the U.S. Olympic team and maturity have helped change Chris Bosh for the better.

According to TOR coach Sam Mitchell:

"His practices are unbelievable, unbelievable. In the past, Chris would just come in ... not go through the motions but just do enough. Now, everything, every possession, every play is 100 percent all out.

I used to tell him all the time, the difference between Kevin Garnett and 95, 98 percent of the league is Kevin played like he practiced. And Chris is getting it, I think the light came on. I can't remember one play that he's taken off in the pre-season, not one. Not one time when he was supposed to run and get to a spot has he not done it.

Chris has got the talent to drag us along. I think he's realizing just how good he really is and how much better he can become."

Says Bosh:

"I've grown mentally as a player over this past summer and everything. Just being in that environment broadened my perspective a little bit, and I just started thinking more. That's what we've been talking about a lot in the past, he (Mitchell) is always telling me how I need to be a better practice player, make sure I push the guys and push myself to get better in practice. I really took that to heart and I'm really taking advantage of being healthy right now."