I’m sitting in my hotel room in Madison, WI after a full day of prep and rehearsal for this years CrossFit Games, which kick off tomorrow.
This is my fifth year and I’ve seen quite a bit over the years as an athlete through college and now as a coach and judge.
There are people here who are dedicating their lives to achieving greatness.
Most of them will fail and have little or nothing to show for it. This doesn’t it me it lacks nobility.
It just means when it’s over it will truly be over. There is no long tail to their effort.
Because they are doing it alone.
Coach K and Bill Parcells are two of my favorite coaches in all of sports.
And it has NOTHING to do with their championships or Hall of Fame Players.
It has EVERYTHING to do with the amount of success that coaches under them have achieved.
Coach K has at least 10 former players now coaching in the NCAA and a couple more in the NBA.
Bill Parcells has more than 15 former assistant coaches that have gone on to take HEAD Coaching jobs in the NFL.
These are incredible statistics considering the competitive nature of the coaching landscape in those two worlds.
My dad has similar stats and it’s something I’ve always admired about him as a coach. In my opinion sharing ALL of your knowledge is the sign of a true teacher. True teachers share enough information that their students can surpass them if they choose to work hard enough.
I’ve seen leaders and teachers who held people back out of fear. Nobody liked them.
True teachers send the elevator back down as they try to ascend to the next floor. They understand that they play a small role in the future success of others and they do it happily.
They understand that a team’s success isn’t attributed to one person. Everyone plays their part.
And if the team achieves any amount of success they have obligation to share that success with the team.
That’s our responsibility.
If I never had a coach make it to the same level as me and if I never have a coach leave and open a successful CrossFit Affiliate I will consider myself a failure.
That’s my responsibility.
I want to be a good leader and a good teammate. Only time will tell that tale.
Today I got an email that made me incredibly proud to have been a small part of a bigger story.
Cassidy was offered a position to wear the coveted red shirt as a CFHQ Seminar Staff member.
There are fewer than 200 in the world and it is THE gold standard for coaching in the CrossFit community.
He has worked for five years and put in thousands of hours of coaching and undergone countless hours of evaluation and feedback.
This is his achievement and his only.
I’m just happy to be associated with it.
I”ll keep sending the elevator back down as long as I’m on it.
I hope you will to.
Congrats brother!
Fern
