"Great teammates raise the energy in the room" My favorite team to watch in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament this year was the Auburn Tigers. I have absolutely no affiliation to the school but I thought they were the most exciting team to watch. Their head coach Bruce Pearl was interviewed on ESPN after one of their big wins and spoke about their backup point guard J’Von McCormick. He said, “J’Von stayed right and stayed ready. So many guys on the bench complain about their minutes, or not starting, and are looking to transfer somewhere else, and J’Von said I’m going to be Jarod Harpers (the starting point guards) best backup, and then we started playing them together, and sometimes patience can be rewarded.”
I honestly believe that the teams that advance the farthest in the tournament are the ones that everyone on the team embraces their role. Everyone is a good teammate. Everyone trusts each other and the coaching staff. Everyone is willing to do what the team needs when the team needs it. Earlier in the week, I shared on social media Brad Steven’s letter to his daughter on leadership. He simply stated, “be a good teammate”. One of his sub points was great teammates raise the energy in the room. To all the athletes out there, be honest with yourself and ask, do you raise the energy in the room? To all the coaches out there, do you raise the energy in the room? To all you moms and dads out there, do you raise the energy in the room? To all the _______ out there, do you raise the energy in the room? My challenge to all of us this week is to be patient and often we will be rewarded (This one is hard for me). Also, be a great teammate and reflect on how you can raise the energy and lift others up around you.
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“The expert at anything was once a beginner.” When I taught kindergarten, I had a sign in my room that said, “The expert in anything was once a beginner”. I love this truth and honestly, it’s easier for a kindergartener to believe this than for a grown adult. Over time we look around us and start to believe that we can no longer learn new things or that it’s easier for others around us. The truth is, all “experts” at anything started at the same spot as you! So...why did this truth come to mind this week??? Danah thought it would be a good idea to try the “5 days old picture” with our new little bundle of joy. The one where you place an object next to your baby on a nice blanket with great lighting and snap the perfect photo. I agreed to the idea, helped Danah setup the photo shoot and this picture perfectly summarizes our time. Two days later we had a professional photographer take some photos and the pictures turned out quite a bit different...but I’ll let you be the judge. I was amazed at our photographers' ability to think creatively and capture amazing photos that we will cherish for the rest of our life!
Here are some universal things that I noticed the expert did that applies to most experts:
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