Tradition

I love college football, and while I love the game and the X’s and O’s my true love comes out of the pageantry and passion that is displayed each and every Saturday.  On an every deeper level I love the traditions that comes out of each individual school.  These traditions are unique and special, and every school does it in just their own way.  I have been lucky to travel to many college football venues across the country, and one of the best places has always been my home team Penn State.  Success with Honor and doing in it the right way starts in Happy Valley, and I think this video displays that very well.

While it is hard to create special traditions, and most of the ones we are familiar with are decades old, these are the things I always try to instill.  Putting the environment into place where honest deep felt traditions can flourish, is what puts specific places over the top.  When I move to a place or work at an institution, they need to have traditions and honors I believe in.  Hopefully within my time there I can honor the traditions already in place and create some new ones!

Cannot White Out the Passion

The 2008 Footbal Poster calling Penn State the Greatest Show in College Football, and featuring a White Out!

This weekend I traveled to Pennsylvania to attend the Penn State versus Alabama football game.  College football is one of my favorite sports to watch and talk about, and definitely my favorite one to attend in person.  While the actual game is exciting, one of my favorite parts of the experience is the tradition, rituals, and passion exhibited by fans.  I always hope to bring full levels of passion to the things I commit too, and when I am at a college football game the feeling of passion by the athletes, coaches, and fans is such an energizer, and a reminder of what pure passion looks like.

Alabama and Penn State are in the top ten of football programs with huge well traveling fan bases and a long tradition of excellence to back it up.  Last year I was lucky enough to attend this rivalry game in Tuscaloosa, and thoroughly enjoyed the Tide’s return trip to Happy Valley.  It was great to see close up the similar tradition of fans tailgating, playing traditional hard nose football, pride in legendary coaches who go about things the right way, and positive respect for each team.  Watching both sets of fans treat each other with so much respect was an amazing thing to behold.  This is what every sports rivalry should embrace, respect and honor of each other, followed by a hard fought game to find a victor.

I have been to numerous games at Beaver Stadium over the past 14 years, and this was probably the second must pumped up I have seen the crowd.  After a reshuffle of the seats, a move in the student section, and a recent push to bring more fun to pregame and during game elements, this was the second loudest I have seen the stadium.  Being a part of a throng of 107,000 people screaming their lungs out, and singing along to songs that have been played for over 100 years is such an adrenaline rush and a humbling experience.  It is always fun to be a part of something that has existed long before you were around, and something that will exist long after you are gone.  But the only way for those things to continue is to bring passion to them in the present, something that definitely occurred on Saturday.

This weekend helps me bring passion back to my everyday life.  It’s a reminder that I need to be committed and passionate about the things that I am involved with.  This energy and excitement is the thing that pushes organizations and businesses forward.  It does not take 107,000 people wearing white and jumping up and down to show passion.  It can be a few people pushing a good idea forward, but it is that same energy, excitement and passion that will make initiatives successful!

JoePa and Coach K Talk Leadership

Coach Paterno gets carried off the field after his 400th win

I am a huge Penn State fan, I have been all of my life, so I admit that I have a bit of a bias for the Nittany Lions.  In my leadership philosophies I also lean a bit towards coaches and their leadership styles.  I am a huge sports fan, but it goes beyond that, I think coaches needs to display great leadership skills, they need to lead a team of athletes who typically display strong personalities, most of them are high in the strength of competition, and there are often statistical and natural leaders on the team which add a difficult dynamic to manage.  So it takes a high-capacity of leadership skills to manage these individuals, in an environment where winning and losing is black and white, and at a NCAA Division 1 or Professional level the stakes are high.

I have spent a good bit of time reading leadership books by coaches.  I really enjoy The Carolina Way, by Dean Smith, books on the leadership of legendary UCLA coach John Wooden, and many others.  So I am very excited for this upcoming television event being featured on ESPN, because it brings one of my favorite coaches Joe Paterno to the screen.  Sadly it will also feature Coach Mike Krzyzewski of Duke, just kidding I can admit he is a great leader and coach, I mean he has an olympic gold medal!  This year JoePa reached victory 400 and Coach K reached victory 900 and between them they have 81 years of experience, that’s a lot of time being the leader of student athletes.  I am excited to see the spectacle around this, and to hear what these two legendary coaches have to say about leadership!

Check out this article on ESPN about the event, and tune in on June 30 at 8 p.m. ET to see “Difference Makers: Life Lessons with Paterno and Krzyzewski.”

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/27720/joepa-coach-k-to-talk-leadership-on-espn