Victory Has Defeated You

About a year a ago, I wrote a blog post that was derived around a statement from one of my favorite movies, The Dark Knight Rises, called "Darkness is Your Ally".  I'm one of those people that will watch my favorite movies over and over, and yesterday afternoon I popped the movie on as I fell in and out of a nap (I woke up early to watch a few of our athletes participate in a powerlifting meet). During the same scene in the movie when Batman fights Bane for the first time, and another statement stuck out to me. Batman had lost a great deal of his strength after not using his skills in recent years due to the fact that organized crime had been reduced a great deal and he wasn't needed. Noticing the lack of strength, Bane told Batman "Victory has defeated you." This simple statement led me to thinking about how that applies to all of us not only in coaching, but in our average daily lives in many different ways.

In coaching and athletics, it is very easy to be motivated when things aren't going our way. If we lose a game that we feel we should have won, have a disappointing season, or are coming back from an injury. There is a natural drive that is present in times of despair. But what happens to that motivation when we experience success? Nick Saban talked frequently after his teams at Alabama won the National Championship that repeating as champions was the hardest thing to do in athletics because those in the organization become satisfied. They don't feel the need to do the things they had to do the year before to have the same result thus weakening themselves and leading to future disappointment.  The organization that continually challenges themselves to make improvements and seek areas of weakness will have the best chance of staying on top. The first statement Saban made to his returning team shortly after winning the 2011 National Championship, was "You are NOT the National Champions. Some of you played on a National Championship team, but THIS team is not the National Champions. A Champion is yet to be determined this season."

As coaches, it is easy to become comfortable with winning, and we fail to take into account that the same teams we have enjoyed success against are hungry to experience what we have enjoyed. Perhaps we don't approach our offseason workouts with the same tenacity, make changes to our playbook that could give us a strategic advantage, or hold players to the same standards in practice and preparation. During the powerlifting competition yesterday, I saw a few players from a school on our schedule that we have beaten the last two years, this year the game being closer than the first. I have to say that I was impressed with the physical improvements of their players. You could see the hunger in their approach. It was a feeling familiar to me. In my first season as a head coach, our team went 1-8 and it was easy to point out and explain to our players the areas that we need to improve upon. We only lost one game this season, although a crucial one) and have not lost a league game in over two years. Without a doubt that is a blessing, but if our organization doesn't use that success properly to springboard our program and continually raise the bar then it will most assuredly become a curse. We cannot allow our success to make us weak or we can find ourselves back in the same situation we have risen from.

How does this affect us in our daily lives? How does it affect those not involved in athletics? There are many things in life that we take for granted. In the early stages of a relationship with our spouse or significant other, we constantly tell them how important they are to us, but as time goes on perhaps we may not remind them enough or show the same affection we did when the relationship was new and fresh. A CEO or salesman becomes comfortable when the numbers look good and fails to anticipate the problems that lie ahead or fix cracks in the organization. A teacher whose classes scores high on states assessments might not be as creative in their instructional methods the following year. My wife and I recently bought a house and couldn't be happier. I quickly found that it was more difficult to stay motivated and was more apt to flop down on the couch and flip on the tv in the "man cave" I'd never had. Remembering the sacrifices that we had both made to improve our situation is the best way to keep us grounded.

Good or great? What is it that you seek? Will you settle for a good, normal life or will you strive to reach your dreams and aspirations? Are you satisfied with an average marriage or relationship with your children? Is your team comfortable with a winning season, winning a couple of playoff games, or winning a championship? Though you have enjoyed the spoils of victory, life does not had out warrantees of how long success or happiness will last. It has an uncanny ability to pull us down just when we begin to become comfortable with our accomplishments. The difference between organizations and people that enjoy and sustain greatness in any facet of their lives is in their ability recognize the areas of weakness and build upon them. They seek new ideas and innovative ways to present information. They hold a certain level of paranoia that constantly reminds them of the possibility of their demise. Our world is a competitive environment. Everyone is reaching for something better. Keep practicing your developmental skills. Stay sharp. Keep reaching higher. If you are experiencing great success in your personal or professional life, don't forget the process of what got you where you are. Don't forget the lessons you have learned. Don't take for granted those around you that helped you get to where you are. Don't let victory defeat you.