I was talking with an Amazon manager yesterday. As I spoke with him about the kind of hires they are looking for, something stuck out to me. He said they were now looking to hire character over competence. Not that competence isn’t important, but the character seems to be missing many times with many people, so they are looking for people who stand out with their character. This also made me think of an elite coaches' quote the other day in an interview. Jurgen Klopp is one of the best managers in world soccer right now. He coaches at Liverpool F.C. one of the most storied soccer clubs in the world. During an interview talking about transfers (trades) he said,”
“It's outstandingly important because life is always easy in the moment when everything is right -- the weather is good, family is good -- then you function in your work too. Staying on track in [difficult] moments is what you need character for -- being ready to fight in difficult circumstances, ready to fight with enemies in yourselves.For all people -- not just in football -- it's the most important thing. What I don't like is too often in life people say: 'That's my character, I cannot change' because most of the things we can change. You can develop, even in this department. But for me, it's really important. [Players] need to be good -- very, very good -- but they [need to be] ready to make the next step and not to stay in the moment they are at this time.”
WOW! What a testament to the importance of character inside of sport and out! When we talk about our athletes being more, this is what we are talking about. The percentages of our youth athletes who will become elite are small, BUT… the amount of youth athletes who are going to excel in life is high. A recent study from Cornell University shows that kids who play sports in high school are better employees.
When talking with other parents around me, I am starting to be asked if I am going to put my 4 year old son into sports. I ask them why they think it is important for kids to be involved in sports. Almost everytime, whether somebody has a faith background or not, they say, it teaches them life skills. Teamwork, perseverance, humility, being teachable, and many other amazing character traits are listed as reasons for why they are puttnig their child into athletics. Very rarely, do I hear, so they can win.
Parents want their kids to have good character and see athletics as a means by which to teach them. Good coaches see the same thing. They want to win, and they strive for their athletes to do their best to win (a good character trait), but they don’t focus on the win, they don’t put their identity as a coach in whether they are winning trophies year after year. They look at the character of the kids who are coming out of their programs and looking at how those athletes have grown, in their athletics and as young men/women.
This will have lasting impact in their athletes life, outside of sports. This is the intersection of athletics and character, a place where we can speak into somebodies life and change it forever, even if they stop playing the game. There will be blog posts about HOW to make this happen, how to struggle alongside young athletes as they move through this intersection. This post, is specifically discussing the importance of teaching character through athletics. Let’s keep going, keep coaching and focusing on helping athletes become more...