“The one thing that I know is that you win with good people.”
– Don Shula
I’ve been unusually contemplative this week, turning things over in ways that feel different from my normal pattern of analysis. I am keenly aware that time is marching on even though each day is bleeding into the next. I find myself vacillating between forgetting which day of the week it is and being shocked by the news of the world into higher states of consciousness. One moment I’m drifting through the day on autopilot, comfortably numb in the routine of busyness, and the next I’m jolted awake by some insight that demands my full attention. That oscillation between sleepwalking and sudden clarity is what I want to talk about, because I think most of us live there without naming it.
It seems trite and selfish in the midst of a global crisis to spend time focusing on myself, but this question of my purpose keeps resonating through my thought process. Since I was very young, I’ve made a deliberate effort to monitor my internal dialogue. The narrative in my head has been a source of suffering at times, but also great insight. I share this with you because it’s my hope that each of you uses this gift of extra time to seek answers to some lingering questions in your life. Open the door as the moments of awareness present themselves and just sit with the questions.
As a young teenager, I was very interested in philosophy and religion. Call it divine intervention or good fortune, I met a man named Don Williams who became a mentor and a second father to me. Don has a Ph.D. in world religions, a Master of Divinity, has written a dozen books, and wrote the articles of faith for the Vineyard Church. He became famous as a young pastor in the late sixties for giving a sermon called the “The Gospel According to Bob Dylan,” which drew over 3,500 attendees to the Hollywood Presbyterian Church. If you’re interested in learning more about Don, check out documentary on Amazon called Salt and the Light.
The reason that I bring up Don is that I spent a lot of time with him contemplating the meaning of life and how various religions approached the concepts of enlightenment and salvation. As a teenager, Don played a critical role in shaping my thinking and how to consider larger life questions. We had a very Socratic relationship; he would give me books to read and then we’d talk about them. There is consistently a thematic approach across all these religions and books which is the idea of life as a practice. A practice being a set of meditations/prayers, a demonstration of values, daily activities, and habits. The point being is that you set your life’s course and incorporate the concept of practice into your daily life. More easily said than done for sure, but it has been a guiding life strategy for me. It’s another reason I wrote out the company values for my company before I even began building the business plan.
The people I admire most in my life, my heroes, are people who have struggled to live their life as a practice in service of a higher calling.
Purpose tells you where to aim. Practice is how you walk there every day. Don Williams gave me the first; Don Shula showed me the second.
This same principle applies to our professional lives. Every day at work is a practice. Every project, every client conversation, every decision is an opportunity to pursue excellence. You don’t achieve perfection, but the discipline of defining what great looks like and then pursuing it relentlessly is what separates the good from the exceptional. The organizations and people I admire most don’t stumble into greatness. They practice it, every single day.
This week Don Shula passed away. He was the coach of the Miami Dolphins and led the team to the only undefeated season in NFL history. It’s an unparalleled achievement in a team sport. Certainly, this accomplishment is the headline of his life’s work, but it belies the mythology of success in our culture today. Success is not found. It’s not luck, and it’s not the façade presented on social media. Success is a way of life, it’s a practice.
Don Shula presented at a Microsoft event I attended. It was a great speech, all about the pursuit of perfection and the importance of practice… practice, practice, practice. When most NFL teams were practicing once per day, Shula had the Dolphins practicing three times a day. I was thrilled to hear from him but not as thrilled as my mentor from Microsoft, Jason, who grew up in Miami and has been a lifelong Dolphins fan. Jason had the honor of escorting Don Shula and his wife throughout the event.
My friend from Microsoft, Jason, shared a story with me this week that sums up the essence of Shula’s life and the main point of this essay. The speech kicked off at 8 AM sharp and there was a rehearsal scheduled for 5 AM. A Vice President from HP was going to introduce Shula, it was all written out and very specific. Sure enough, 5 AM came rolling around and the VP was a no show. Shula lost his temper and demanded that someone go get the VP out of bed and get him to the stage ASAP to practice. Disheveled and barely awake the VP arrived and gave a very poor first dry run. The VP had clearly not practiced and was expecting to just wing it. Shula angrily turned to the team of people prepping the event, including Jason and said, “and that is why we fucking practice!”
We all face challenges in our lives. The point of practice is not to start when the challenge arrives, by then it’s too late. Practice is what you do every day so that when difficulty comes, you’re ready. You may be practicing something you’ve done all your life, or something entirely new, and it’s frustrating to not get it quite right. That’s not what matters. It’s the effort, determination, and dedication to a constant pursuit of excellence that counts. Practice is a way of life.
Let’s go be great.