I flew to Florida a few weeks back to surprise my father for his 65th birthday. On the return flight to Minneapolis my seatmate was Richard Anderson, the CEO of Delta. I wasn’t sure what he was doing flying coach… but I recognized him from the safety video and asked if that was him. When we got to talking and he asked me what I did I told him I coached college wrestling. He perked up on that so I made the joke its not as cool as being a CEO and his reply to me was “of course it is, you’re the CEO of the wrestling team”. Our talk hit on a lot but I was really impressed that skills we talk about in the NWCA Leadership Academy are very similar to the points he hit on and that in his opinion the same skills that made him a success as the leader at United Healthcare are the same ones that will help him as the CEO of Delta.

I have been trying to read a lot lately so I asked Anderson to recommend a book and we spent some time talking about good books. This wasn’t the most memorable part of the talk to me but it became a great deal more important later on.

Anderson is very much a self-made man and when I read his biography I was even more impressed with him. He grew up on the Island of Galveston, Texas. His parents worked blue collar jobs for the oil industry and he has a similar blue collar path. His parents died of cancer when he was a freshman at Texas Tech and he transferred home to the University of Houston and raised his siblings while putting himself through college and law school. He started in law as a prosecutor in Houston but when he wanted a better financial footing for his family he applied for a job at Continental Airlines. From there he grew into a corporate leader and was first the CEO at United Healthcare before being brought back into the air industry to lead Delta in the post Northwest merger era as the largest airline in the world.

When I got home I sent Mr. Anderson a quick note thanking him for the talk. Today, a package from Fed Ex showed up in my office… enclosed was a note from Mr. Anderson and a copy of a book “All Hands on Deck: 8 Essential Lessons for Building a Culture of Ownership”. He had remembered the book talk. So now I have something to read on our first trip of the season!

Pretty awesome experience!

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Be positive – So many things in this world tell young people they cannot do something. So many forces tell young men that they are wrong. As coaches we can help them see the natural tenancies that they have to achieve great things and help them focus on those. We must set a positive can do culture in our programs and make it happen!

Be disciplined – As coaches we must model this. If we show up for practice unprepared what are we teaching our athletes about how to show up for their jobs? Will you expect them to show up for matches, practices, or even class if you do not show up prepared. Will you expect them to be disciplined enough to make weight if you are not disciplined enough to be on time? Can you put off present satisfaction for future reward? You constantly have to talk with your athletes and help them understand the need for discipline if you want them to have it. It is perhaps the hardest thing in the world to be disciplined but it is one thing that I have learned can set you apart.

Be patient – As a coach we all want to win but there are building blocks and steps we must take to get there. I once saw a coach berate a walk on for losing to a top 8 ranked wrestler by a fluke pin. The question I wanted to ask the coach was when he came into your program what did you expect him to do against those guys? In 12 months did you expect him to go from not qualifying for the state tournament to a champion? Did you think you would ever even see him score a takedown at that level of competition? Nothing really happens overnight. There are small step and when they are put together is when improvement shows. Being positive helps you put together a plan and steps, discipline helps you do the work to achieve the steps, and patience keeps you from getting discouraged.

This is something I am going to think of in my coaching and helping to motivate my athletes. What do you think?

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