| |
I attended the Tennessee-Florida men’s basketball game the other day. Thompson-Boling arena was rocking with rabid Vol’s fans regaling in Tennessee’s convincing victory against the former #1 ranked Gators. During the halftime, I had the opportunity to look around at the arena. One thing stands out very clearly at Thompson-Boling: the profusion of Lady Vol national championship banners. It is like walking into UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion, except the banners all belong to the women’s program and not the men’s.
The Lady Vol’s are coached by the legendary Pat Summit, the winningest coach in NCAA history. In her 33 years at Tennessee she has won every award imaginable. Here are a few of the numbers:
- 940 wins
- 100% graduation rate
- 14 Conference Championships
- 7 NCAA Coach of the Year Awards
- 6 NCAA Championships
- 1 Naismith Coach of the Century Award
Coach of the Century. How do you top that?
I wondered how would it feel to be the men’s coach in an atmosphere like that? Would you be intimidated? Insecure? Jealous?
Apparently not – if you’re Bruce Pearl that is. Since he came to Tennessee last year, he has been nothing but a huge supporter of the women’s program. This year, he even painted his body orange and joined the student section to cheer the Lady Vol’s in an important game against Duke.
Bruce Pearl is an example of an important leadership principle. Good leaders are never jealous of the success of others. Instead of seeing other people as rivals, they acknowledge their success and rejoice in it. They may not all paint their body orange, but they find some way to celebrate the success of others.
So thank you, Bruce Pearl, for giving us such an exuberant display of good leadership.
|
|
