Only one day remained of the 2013 NCAA Rowing Championship. For all intents and purposes, it was going to come down to two teams for the title: Ohio State and USC. Fourteen previous trips to the Championship had never put us in a position like this. It was almost thirty years into my coaching career, and I was staring at the moment I had dreamed about since first picking up a megaphone. The evening before the Grand Finals, as dinner wrapped up, everyone’s eyes started to land on me, searching for a cue as to what was next. Truth is, I didn’t have a clue what was next.
Intuitively, I had everyone grab their chair, and we made a circle so we could share what we were feeling. Several athletes chimed in, connecting the group to the multiple emotions that were gripping them: excitement, fear, apprehension, anxiety–it was all there. And then it happened…
Allison, the captain and emotional leader of the group, stood up, stepped into the circle, and looked at each person. “There is no @#$%ing way we are going to lose tomorrow,” she proclaimed, slowly pointing at each of us, “because I love each and every one of you way too much to let you down. And I know every one of you feels exactly the same way.” There was nothing else to say. We covered a few logistics for the following morning and settled in for the night.
After the racing the next day, a fellow coach remarked, “Your team was so badass today, they just ripped the heart out of the regatta.” Badass? Maybe. Really, they were just a group of women who let their love for one another fuel them in their moment of truth. I didn’t realize it was possible, but we won the NCAA Rowing Championship in the banquet room of the hotel the night before the Grand Finals had even started.
Your team’s culture gets revealed by their emotions in their moments of truth. What’s the emotional fuel that drives your team’s culture? What’s the emotional fuel that drives you?
BUILT TO LEAD 
Boom. Bombs of truth and love…?
Can cause…Victory…!
Jim
1COR13:1-2
Super sweet and insightful story Andy! And well written I might add… Thank you for putting that offering before us.
Incredible story, thank you for sharing!
I was out in the prairie with my dog Lucy this week. The sun was setting, painting the sky a purple pink hue. There were other dogs about, but Lucy wanted nothing to do with them, unless they wanted to run. She ran like the wind that evening, as she usually does. She loves to run, she’s made to run. She smiles when she runs and her tail never ceases wagging. When I watch her run, that’s love energy right there. Pure love. Made for it.
What a great story and what a great feeling knowing the investments months and years prior paid off. We never know when the payoff will be or how the payoff may show up. Thanks for sharing!