Just Be Good!

Have you ever heard of John Herdman? If not, or if you have but can't place the face, he's the former head coach of Sunderland's Youth Academy, New Zealand National Women's team, and Canada's Women's National Soccer team, but now leads the Canadian National Men's soccer team, a group that are on a tear at the 2021 CONCAF tournament. While his coaching pedigree is impressive enough, it is something off the pitch that drew me to write about him, when I watched a TED talk of his from a 2015 Vancouver TED conference.  

Herdman is English by birth, born in 1975 in Consett, County Durham, and has spent the vast majority of his adult life as a professional soccer manager. As an offshoot of his elite level coaching, he is adept at the mental side of elite sports, and success has naturally followed his influence taking both New Zealand and Canada to FIFA World Cups and Olympic tournaments. Canadians have a special place in their collective heart for Herdman after our National Women's Olympic soccer drought was broken with a Bronze medal in 2016. Considering the recent improvements of the Men's National team, the optimist in me is hoping for more Olympic success in 2024.

Do yourself a favour and press play on the video!

As a proud Canadian who has sung our National Anthem 100's of times over my 58 years, I had not stopped to examine the message contained in the lyrics prior to Herdman's insistence in his talk. To quote him, Canadians possess "one of the most powerful pieces of literature ever written" in our national anthem, even going so far as to intonate that all of the spiritual guidance one needs is contained therein. 

The essence of Herdman's talk, without spoiling it if you haven't yet pressed the triangle, is to live above the mediocrity line by Being Good as close to 100% of the time as possible, a task he confesses is extremely difficult. Referencing the anthem's lyrics, he challenges the audience to exercise their ability to choose glory (... glorious and free) by recognizing and focusing on what pulls each of us toward high performance (... our True North, strong and free). Both of these challenges are not possible without the introspection that comes with understanding who we are deep down inside, and embracing the notion that we are solely in charge of that decision by accepting responsibility for our own destiny.

There's some awfully powerful messages contained in this talk, and I will freely admit that I came away from my multiple viewings of it with a renewed sense of both pride in what I've accomplished thus far and renewed focus on what I still wish to achieve with the time I've got left. 

One of the portions that really got to me, deep down in my core, was something I feel I've lived for a long time but never encapsulated in a single idea as well has his "Oh Shit Moments". I immediately thought of the messages I've read or heard over my life that address the ideal. You likely read them too; "Greatness starts at the edge of your comfort zone" or "Comfort is the enemy of achievement" but the notion that we are truly the consequences of our "Oh Shit Moments" is simple and enduring.

Another was Herdman's line drawn in the sand challenging us to identify when we had consciously acted with intention to impact our kid's lives, our spouse's life, our colleague's lives without coming off like some fire and brimstone sermon. Probably the purest truth of that portion of the talk comes when he cautions that you really won't know if people are actually listening or what sense they're making of your interaction unless you do a deep dive into your own "meaning maker" and challenge them with a question that will cause their own deep dive for an answer. 

In his words, "Who are you as Canadians?", personally leaves me deeply mired in my own thoughts.

The last part I'll emphasize occurs when Herdman talks of the team's True North. He washes over it quickly so it's justifiably easy to miss like I did on my first viewing. I'll put my own understanding out there for all to criticize: Instead of gripping a toxic goal tied to material rewards like win an Olympic medal, the team embraced what's inside of the medal ... their connection to each other and their country, their determination to create and leave a legacy, and to be fulfilled with their effort regardless of the end result. 

That's powerful, challenging, and scary as crap because there's no where to hide, no deflection of blame, no excuse to suffice.

I've book-marked it so I can go back and listen again and again, lest I lose my way from time to time. I may not be actively coaching any longer, in the common definition of the term, but I have vowed to remain a coach for my children, my spouse, my family, and my friends by "walking the talk", as the saying goes.

Do yourself the favour of listening to his talk.
IMHO, you won't regret it.