When I picked up the paper
and saw that the New York Yankees has won their 27th championship all I could
think of was sustained excellence. Literally since I was an athlete in high
school and vaguely entertaining the thought of coaching sustained excellence
has been a fascination for me. There was a school in our league, Santa Clara
High School, that year in year out was dominant in football and
basketball. I used to look at them and wonder why they were able to do that? My freshman year in college one of teammates had
played at Santa Clara so we talked about it. Listening to him it was apparent
leadership was a key, a great coach who set a high level of expectation and
discipline, but also leadership from the players. They shared to common goal
and invested in themselves. Look at UCLA basketball under John Wooden, De La
Sale High School football, the New Zealand All Black’s in rugby, they all share
common traits. Their success is not magic. It is sound organization,
leadership, talent is important, but teams that are consistently successful have a method
for identifying and developing talent that fits their system. System is a key
word, but with regard for the individual. You can bet that this morning the Yankee
organization is meeting to figure out what they need to do to be in the same place
next year.
It is interesting to compare
the Yankees and the Mets. When I worked for the Mets their motto that year was:
“Relentless Pursuit of Excellence,” I could not help but
compare what I had seen over the years of the Yankees at all levels, they did
not pursue excellence, they demanded excellence from top to bottom. Championships are part of their DNA, just like other teams and individuals that are able to
sustain excellence.
