Last Updated on Wednesday, 30 September 2015 15:06
By Kevin Hartzell
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist
I am past beginning to believe that we as a society are losing our focus. Just peruse the various news fronts on the web and see stories that must interest everyone. Stories that feature “Stars that Used to be Good Looking”or the “Kardashians are Having a Disagreement” (I made that one up but suspect something very near has been addressed), or how about “Scandalous Lies told by Celebrities.” I know there is some good stuff out there, but there is more and more crud as well. I am always left wondering who actually reads this stuff. I hope it is not you or anyone you love.
One of my partners in LEG (leadership workshops) is former Navy SEAL Louis Nebel. Lou was gracious enough to come and address the young men of the NA3HL’s Twin City Steel this past Monday. He had many great pieces of wisdom to share with these young men. One of them had to do with focus.
He shared something I have concurred with for a long while: The greatest enemy is not the other team. The greatest enemy is within one’s own confines of self, team and support group.
The enemy within has as its first line of attack – self. We are too often our own worst enemy. We worry about what we are getting and what we are not getting. We worry about our place. We disagree with what is said and not said. Often this leads us to getting down or now doing what we need to do to be the best versions of ourselves. This is unfortunate as it tears away at our very fabric of who we are and what we can do.
We all need to understand that our mission is to be the best versions of ourselves so we can offer up these talents to our teammates and team. It is really that simple, but seemingly not so simple. Ego gets in the way. We focus not on the mission but on things that don’t matter. We hurt ourselves. Our first mission in being a good leader is to be a good leader of our own selves! We cannot help the team if we are not doing what we need to do to bring the best version of ourselves each and every day.
The second internal enemy is our teammates, and really for the same reasons. They get off track with lack of focus. Poor, bad or misdirected attitudes affect others. And they affect you and I. We can only control effort and attitude. Good ones create good chemistry and synergy; poor ones do the opposite. We need to hold ourselves and our teammates to higher standards and it starts with attitude and effort. Both good and bad are contagious.
The third enemy is our coaches and support group. Again for the very same reasons as above. Our goal should not be to please parents and coaches, but to remain focused on being the very best we can be individually and try our best to consistently bring these talents to our team. We cannot lose focus on what our mission is. Our mission is to be the very best teammate we can be and bring our talents and enthusiasm to the team daily.
Your mission, my mission this 2015-16 season is just that – focus. Focus on what it is important and do not focus on what is not.
Finally and to this goal of good focus, here are three book recommendations that will make a positive impact on your season (versus reading some of the crud that is out there on the internet).
1. “The Biology of Belief” by Bruce Lipton. This is a bit higher level reading – high school and above. This is maybe the only book I have read multiple times. It is a short course in biology, how smart our cells are and how they work together as a team to form an amazing “us.” More importantly, it offers a science base to a psychological and spiritual connection to how our positive attitudes and energy affect each of us at the very cellular level. This book helped to make me smarter and a better coach and I hope a better person.
2. “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey. It’s an oldie but goodie.
3. I’m going to recommend my own book “Leading from the Ice.” I hope many young people read it. There is a good bit of hockey history, especially within our Minnesota area. More importantly it talks about what being a good hockey teammate looks like and how important leadership is and how it works within a team. You can find this book on Amazon or if you want an autographed copy, you can contact the LPH office and I will make arrangements with you personally.
Kevin Hartzell is the director of player development for the NA3HL’s Twin City Steel. A St. Paul native and forward for the University of Minnesota from 1978-82, Hartzell coached in the USHL from 1983-89 with the St. Paul Vulcans and from 2005-12 with the Sioux Falls Stampede. He was the head coach of Lillehammer in Norway’s GET-Ligaen from 2012-14. His columns have appeared in Let’s Play Hockey since the late 1980s. His book “Leading From the Ice” is now available at amazon.com.
