Jamy Bechler

Providing Insights on Leadership and Success. Coach Bechler is a John Maxwell Leadership Team Member.

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Apr 20 2022

Dead Right

One day when I was in high school, I was walking down the sidewalk with my mother. 

Please click here to listen to the 2-minute audio version of this article from the Success is a Choice podcast network.

We needed to get to the other side of the street but since I was a punk teenager, I decided to cross sooner because figured I could make it before the next car went by. 

My mother grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

“What are you doing?  There are cars coming”, said my mother.

“Mom, Pedestrians have the right of way.”

She looked at me and said, “Yeah and you’ll be DEAD RIGHT”

We are often dead right in our daily lives. 

We might get our way. We might prove we are smarter than someone else but at what cost? We might be right but we may be dead right.

I once worked for some very egotistical people that were not doing things very efficiently, or effectively. 

I brought this to their attention.  I was right.  Completely right. 

But I was DEAD RIGHT … and soon to be, unemployed.

Being right isn’t always as important as doing what’s right. Being intelligent isn’t as important as having wisdom. 

For those of us that are married, we’ve probably already discovered this the hard way. 

Just because someone does things differently or has a different opinion than us doesn’t mean that they are wrong.

There’s a quote that says, “Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.  But wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.”

If my mother was a philosopher back on that day on the sidewalk, she might have said,  “Knowledge is knowing that it’s a one-way street but wisdom is still looking both ways before you cross.”

Don’t be right if it means you’ll be DEAD RIGHT.

 

 
Jamy Bechler is the author of four books including The Captain and The Bus Trip, host of the Success is a Choice Podcast, professional speaker, and trains organizations on creating championship cultures. He previously spent 20 years as a college basketball coach and administrator.  The Leadership Playbook is Bechler’s online program that helps athletes become better teammates and more positive leaders while strengthening a team’s culture. As a certified John Maxwell leadership coach, Bechler has worked with businesses and teams, including the NBA. Follow him on Twitter at @CoachBechler. To connect with him via email or find out about his services, please contact speaking@CoachBechler.com. You can also subscribe to his insights on success and leadership by clicking here.

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Written by Jamy Bechler · Categorized: Leadership, Personal Growth · Tagged: Army, Determination, Funny, Giving All, Lou Holtz, Military, Motivation, Motivational Minute, Usain Bolt, Vince Lombardi

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