Providing Insights on Leadership and Success. Coach Bechler is a John Maxwell Leadership Team Member.
Last week we celebrated the 4th of July here in the United States. That date marks our nation’s birthday – our Independence Day. Besides the usual array of hot dogs, parades, and fireworks, many of us took time and were reminded of the concepts of freedom and sacrifice.
However, I have a different kind of freedom on my mind today.
“You either get bitter or you get better. It’s that simple. You either take what has been dealt to you and allow it to make you a better person, or you allow it to tear you down. The choice does not belong to fate, it belongs to you.” (Josh Shipp)
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At 27 years of age, I was the youngest women’s basketball head coach at the NCAA level. Four years later, I was allowed to take my talents elsewhere.
How kind of them to let me voluntarily resign.
No matter how you spin it, I was fired.
I love Mondays!
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Not only is it great to see any day of the week because that means I’m alive, but it’s also a chance to have a fresh start. It’s a chance to set a new tone for the rest of the week. [Read more…]
The story is told of a farmer who grabbed his shotgun to shoot at a flock of pesky crows. Unfortunately, he didn’t see that the family’s sociable pet parrot had joined the flock of crows.
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After firing a few shots, he walked over to the fallen birds and was surprised to find the family parrot had been one of the casualties. The farmer’s children had heard the noise and came running. When they saw the parrot, they asked their father what had happened.
The farmer simply replied, “Bad Company.” [Read more…]
Once upon a time in a small Italian town, a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable.
She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed like life was one problem after the next.
The next day her father, who was a chef, took her to the kitchen. He boiled three pots of water. He placed potatoes in one, eggs in another, and ground coffee beans in the third.
Of course, the daughter waited impatiently, wondering what he was doing.
A lighthouse keeper received a new supply of oil once a month to keep the light burning.
Not being far from shore, he had frequent guests.
While taking hundreds of flights throughout my life only once has my luggage gotten lost and that was on my honeymoon (fortunately, it wasn’t a sign of things to come)!
The second time occurred when traveling to speak at some high schools.
After speaking at a prestigious prep school in the Washington D.C. area, I was traveling to Charlotte, NC to speak at a large high school in that city.
I had the pleasure of speaking with the boys basketball team at my old high school.
I’m very proud of them and their coach Jeff Turner (he was my JV coach). In fact, they won the conference title this year.
As I was talking to the guys, it hit me out of the blue that this was 2022 and my team won the championship in 1992.
This week, I was reminded of a short little story by Portia Nelson entitled There’s a Hole in My Sidewalk: Autobiography in Five Chapters.
Integrity is NOT situational.
Habits are NOT situational.
Even if you are an NFL All-Pro.