I am on more than one board. I thought I would share what I posted on another board.
When you sit on a Board, especially of a start-up, the originator sells the Board a vision and a plan of execution. As a Board member your job is to make certain that the originator and his/her executive team continually move toward the vision knowing that circumstances will require you to adapt. As a Board member of a start-up, you never expect success at first. You want to see flexibility when things don't work and hard repetition of things that do. You want the originator to work hard (which you don't always get), you want to see grit from the executive team, you want them humble enough to admit their mistakes and above all, you want an unwavering determination to accomplish the vision...and you wait sometimes five years or more and most of the time it never materializes.
If it happens (most start-ups fail), it RARELY happens all at once. It is usually in bits and pieces...stops and starts.
When Lincoln left for USC, he gutted the program offensively and he left a defense that was the equivalent of a cheap coffee filter. Brent sold a vision...a championship team that was built around a "suffocating defense". Few remember what that was, but we all knew it would be a defense built from the ground up...a start-up. Joe C and the Board bought that vision. They knew to win consistently in the SEC, like Georgia and Alabama, you had to start with a "suffocating defense".
The Texas win last year was a glimpse of the power of a leader to convince his team that they could beat anyone, but it was not a game of "suffocating defense". It solidified that Brent was a leader, but did not solidify the vision (or Brent's ability to deliver).
The win last night was the first glance of the vision sold to the Board and the donors. It went a long way to solidifying a belief that Brent can and will deliver the vision.
As I wrote a while back, as long as the team showed heart and did not quit, the Board and the donors were still "bought in" to the vision. Last night, they saw the vision.
Like a start-up, there were mistakes made along the way...not just from Brent, but from the Administration and those that managed NIL. There was horrible luck. There was bad play by good players. There was bad on-the-field coaching by good coaches, there were bad hires and game planning. All mistakes that are correctable.
The vision was still there and within reach, but...to be truthful...fading with each mistake, each injury, each horrible turnover and eventual loss and doubt creeped in...maybe the vision was not attainable?
Folks, last night you saw the vision materialize in all of its glory. A suffocating defense that can win a game on its own against a championship opponent. A beautiful masterful defense that won with the nation watching with absolutely no one believing this team could still achieve the vision or even beat the spread. You witnessed excellent coaching, game-planning, a great atmosphere (I was there with my son...memories made) and a vision materialize before your very eyes. That was a win that we will remember as the first leap toward what we were sold.
A glorious suffocating defense.
When you sit on a Board, especially of a start-up, the originator sells the Board a vision and a plan of execution. As a Board member your job is to make certain that the originator and his/her executive team continually move toward the vision knowing that circumstances will require you to adapt. As a Board member of a start-up, you never expect success at first. You want to see flexibility when things don't work and hard repetition of things that do. You want the originator to work hard (which you don't always get), you want to see grit from the executive team, you want them humble enough to admit their mistakes and above all, you want an unwavering determination to accomplish the vision...and you wait sometimes five years or more and most of the time it never materializes.
If it happens (most start-ups fail), it RARELY happens all at once. It is usually in bits and pieces...stops and starts.
When Lincoln left for USC, he gutted the program offensively and he left a defense that was the equivalent of a cheap coffee filter. Brent sold a vision...a championship team that was built around a "suffocating defense". Few remember what that was, but we all knew it would be a defense built from the ground up...a start-up. Joe C and the Board bought that vision. They knew to win consistently in the SEC, like Georgia and Alabama, you had to start with a "suffocating defense".
The Texas win last year was a glimpse of the power of a leader to convince his team that they could beat anyone, but it was not a game of "suffocating defense". It solidified that Brent was a leader, but did not solidify the vision (or Brent's ability to deliver).
The win last night was the first glance of the vision sold to the Board and the donors. It went a long way to solidifying a belief that Brent can and will deliver the vision.
As I wrote a while back, as long as the team showed heart and did not quit, the Board and the donors were still "bought in" to the vision. Last night, they saw the vision.
Like a start-up, there were mistakes made along the way...not just from Brent, but from the Administration and those that managed NIL. There was horrible luck. There was bad play by good players. There was bad on-the-field coaching by good coaches, there were bad hires and game planning. All mistakes that are correctable.
The vision was still there and within reach, but...to be truthful...fading with each mistake, each injury, each horrible turnover and eventual loss and doubt creeped in...maybe the vision was not attainable?
Folks, last night you saw the vision materialize in all of its glory. A suffocating defense that can win a game on its own against a championship opponent. A beautiful masterful defense that won with the nation watching with absolutely no one believing this team could still achieve the vision or even beat the spread. You witnessed excellent coaching, game-planning, a great atmosphere (I was there with my son...memories made) and a vision materialize before your very eyes. That was a win that we will remember as the first leap toward what we were sold.
A glorious suffocating defense.
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