Get More. Joby Slay

      CHAPTER 1

      THE COACH’S POTENTIAL

      I imagine a world where the greatest harvest of the 21st century will be the harvest of human potential.

      THE NFL DRAFT

      Once a year, usually around the end of April, millions of people gather around their televisions, tablets, and cell phones to devour the NFL draft. Months of research, millions of dollars, and countless hours of study and analysis go into evaluating and rating a few thousand college football players in their early 20s. What is being evaluated? Human potential. Specifically, the potential to play football at the professional level. Why is it so important? Why is so much time and money invested? Because the decision of which young man a front office picks to play for its football team is the difference between winning and losing. It may be the difference in a coach’s or general manager’s career.

      Why is our culture so fascinated in watching a broadcast of television personalities discussing why or where a player should be drafted? Why are football fanatics so infatuated that they pore over draft grades on scouting and news websites? Because in our society we are constantly evaluating and putting grades on people’s value and potential. We watch the NFL draft and cheer or boo our team’s draft picks based on whether we believe the team got value in its pick. If Tom Brady had been drafted in the first round, the fans would have booed because no team believed he had that type of potential. In the late rounds, no one cared. The challenge with evaluating human potential is that none of us can predict the future. The person with the best idea of what a player may become is inside that player. The rest of us are reduced to trying to predict a player’s future based upon past performances. The challenge with trying to predict the potential of Tom Brady was that he wasn’t even a full-time starter at the University of Michigan. The majority of people thought Michigan’s other quarterback, Drew Henson, had more potential. Brady’s coach at Michigan didn’t seem to be fully confident in Brady’s ability. When analyzing Tom Brady through those circumstances, it would have been hard for anyone to believe he would ever win six Super Bowls, but two short years later, he quarterbacked the New England Patriots in his first Super Bowl win.

      As coaches, the majority of the time we have to make decisions based on current and recent performances. We can tend to overvalue great performances and overvalue poor performances. What do I mean? If a player first has a great performance in our presence, then we tend to remember that great performance, and we grade the potential of that player based on that great performance. Rightly or wrongly, we may invest more in that player when he or she struggles because we believe the player can perform better and has a higher potential, based on witnessing a great performance. Conversely, if we first witness a poor performance by a player, we may now evaluate that player’s future potential based on that first performance. We are later surprised if the player performs better. None of us can predict the future. Especially when it comes to people. We can make highly informed guesstimations, but we can’t put a lid on a person’s potential. There are too many variables and too much time and opportunities for people to know where they will end up.

      This is why the GET MOR3EE formula is such a good resource for coaches. It helps us to manage our own tendencies to rate players on past performances and to continue to build and invest into all the players under our charge regardless of how we perceive their physical performances. We have the challenge of managing the short-term results of our teams with the long-term development of the individuals. The GET MOR3EE formula is our guide for accomplishing both challenges as coaches. It’s the formula for empowering our players and maximizing their potential.

      “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” (Attributed to Henry S. Haskins)

      WHAT IS POTENTIAL?

      How can we know if a person or team has maximized their potential? I think it’s important to put a timeframe on that question. “Potential” by definition is an ability or capacity to be or develop into something in the future. Our potential abilities in a year are different than what they may be in five years. With sports, I think it’s simple. How do we know if we’ve maximized our potential as individual athletes and as a team by the end of a season? I think there are two parts to the answer. One: when players can unabashedly tell me they’ve given every last drop of commitment, effort, and focus to fulfill their potential in this area and put their potential into action. And two: when I as their coach confirm that to be true. Then I can say that a player has maximized his or her potential in that moment.

      It’s one thing to reach your potential. It’s another thing to fulfill your potential and another to maximize your potential.

      Reaching your potential is a discovery process. It requires learning and growing. You’ve arrived at your potential. You’ve discovered a talent and seen a glimpse of what you could do with that talent. There is a spark.

      Fulfilling your potential requires aligning your potential talent with a purpose. Your purpose can be as simple as a goal you set for the season. The thought of your talent and purpose together brings you joy and excitement. It brings you focus and clarity. There is energy. There is motivation. Maximizing your potential requires putting your talent and purpose into action. Maximizing your potential enlarges the influence of your talent and purpose. There is movement. There is momentum.

      I believe it to be an honor and a responsibility as a