Character Trait for the Month of March: Luck The month of March brings me to think of the “Luck of the Irish” in refering to St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. I am sincerely NOT a believer of “luck” as when it is defined as the reciever of good fortune by chance.

“You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” Unknown author

As the holiday season was approaching I remembered what I enjoyed the most about the season. My enjoyment often stretches all the way to Christmas Eve with my last minute, and often first minute, pursuit of the perfect gifts. My joy of the holiday season is experiencing the sensation of “giving”.

Firmness stands for determination, and persistence, for the connection between principles for perseverance, determination, and resolution. Leadership cannot take place without the insertion of Firmness. The true leader is able to differentiate in the Firmness that can cause stubbornness and inflexibility; and the Firmness required for others to follow to be successful!

As we enter this holiday season of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and a New Year, our plates seem often “overfilled” with work, family, and other personal commitments.

One of the unique opportunities and/or challenges of “going off” to college is the engagement of new friends. Some acquaintances develop into lifelong friendships and some become mistakes.

The indescribable emotions from 9/11 cannot be preserved in history; however, the loss of lives and property, in conjunction with the events of heroism and the American resilience is something that all of America (small town to big town) should never forget.

As our students prepare to embark on our campus for this new academic year, many of them will be departing their immediate family for the first time.

Experiencing commencement ceremonies with our seniors this month and reflecting on their many successes over their past four years; I’m reminded of a very important fact that I sincerely believe.

“LOOK AT LIFE THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD, NOT THROUGH THE REAR-VIEW MIRROR.”

"Love the game. Love the game for the pure joy of accomplishment. Love the game for everything it can teach you about yourself. Love the game for the feeling of belonging to a group endeavoring to do its best.

As I begin to think of a possible Character Trait for this month, I ran across an article on the History of Valentine’s Day. And as I read the article I could not get out of my mind the importance of the Martin Methodist College rich history both as a junior college athletic department (55 years) and as a senior college athletic department (origin 1996); especially as homecoming is on our calendar this month.

As defined by Mr. Webster . . . Selfishness is one’s exclusive concern with oneself by concentrating on one’s own advantages while focusing with one’s well-being without regard for others.

If I only had one gift to give to everyone for this Christmas I would want to share the following 20 Tips of Success as written by the founder of the Holiday Inn Empire. As I have been blessed to meet Mr. Kemmons Wilson and befriended one of his sons and his son’s wife, Bob and Susan Wilson. I can tell you that Mr. Wilson and his family sincerely reflect these Tips of Success.

As the month of November sprints by and we rapidly approach our Thanksgiving Holidays two thoughts annually come to my mind.

Character Trait for the Month of October: SHARING Given that sharing is one of our first character traits that we are introduced to as young children; it still seems to be the one trait that we consistently struggle the hardest in mastering. A potential reason for this struggle could be our failure to share our trust in others.

OK – I’ve finally given in, I’ve created my Facebook account. Over the past two years I have been a closet Facebook observer, occasionally peeping into the electronic world of friends, their friends, and their friends. And boy, some folks are not shy and are not very smart with what they share with the world. But, that is another thought for another time.

Character Trait for the Month of May: GRADUATION A Successful Collegiate Experience is three-pronged:

Character Trait for the Month of April: “Deal or No Deal” I had a freshman girl student/athlete in my office recently - all concerned about if she wanted to come back and play collegiate athletes again next year. She had several issues, some academic - but, mostly athletic concerns around her sport and she wanted my advice.

St. Patrick’s Day / Luck of the Irish The month of March brings us the historic St. Patrick’s Day celebration and the famous phrase; “Luck of the Irish”.

The international word for the month of February has to be “love” due to our interaction with the date of February 14th. But in reality “love” may very well be one of the most important verbs that are common within successful teams and businesses.

“Find Your Bliss” As we enter the month of January, the month that we traditionally link to our annual New Year’s Resolutions. Allow me to offer a unique resolution to consider; far from the traditional weight loss, exercise more, get out of debt, and stop smoking pledges.

When Opportunity Knocks . . . . . Be Ready! I’m often asked what is the best advice that I give young people. One of my favorite pieces of advice is related to “opportunity”.

Thanksgiving and Thankfulness At Martin Methodist College we are very thankful for the quality student/athletes that we have on our campus and for our entire coaching staff and support staff that serve these young people. Our 2007-08 academic year personnel package may very well be the best combined package of staff and students that we have ever had in my fifteen years at Martin Methodist College.

Character Trait for the Month of October: LEADERSHIP Dozen Leadership Facts Martin Methodist College Athletic Department

Branding in the world of marketing is to identify clearly what you are promoting or who you are. In other terms, a brand is the collective characteristics that make something or someone unique or distinctive. Often it is a visual image that is reflected, often it is a sense of feeling after an encounter, and often it is reputation after a history of existence. Branding often begins with a self defined expectation based on realistic findings.

There are many misconceptions related to the summer months on a college campus within the athletic department, some include: Let me repeat, these points are both misconceptions and completely false. I can better summarize the summer months of June and July within the athletic department by referring to them as the months of the “3-R’s”.

To have any realistic chance for success we must clearly identify who we are to ourselves and it should be original; in other words we must create our brand. And then we must consistently reflect our brand. The wisdom of to thine self be true, is ever so true. We succeed only by being true to ourselves first and then to others. The second is not possible without the first.

Character Trait for the Month March: “YES SIR!” Five Most Influential Phrases “Yes Sir” & “No Sir” “Yes Ma’am” & “No Ma’am” “Thank you” Question: How can five small phrases be so hard to learn? Answer:Not enough parents are teaching these communication words!

Character Trait for the Month February: RELEASING All coaches and parents are faced with a very similar timing decision that they must respond

Character Trait for the Month January: IMPRESSIONS The first month of the year reminds me of the importance of many “firsts” in the journey of building character.

Character Trait for the Months of November & December: TEAMMATES Family + Friends = Teammates As the holiday season approaches and we experience the excitement (and often stress) of the season, please allow me to share with you a sincere thought of mine related to the importance of surrounding yourself with people who share a common bond.

There have been monthly occurrences of personal observations related to the benefits of our athletic department Champions of Character Education Program on our campus; in which I have said to myself AFTER the observation . . . “This is character education!” Please allow me to share a few examples with you.

Every successful person knows two things: 1. Expectations to be successful within their field 2. Personal limitations of their expertise

One of the most under estimated traits of success is the one of – Preparation. To be fully prepared for any task, activity, project, competition, and work – I have found that I must outline and resolve three important areas.

There are many misconceptions related to the summer months on a college campus within the athletic department, some include:

My personal favorite character trait is the one of – Persistence. I find it to be the most under-estimated, least understood, hardest to teach and most difficult to master.

One of the many ways that I’ve been fortunate throughout my career is that I’ve known since junior high school what field I wanted to work. I always had the desire to teach and coach. It has always been my desire to use athletics as a window into teaching the traits and importance of character. As a result, in the spring of my junior year of college I went to my first coaching clinic held in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Memphis, Tenn.

Now that the rush of the holiday season is over, I ask for all of us to take time to relax, reflect and be thankful for all the blessings that we have to share. It will not be long before the beauty and excitements of spring are here, but let’s not ignore the uniqueness of winter and her beauty that we’ve experienced. Let’s look around and be thankful for our friends, our beds, our food, our jobs and the opportunities that we share. Too often, we focus on our missed opportunities and meaningless materialist products.

Keeping this month’s trait simple I will say... there are many styles to leadership. However, there are many simplistic traits that great leaders have in common. Common traits shared are that they value the respect of others and the importance of teamwork, of which we spoke last month.

Teamwork is often a misunderstood trait; it could be because there are so many different opinions. In my opinion, teamwork begins with a clear understanding of two fundamental terms: leaders and followers. And then, one must understand the role of each. As important as leaders are to given teams, equally as important, are the followers. Followers are undoubtedly the most underrated component of a successful team. I’ve witnessed as many teams fail or struggle from having poor followers than from poor leaders.

The days prior to Thanksgiving, I had the pleasure of spending the better part of a week with our women’s soccer team in Kansas City, Kan., as they participated in the women’s soccer NAIA National Championship. This tournament was a 20-team event representing institutions from coast to coast.

A recent conversation with a group of my friends reminded me of the powerful role and influence, in which, teachers and coaches have in our young peoples lives. The subject of the conversation was the acquired trait of “ethics”. The details of the subject centered not necessarily around the term “ethics” at this sitting, but more so around the phrase “acquired traits”.

The month of October is always “full steam” ahead within our athletic department and this year is no exception. Volleyball and soccer are running strong, possibly headed for the best fall trio combo finish in the history of MMC, if they can stay healthy and keep focused. Basketball, bowling and cheer are in full swing of practice with their seasons in full stride by the end of the month. And our spring sports – golf, tennis, baseball and softball are currently in full stride with their fall seasons.

This fall Martin Methodist College will be presenting the 10th Annual Governor Ned McWherter Award of Excellence...