Session 2 - Committed 8
In the movie, The Blind Side, the main character Michael, "Big Mike," learns as well as teaches the audience that "having someone's back" is part of something that can be measured called our "protective instincts". And when this instinct is triggered and directed toward clear goals, BIG things can happen. Is there really a psychological indicator and way to measure this? Not exactly, there is some creative license being taken (it is a movie, remember?), but it sure helps to communicate a central theme of the movie very well-- that we all have some latent, natural instinct to protect: our family, our friends, ourselves, our team, among others. The list and level is different for everyone.
Tonight I worked with 8 motivated young men. I'm sure each one of them has their own "score" in protective instincts -- but what I could see is that all 8 are strong in their
committment to
instinctively protect their futures, learning effective study habits, finding new resources, improving their grades and investing time ramping up and preparing for their probable, not merely possible, future opportunities.
In Out Think: How Innovative Leaders Drive Exceptional Outcomes, Hunter recalls this movie in a discussion on the impact of "pushing up people" (reminder to self>>write a post about that book, too).
Source: Hunter, G. Shawn. Out Think: How Innovative Leaders Drive Exceptional Outcomes.
When a coach, tutor, mentor, parent or leader can accelerate a student's built-in desire to rise to the opportunity, get their own back and find success with no excuses -- there is forward motion. Inertia takes over and our own weight is not our only strength. With gaining momentum, we can engage the defender, the obstacle, the challenge that is standing between us and our goal. Once engaged, we drive, we drive, we drive, all the way to the bus.
It's time for everything, everybody and every excuse that may stand in our way, whether perceived or real, to clear out --
It's time to keep driving and be relentless.