BOOK OF THE WEEK: "The Hero Code" by U.S. Navy Admiral William H. McRaven

Being a Navy Seal is one of the toughest things to do in the world. But it has little to do with brute strength. Being a Navy Seal is about having mental fortitude and the ability to bounce back from tough situations. 

It's so easy to get down when things don't go your way, but the only thing to do is find the bright spots in those dark moments and keep moving forward. That's what makes Navy Seals successful and the inability to find those moments of light is why many who go through Navy Seal training do not succeed. But you don't need to be a a Navy Seal to be a hero. As long as you follow these simple lessons, you will be a hero.

HERO CODE #1: Be COURAGEOUS 

Courage is far from facing down the barrel of a gun. It is being there for their teammates and not letting them down. Being the type of person that will do whatever is needed for the team to be successful is what makes you a great team player and will go along way. It's not always the easiest thing to do and sometimes you're going to have to sacrifice your own ego for those of your teammates. But that's what makes the greats great. The ability to give something of themselves for something bigger. 

PLAYERS: When you become a "whatever the team needs" type player then you become a great teammate and your team's culture is strengthened. Great teams have great teammates.

— Jamy Bechler (@CoachBechler) April 24, 2021

HERO CODE #2: Be HUMBLE

The late Boston College men's basketball media contact Dick Kelley had a phrase "P & H: positive and humble." McRaven uses the example of meeting Charlie Duke, a retired Air Force pilot, at a dinner.  Not only was Duke in the Air Force, he also happened to be the youngest person to walk on the moon, however throughout the entire dinner that was something that never came up. Duke was more interested in asking about McRaven and his son than about his own personal accolades. 

It's humility. People who have it, care little about bragging about their own accomplishments and take a great interest in what others accomplish. 

HERO CODE #3: SACRIFICE

In baseball and softball there is one statistical line that more often than not gets overlooked, but is, perhaps, one of the most important statistics in the game. It's the sacrifice. Whether it's a sacrifice bunt or a fly, a teammate is, metaphorically, giving themselves up for another and the benefit of the whole team. And guess what? That sacrifice bunt the number nine hitter just executed perfectly doesn't count as an official at-bat and their individual batting average doesn't suffer. So taking one for the team is encouraged. 

HERO CODE #4: Have INTEGRITY

When I hear the word integrity there is one person that comes to mind instantaneously: Jerry York. While a hockey Hall Famer, York builds hist team around the cornerstone of integrity. You should treat a custodian the same way you would treat the President of the United States - neither person is any different.  How you treat people who can do nothing for you says a lot about your integrity. 

HERO CODE #5: Be Kind and COMPASSIONATE

The above video is a perfect example of hero codes four and five. While Sam is trying to suck up to the boss and de-humanizing the custodian, his colleague is going out of his way to help the new employee, who unbeknownst to him is actually the new CEO undercover. She was attempting to get to know the internal employees who put in for that position, but didn't want them to treat her well just because she is the top dog. She wanted to see what they were really like. 

And seriously, the way Taylor, as the CEO, introduced herself to Sam was perfect. "Oh I would shake your hand, but who knows where my hands have been, right?" Ouch! 

HERO CODE #6: PERSEVERE

Probably one of the most important characteristics to have is the ability to persevere. Being a Navy Seal isn't about being the toughest or being able to do the most push-ups. Admiral McRaven saw some of the best athlete's fail to make it through training, because it's mindset, not brute strength. It's taking everything one stroke at a time - especially when things get tough. Slow down to go fast. 

HERO CODE #7: DUTY 

Admiral McRaven begins this chapter mentioning the late U.S. Navy officer and Senator John McCain being taken prisoner by the Vietnamese during the war. When it was determined that McCain was the son of a former U.S. Navy admiral the Vietnamese knew they could use him to their advantage and release him as propaganda. But McCain would have none of it. His release would show that if you had privilege, you deserved special treatment, which was against McCain's values. He remained and dealt with the abuse because he felt it was his duty to remain. 

Privilege can help you, but it is not a crutch. Remember the people who aren't as fortunate. 

HERO CODE #8: HOPE

There's a country song by Rodney Atkins that was inspired by a quote from the former Prime Minister of England, Winston Churchill - "If You're Going Through Hell (Before The Devil Knows)." It's about keep moving and having hope and faith when you hit a road block. That road block was put there for a reason and is a redirection that your skills can be used for other things that help the greater good. 

HERO CODE #9: Have HUMOR

Daily roastings are a good thing and for the Seals nothing was off limits. You have to be able to laugh at yourself. Look at many of the most successful YouTubers out there, some of their best videos are the ones where they are poking fun at themselves.  Dude Perfect did it in their Top 10 segment during the last video of 2020. The theme of Overtime 23 was the worst. They had to try to get "Not Cool" items, they wanted to be picked for  the "Wheel Unfortunate" segment because it was "Wheel Fortunate" with all good things on the board. Well the Top 10 segment was part of worst category and they chose to find THEIR own worst videos. Tyler Toney said at the end of the segment "I like to think that [50 million subscribe Play Button] would've come a lot sooner without all these." 

HERO CODE #10: FORGIVE

When you give forgiveness to someone who has hurt you, it's not for the other person, it's for you. It means that what hurt you in the past, no longer hurts you when you recall it. Forgiveness puts your mind at peace. 

BOOK OF THE WEEK: "Stick Together" by Jon Gordon - BUILDING CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS

Being a coach is not for the faint of heart. It is difficult and grueling task. 

Your main job as a college coach is to bring - depending on the size of your team - 15 to 30 young adults together. That is not an easy thing to do, most of your players were the stars of their high school teams or excelled in the previous programs. Meaning they all have egos and it is your job to soften those egos and get them to believe in your mission. 

Championship coaches and championship teams are all have one thing in come they are able to quell those egos and the best way to do that is to take a page out of Jerry York's book. If there was ever a coach who has earned the right to have an ego it is Jerry York. The man is the all-time winningest coach in college hockey and has won four national titles, but he doesn't have ego and that is the most important part. If you're asking your players to check their ego at the door, then you need to do the same.

In Jon Gordon's most recent book, "Stick Together" he highlights this fact. A high school coach faces the dilemma of bringing his team together and having them play up to their potential. As a coach, you can have all the talent in the world, but if you don't know how to use that to your advantage then you will never be successful. 

See the 2019 Red Sox. They had a talented roster of all-stars, but still finished third in the A.L. East and missed the playoffs. Not a good showing for a team who won its fourth World Series since 2004, especially when the 2018 was just the opposite of the 2019 squad. 

Both squads were virtually the same and had the same core players (Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr., Andrew Benintendi, Xander Bogaerts, Chris Sale, David Price), but the one big difference was drive. With a new, young manager in Alex Cora at the helm in 2018, it signaled a fresh start for the ballclub. They entered the 2018 campaign as underdogs, a unified bunch that set the franchise record for wins and won the A.L. East on their way to another championship title. 

Compare that to the 2019 team that believed all they needed to do was "throw their hat on the field" and they would come out victorious. Speaking to the media on his first day of the 2019, Cora mentioned how he really didn't want to turn the page on 2018.  Hindsight being 20-20, we saw how well that worked out for them. It didn't. 

The thing is, no matter how much success you have had in the past it doesn't matter when the next year rolls around. It's the concept of Coach York's 24-hour rule. Whenever some good, or bad, happens, you have 24 hours to feel that emotion then it is time to turn the page, move on and not look back. Nothing good ever happens from looking back. It would be like driving a car staring into the rearview mirror the entire time. (I wouldn't advise doing this.) 

One thing that 2018 team had, as well as the three other championship Red Sox had, was a sense of connection with each other. The 2004 team were the care-free, Idiots. Led by Johnny Damon and Kevin Millar, they got the guys to rally around the fact that it didn't matter that their backs were against the wall with no team coming back from an 0-3 hole in the American League Championship Series and advance to the World Series. "Make History or We're History" wasn't just a catchy tagline, that team lived it. They played care-free, which is how all champions play. 

The 2007 squad wasn't the Idiots from three years prior. This team was built on young professionals looking to make a name for themselves. Look at the players who made up this team: 

• Jon Lester, making his return to a major league roster after a year-long battle with lymphoma
• Dustin Pedroia, undersized his entire life and told he would never make it to the majors and even when he did people were underestimating him. Remember the security guard at Coors Field wouldn't let Pedroia in because he didn't think he was player? 
• Jacoby Ellsbury, made his major league debut in June and a virtual nobody, but by October the entire country got a free taco from Taco Bell because of him.
• Jonathan Papelbon, he had more experience in the majors than the other three, but 2007 was when he really made a name for himself between doing an Irish jig to "Shipping Up To Boston" and striking out Seth Smith in Game 4, baseball finally knew who this Papelbon guy was. 

In 2013, it was rallying around the city of Boston after the Marathon Bombing and subsequent manhunt in April. We recall David Ortiz' famous "this is our f'n city" speech before the first home game after the bombing, but it was rallying cry and so too was the phrase Boston Strong. It wasn't a tagline, they truly believed it. 

And the same happened in 2018.  Despite winning 93 games in 2017 and winning the A.L. East, they were ousted in four games of the Division Series by the eventual champions. (Now with hindsight continuing to be 20-20 you don't how much unethical activity was done by the winning. team in that series, but for this post let's just move past that caveat.) A new, younger coach gave the team much more of a personality and let them be themselves, which pushed them over the hump with the best record in baseball with 108 wins and a new franchise mark. 

In the words of Theodore Roosevelt, "no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care" and a team with a lot of love and passion doesn't need a lot of rules.