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Coach Gruden With a Goal and a Road Map

In last week's (2003)Super Bowl, Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden led his Buccaneers to a masterfully orchestrated win over the Raiders. Since a year ago he was with the Raiders, having built them into Super Bowl material, some people were calling this match-up "The Gruden Bowl." How did Gruden prepare his team? Two parts of the formula were that he gave them a clear picture of where they were heading and showed them how to get there. According to All Pro safety John Lynch, "He came in the first day and said the goal was a world championship. Then he showed us the road map, and we never wavered from that." (Coach Chucky The Buccaneers' Jon Gruden has all the qualities of the perfect NFL coach: He's tireless, hypercritical and, occasionally, scary as hell Date: 09-09-2002; Publication: Sports Illustrated; Author: S.L. Price)

Jon Finds His Niche

Ever feel like you aren't good at anything that really counts? Jon knows the feeling all too well. In high school, his older brother James excelled at academics - maintaining a 4.0 average. Today James directs cardiothoracic imaging at Emory's medical school and teaches biomedical engineering at Georgia Tech. Jon felt pretty dumb in comparison with his 2.0 average. According to Jon, "people thought something was wrong with me." When they got into shouting matches, after Jon might call James a geek, James might come back telling Jon that he was just smart enough to one day be his chauffeur. Just what Jon needed to hear. Not being adept at making good grades, Jon's passion was sports. But here his self-esteem hit another wall. It wasn't bad enough that his older brother got the brains. His younger brother Jay got the athletic talent. In college, Jon was determined to be a great quarterback, lifting weights in the off-season, throwing endless passes, consistently running and lifting weights. While in his best condition ever, after running five miles, he'd taunt his less disciplined younger brother, now a Junior in high school, who spent his hot summer days watching TV and munching microwave popcorn. Finally, when Jay had had enough taunting, he challenged Jon to 2-mile race. In the last 2/10 of a mile, Jay took off, leaving a humiliated Jon behind. That's when he finally faced the facts: he was a loser at athletics. His dismal college career confirmed his fears. Except for three attempted passes and holding the ball for place-kicks, he was a perennial benchwarmer, watching the game from the sidelines. But John wasn't destined to be a star player. He just hadn't yet found his niche. Today he's in his niche, and life couldn't be grander. He makes his living watching from the sidelines. In fact, John will receive a cool $17.5 million dollars over the next 5 years to strategize and motivate from the sidelines. Last Sunday you saw him lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win the 2003 Super Bowl. This former bench warmer is the youngest head coach to win the Super Bowl ever, the hero of Tampa Bay. But it makes you wonder?. What if John had become disillusioned because he was seldom allowed to play more "significant" positions in college? What if simply concluded, like many do, that he was destined to be a failure, when he was actually gaining valuable experience for the future? You see, God made you, and He doesn't make junk. God's got a purpose for you, and it's good. Don't ever believe the lie that life as you see it now is all there is. You can go either of two ways with your hurt and pain. You can decide you're indeed nothing, or you can trust God that He's got a master plan for your life, in spite of everything you see around you. (Written by Steve Miller, Copyright January 30, 2003. Sources: A Wise Investment Date: 01-23-2003; Publication: The Tampa Tribune; Author: IRA KAUFMAN) (Coach Chucky The Buccaneers' Jon Gruden has all the qualities of the perfect NFL coach: He's tireless, hypercritical and, occasionally, scary as hell Date: 09-09-2002; Publication: Sports Illustrated; Author: S.L. Price)

Jon Gruden Does a Few Things Well

In last week's (January, 2003) Super Bowl, Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden led his Buccaneers to a masterfully orchestrated win over his former team, the Raiders. Since a year ago he was with the Raiders, having built them into Super Bowl material, some people called this match-up "The Gruden Bowl." Coach Gruden's success is in part due to his concentration on a few things. According to Gruden, "I'm a real shallow guy," he says without a hint of embarrassment. "It's not like I've got a three handicap, or I can play the guitar, or I can tell you anything about the stock market. It's not like you and I could have a conversation about anything else. I've got this job, I've got my three boys and my wife, my family. That's it. I like to fish a little. But there's not a lot of me." (Coach Chucky The Buccaneers' Jon Gruden has all the qualities of the perfect NFL coach: He's tireless, hypercritical and, occasionally, scary as hell Date: 09-09-2002; Publication: Sports Illustrated; Author: S.L. Price)

Smart Workaholics At Microsoft

Microsoft hired smart guys who were willing to do whatever work it took to get a job done - workaholics like founder Bill Gates. (Stephen Manes and Paul Andrews, Gates: How Microsoft's Mogul Reinvented An Industry - And Made Himself The Richest Man in America, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1994, pp. 177, 178)

Maintaining Focus and Bill Gates

?Maintaining focus is a key to success. You should understand your circle of competence, the thing that you?re good at, and spend your time and energy there.? (Bill Gates, Column, New York Times Syndicate, March 12, 1997) ?Today, I work because it?s fun. In that sense, I guess you could say that I approach business as a kind of problem-solving challenge. That doesn?t mean I don?t take business seriously, because I do. But life?s a lot more fun if you treat its challenges in creative ways.? (p. 39, Bill Gates Speaks, by Janet Lowe, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)

She Ran Bill Gates' Life

Wisdom/Gifts All of us need people around us who can balance out our weaknesses. As brilliant as Bill Gates is, he found early in the days of Microsoft that he needed an assistant to organize him and help him with practical matters. So, he hired Estelle Mathers as an administrative assistant. In addition to handling many matters of business, she would help him organize his life. According to Mathers, "I ran his life." She'd call to wake him up for early appointments, keep track of his speeding tickets, tell him to comb his hair and advise him on what wear. None of us can do it alone. We all need each other. (Written by Steve Miller, Copyright Feb., 2003. Stephen Manes and Paul Andrews, Gates: How Microsoft's Mogul Reinvented An Industry - And Made Himself The Richest Man in America, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1994, pp. 199,200 )

Microsoft Responds to the Customer

Microsoft Responds to the Customer "Microsoft is a company that moves very rapidly, and we set priorities based on what our customers are asking for." (Bill Gates, Speech, Windows TCO Summit, Tokyo, Japan, June 19, 1997) "I like question and answer periods because they allow me to get a sense of what people are excited about and what they are upset about." (Bill Gates, Source: Taninecz, "Gates Wins Respect," Industry Week, Nov. 20, 1995, p. 17)

Simplicity is #1 Objective for Microsoft

Success Simplicity At first, Microsoft wrote software for pro or semi-pro power users. In the 90's they realized they needed to work toward simplicity. "Of all the big initiatives at Microsoft, simplicity is No. 1." (Bill Gates. Source: Steven Levy, "Microsoft vs. the World," Newsweek, March 9, 1998).

Success as Hanging On Longer

Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go. (William Feather)

Ship in a Safe Harbor

"A ship in a safe harbor is safe, but that is not what a ship is built for." (William Shedd)

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