Thinking about success

Success has a 1000 father’s


Failure is the Coach

"Success has a 1000 fathers and failure is an orphan”




I often find myself looking at what Matt Chase has to say. He is a fellow coach from Westerville whom I find intriguing. He seems to just say what is on his mind because it will lead to someone to just think. He brought up this line of thought and it started me thinking.



This introspect has come about because this past weekend was a pleasing success for me. We participated and competed very well in the State Championship. There were some who would have totally written my team off, but some how we were able to compete and challenge crews that might not have had us in their mind. I personally found this very satisfying, and I realized why I love coaching. It’s not about winning, although I would be lying if that weren’t foremost in my mind. It’s about taking a challenge and facing it head on. Making people realize that we won’t just lie down and concede defeat.



I often find myself intrigued by the military and what they do to be successful. I will say that I did not serve and even thought of leaving the country to avoid serving in Vietnam, but as I grow older I see what they have to do in a different light.



Leadership: In the Army. "Give a group of guys a knife and a match and place them deep in the woods. Return and you will find an unlit match, an unused knife, and a bunch of guys dead from exposure. But before that happens though, they will find a leader. They want to survive."

The Army can resort to harsh methods and they do. it became apparent that at the grunt level, the Army watches for leadership to emerge and they reward leadership with advancement. It's often a slow process but they can grease the skids by adding stress. You just never know from whom leadership will emerge. Sure, you can get some hints, but you just never know until it's there. , "To paraphrase General George Patton, a man does not die for his country, duty, or honor, but instead he chooses to die for the man next to him."

The fastest boats have that sort of spirit-- not for the school, not for the self, but for the rower who sits in front and behind them.



Success and failure often depends on leadership and with out it the team is rudderless. I spend a fair amount of time looking for the person who the team naturally gravitates to. They become an extension of the coach and the boat wants to succeed because of their leadership and motivation.


Anyway success and failure depends on leadership. From the coach and from the athletes, thus “failure is the coach”