What Makes Shaun White Great?

Shaun White is the World’s #1 Action Sports Star

He dominates both the Winter AND Summer X-Games. He earns over $9 million per year. He has consistently won everywhere he’s competed, even the Winter Olympics! What makes him so special? There are tens of thousands of young incredibly talented athletes competing in these events. Not only popular in North America, these sports are popular world wide. At competitions it’s normal to find top competitors from every continent, all over Europe, Japan, Korea, Australia...you name it. In spite of this, if there is a big event, anywhere, more likely than not, Shaun White walks away with the Gold.

We just met him at breakfast at the Little Nell in Aspen
You could tell he was a fun guy, enjoying life, even though he was frustrated and nursing a bad ankle at the time. When we talked I told him I appreciated him being such a good role model for the young kids and he was grateful for the compliment since he agreed it is important to set a great example for the upcoming generation. It was clearly an obligation he took seriously, since it’s well known he does tons of volunteer work with charitable foundations. [see: Shaun White's personal website]

But that’s not what makes him great
Lots of young people have great values, work hard and donate their time to those less fortunate. Lots of have great personalities. You can’t discover who the special ones are by just talking to them, you have to see them in action. You have to see how they perform over a period of time, in a variety of situations. You have to see how they perform in pressure situations. That’s when the Greatness comes out.

We saw it at the Olympics
At the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics he was competing on the his snowboard in the half-pipe competition. It was a nervous time for him because his reputation was on the line. He had been on top for a long time and his competition was catching up. He knew he was vulnerable. 

So he did what champions do. He went into intensive training. He cancelled a lot of his outside obligations. He started to work on new tricks, ones that would keep him ahead of the game, keep him on top. The trick he came up with seemed impossible. I won’t even try to describe it except to say he named it the 1260 Double McTwist. [scroll down for a video of the McTwist]

Going into the Olympics there was lots of anticipation. Would he do it? Could he pull it off? Was it worth the gamble? Strategy dictates that you only pull out your biggest, toughest trick at then end of competition, probably on your last run, when you absolutely need it to win. 

As it turned out, by the time his last run came he already had enough points to win. He could just coast down in a victory lap and wave at the crowd, saving his big trick for another day. But that’s not who Shaun is. He knew the crowd had come to not only see him compete, but to see the exciting new trick! Also he had worked hard to master it and he wanted to do it. He didn’t want to disappoint the crowd, he didn’t want to disappoint himself. So he talked with his coach and decided to go for it. 

His coach told him “If you are going to do it, DO IT, give it all you have”! So he did and pulled it off - the first time anyone had ever done anything like it—the crowd went wild! It didn’t matter that it was unnecessary for scoring, what was necessary was for him to give it everything he had and to hold nothing back. That’s what he did and that’s what makes him Great.

We just saw the same thing this weekend in Aspen at the 2012 X-Games
He injured his ankle Thursday and re-injured his ankle Friday. He had to withdraw from the slope side competition on Saturday. He was crushed. There was a lot of doubt that he could compete in his signature event, the half-pipe, on Sunday. He had to rest up and hope for the best. We were surprised how definite he was when he told us Saturday morning he would be ready on Sunday. That was his moment and he wasn’t going to be denied.

On Sunday warm-ups he was his usual spectacular self. In fact he was so smooth and strong that he locked up first place just doing the same runs he had done the year before, scoring a fantastic 94 out of a possible 100 points. Once again he didn’t even need to show his best stuff. He had won! But there was one run left. 

The crowd and the announcers wondered what he would do. His ankle was injured. He was the star. He had nothing to prove. What would he decide to do on his last run? 

The answer came fast. He jumped in and “threw down” what the announcers said was the greatest run anyone had done in history. Everyone wondered how the judges would react, would they appreciate it and improve on his already huge score or not. The verdict soon came, his score 100! The first perfect score in history! Shaun was ecstatic! The crowd was ecstatic! And for sure ESPN and all his sponsors were ecstatic! He had delivered once again above and beyond what anyone could have reasonably expected.

Once again he showed what makes him the best…

He ALWAYS gives his ultimate best effort, EVERY time, he just can’t hold back!

The #1 Thing a Leader MUST Do

40 ways you COULD go, but which way WILL you go?

Teams ONLY work when they are unified behind a common purpose and common plan.

There’s always lots of opinions and options on anything that needs to be done. Many of them can be successful. But NO team will win when everyone is going in different directions. That’s where the leader comes in, to pull the team together - to call the play.

President George Bush described this as being the “Chief Decider.”

For better or worse, the Leader is the One
Someone has to make the final decision. Someone has to pull the team together and unify them behind one course of action. It takes courage. Know one ever knows the future. There’s always the possibility of failure. If the Leader decides wrong, everyone will know who to blame. That’s why this is the leader’s biggest responsibility.  When the time comes, they must act. They can’t delay or hesitate, they have to choose or the unity disintegrates.

 No MEAL lasts forever and no DECISION lasts forever
Of course the pressure never really let’s up on the leader. If it’s a good decision, positive things will happen and lead to a whole new arena of possibilities…all requiring more decisions. If it’s a bad call, the leader must jump into action and call another play to correct things. 

Leading is like driving a car - you can’t go to sleep.
Teams are like cars, they are always moving and there is always something coming up around the bend. They reach different stages in their growth – the same game plan, activity cycle, products, recognition, etc, never works forever.  If you are a teacher, the same techniques won’t necessarily work all year to keep your students interested, involved and participating. When their attention starts to wander you have to change things up. If you are a parent you know have to constantlly come up with different ideas to keep your kids doing their homework, behaving and doing their chores. When the leader in any arena sees attention, excitement and growth starting to peek IT’S TIME to call a new play. If he/she isn’t PAYING ATTENTION, they won’t know when to act or have any idea how to react. The closer they watch the more reaction time they have before they have to act.

If you’re in charge, don’t be afraid to call the play - the team is depending on you! You may not ever be a perfect leader but if you keep calling plays, you'll keep your team moving.

Does Worrying Help?

You're only wasting time...

Worrying never solved a problem and accomplishes nothing. Why not use that energy to pray, to trust in God, to take action? Being anxious doesn't really do anything, except hurt you.

The physical effects of anxiety and worry are very well documented and can lead to dire consquences. In addition to changing your appetite, sleep patterns and making it hard to concentrate, over the long term it can supress your immune system, cause digestive problems and even heart attacks.

Of course, it's easy to say, "Don't worry, be happy," but it is much harder to live without worry. But remember, when you worry, you're not trusting God. It's just the opposite. Stop and ask yourself if you're worrying about something that you have any control over. Probably not.

"Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life." 

—Phillippians 4:6-7, The Message Bible