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Dreams pass into the reality of action. - Anais Nin

Sunday, I spent the day like every other red blooded American male , yep I went to see the movie Invincible with my family.  Yes I watched some NFL football, thanks TiVo, but I spent a good chunk of NFL Opening Sunday watching a movie about a bad Philadelphia Eagles team from 30 years ago.

Invincible is the story of Vincent Papale.  A 30 years old teacher with no college football experience who made the 1976 Philadelphia Eagles team as a wide receiver.  For those of you unfamiliar with American Football, receivers must be fast and their careers are usually short.  Once they lose a step, they lose their job.  So starting a career at an age most players are ending theirs is an amazing feat, doing it at a position like receiver is unprecedented.  In fact, Papale is still the oldest rookie in the 75 year history of the NFL.

Watching the movie got me thinking about the importance of hustle, desire and determination in sports and if it's possible to coach those traits.  In the movie the Eagles coach, Dick Vermeil, decides to keep Papale because of the desire Papale shows on the field.  Vermeil was a first year coach and wanted to change the team's character.  He thought having a scrappy, hustling underdog on the team would illustrate his point about the need to work hard every play.

I've never been able to find a down on his luck substitute teacher with freakish natural talent to add to my team as a way of making a statement, but maybe you'll have better luck…  Instead I usually have to find other means to change a team's culture.  

In business there is a management axiom "Expect what you inspect".  That's true in a business setting because the boss' attention is one way for employees to know what is important.  Rather than monitoring activities, we coaches can "inspect what we expect" by recognizing good effort.  When a player executes properly, especially away from the play, recognize the effort.  Be sure the player, and the rest of the team knows what the player did correctly.

A lineman makes a good block, a soccer winger makes a great run, an outfielder backs up a play, they all are easy to overlook, but if you want them to happen you have to recognize them.  Effort is the one thing that every player can control in every game.  Recognize the hustle and effort, even if the results aren't there, and you can expect more of what you are inspecting.