Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

ADAM OLSEN: I’m talking about practice. Practice! That’s right, practice!


A recent addition to my podcast library is "Finding Mastery with Michael Gervais." Gervais is a high-performance psychologist. His list of clients is impressive, and it includes Seattle Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll.

Steve Kerr, Head Coach of the NBA's Golden State Warriors and former player for the San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls, was Gervais most recent guest at the time of my introduction to his podcast.

It was one of those "coincidental" moments. Just a few days earlier someone asked me "if the B.C. Greens were the Chicago Bulls which one would you be?" (It's a long story, but that is what happened.)

"Steve Kerr!" I said without hesitation. Well, after listening to Kerr talk about his philosophy and process, it's a good answer. Kerr has won eight NBA championships. Three as a coach, and five as a player. He's coached his Warriors squad to four straight NBA Finals.

Leading through the issues

In politics, it is easy to get caught up in each and every issue. There is always an issue-du-jour. It is incredibly easy to react to one, and then the next, and the next, matching the level of outrage that pours freely into the inbox.

But that is not helpful. Nor is it leadership.


So, how does someone like Kerr end up in the NBA Finals so often? Establish a process, and then practice it.

No matter what Allen Iverson thought about practice, he was wrong. It's not about the game. It's all about practice.

In the end, Kerr's teaching and his process is really simple. First, identify the vision. Define the three or four values that are the source of your inspiration.

For him, and his championship Warriors team, it is joy. As he mentions in the podcast, if you watch his top player Steph Currie play the game, joy flows from him like a kid on a playground.

For you, and your team, it could be anything. But I like joy. Especially, in my line of work. It is so easy to be pulled down by the weight of each and every issue.

Second, share the vision. Make sure everyone on the team knows what the vision is and the values it is founded on.

Finally, and much to the chagrin of Allen "No-Championship" Iverson, practice. Practice the vision. Every day, in every thing you do. Practice.

Here is Pete Carroll's advice to Steve Kerr.

Find the four or five things that are most important to you in your life. Define the values that you hold most dear, and then practice those things everyday.

Good advice. Thanks Pete.



Adam Olsen is the Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for Saanich North and the Islands

Born in Victoria, BC in 1976, Adam has lived, worked and played his entire life on the Saanich Peninsula. 

He is a member of Tsartlip First Nation (W̱JOȽEȽP), where he and his wife, Emily, are raising their two children, Silas and Ella.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

GORDON F. D. WILSON: When The Trick Masquerades as The Treat

Thirty-seven years ago, Halloween 1987, I became the leader of the BC Liberal Party.   British Columbia was badly polarized. Social Credit held one side and the NDP the other. It had been twelve years, 1975, since Liberal MLAs Garde Gardom, Pat McGeer, and Alan Williams had walked away from their party to join Social Credit, one year after the lone Progressive Conservative MLA Hugh Curtis had abandoned his party to sit with Bill Bennett, the son and heir apparent to long-serving BC Premier, WAC Bennett.   An unwritten agreement by the biggest Canadian political shareholders, the federal Liberals and Conservatives, decided that if British Columbia was to remain a lucrative franchise from a revenue perspective, they couldn’t risk splitting the electoral vote and electing the real enemy, the NDP, so no resources would be used to finance either a Liberal or Conservative party provincially.   “There are two sides to every street,” I was told by a very prominent Canadian businessman who cont

FORSETH: You Have To Be A Bit Crazy

  Ward and his wife Carleen celebrating his win on election night.   In March of this year, I took on the role of Campaign Manager for BC Conservative candidate Ward Stamer.  It’s the third time I’ve had the opportunity as I took on the role for Peter Sharp in 2013, and for Dennis Giesbrecht in 2020. Now let me tell you, in the past, a BC Conservative campaign team generally consisted of myself, the candidate and one or two helpers – and very little in the way of a campaign budget. Thankfully, a benefit of having spent 30+ years in the broadcast media afforded me the ability to do ad copy and write candidate speeches, and prep both Dennis and Peter to deal with the media – it’s also something I have always enjoyed. That was part of my duties this time around as well, however having a team of a dozen and a half volunteers meant that for the first time we had people available to ID our supporters, put together and install campaign signs, distribute campaign literature, and help out at ou

FORSETH: As a BC Conservative member, and campaign worker, I will again state that the fact these errors were found -- AND brought to light BY Elections BC -- shows the system IS working

Sadly, two and a half weeks after the BC provincial election campaign, those who want to undermine our political process are still at.  PLUS, we also have one who doesn’t even live in our country, never mind our province. I speak of the buffoon running for President of the United States, who has poisoned the well when it comes to faith in the electoral process. Just today alone, comments such as the following, were being made of posts that I shared online: ... all the votes they keep finding has just favoured NDP on in all critical ridings and soon they will flip another riding in favour of NDP, Come on. ... Elections BC has ridiculed British Columbians, and I no longer have confidence or trust in their process and competence regarding the results Then there are others online, with comments like these – who are claiming fraud in the October 19th election: ... Who is the oversight for Elections BC? They should be investigated for election fraud! ... Fraudulent election ... should be red

Labels

Show more