Winners Finish

This past Saturday, I attended the TN Boys Cross Country Championships.  Brock Baker was the hands-down favorite to win the championship.  He was undefeated throughout the year and simply dominated the races that he entered.  In mile two of the three mile race, Brock laid down an incredible mile split and left the rest of the elite racers in the dust.  With 600 yards to go, Brock was ahead by over a minute.  And then it happened.  Not even five feet from me, Baker fell.  At first I thought he simply stumbled at the top of the hill.  As I encouraged him to get up, he stood and then wobbled as if his legs were made of jello.  Brock had depleted all of his energy and was literally out of it.  His body was shutting down and his mind was going elsewhere to cope with the the pain and complete depletion of stored energy.

Brock then proceeded to get up and finish.   He would literally take one step forward, two steps back, and was unable to walk a straight line at first.  But eventually he finished.  He persevered and completed the task.  It was sad to see Brock taken away in an ambulance, but more than ever, I respected this young man for having the courage to finish what he started even though he was embarrassed and had blown his opportunity to claim the title of state champ that was his for the taking.

Today at work, I conducted group meetings with the entire staff.  The participation and discussion was much more than expected.  I had a chance to set the "tone", increase awareness, challenge others to greatness, and start to create a culture of trust and caring and hope.  It was good to build rapport and relationships and several employees thanked me on the way out of the meeting.  I was pleased with such a great start and thrilled to be a part of starting to help grow this business to the next level.  But today was a lot like last Saturday and the race that Brock Baker ran. 

The start didn't matter.  No one wins the start.  Brock's fantastic surge in mile two didn't give him a state championship.  And even with a one-minute plus lead with 600 yards to go, Brock collapsed and didn't win the race.  But he did finish.  Brock's courage, determination, and his willingness to be embarrassed earned him the respect and honor that even winning a state championship wouldn't have given him.

And I know today was just a "honeymoon" with the employees during meetings.  I am OK with that.  But tomorrow, we have to have the guts to get up, and move forward towards the finish line.  We need to compete, be willing to be embarrassed, trust, encourage, and help each other to the "finish" line.

Because anybody can start, but only true winners finish.  Thanks for the lesson Brock Baker!