What It Means To Be A Don
 

What Does it Mean to be a Don?
Senior pitcher Matt Hiserman wrote the following paper for a class in his sports management masters program at USF. The Dons' coaching staff was so pleased with how Matt was able to put meaning to being a "Don" that they wanted to share it with their fans, former players and friends. The books that Matt quotes throughout his paper are: Thinking for a Change by John C. Maxwell and Wooden on Leadership by John Wooden & Steve Jamison. Enjoy! And thanks to Matt for sharing his thoughts with the world.
 
John Wooden defined himself by stating, "I am a teacher." How we define ourselves is of great importance; it shapes our thinking and therefore shapes our actions. Many people define themselves by their occupation as Wooden did, and I am no different. For the past four years, I have been a student-athlete at the University of San Francisco, specifically I have been a Don. Recently, our pitching coach, Greg Moore along with the help of others on the coaching staff as well as the seniors on the team attempted to define what it meant to be a "Don". The word "Dons" became an acronym for the pillars of a successful "don." D: dons, O: on-it, N: now, and S: simple. For the purpose of this paper I will focus on the "D", "O", and the "N" as to keep it Simple.

All four letters have three subsequent words that help describe what each of the letters and words mean to a University of San Francisco baseball player, a Don. The first word in the acronym is "Dons," which stands for player-driven, people and add. To be player-driven consists of accountability, responsibility and trust of the players within the organization. It is the responsibility of each player to not only hold themselves accountable for their own actions, but also the actions of their teammates. With this comes trust, trust that if a teammate tells you something, they are doing it with the team's best interest in mind, and therefore your best interest in mind.  This gets all the players on the team focused in the same direction with a simple objective in mind. Wooden saw the importance in this as well saying, "I wanted a team whose members were filled with pride, not fear. Pride in the team and commitment to its mission are fundamental components of competitive greatness," (Wooden, & Jamison, 2005, p.168).

To be player-driven, it is important to have the right people. The people can be better described as a family. That is how it must be viewed and each member of the family must have the same intentions, the same "mission" as Wooden describes it. Maxwell describes the contagiousness of possibility thinking, "Big thinkers who make things happen also create possibilities for others," (Maxwell, p. 160). It is important to have all of the people in the program feed off of each other and therefore, the people become a major part of what makes up the team.

The last dimension of "Dons" is add. This is the very simple "mission" of the team and that is to add value every day in everything that we do. To add value is to make decisions that will not only help improve ourselves, but each other as well. By doing this we are adding value to our team and therefore making our team better. This simple mission has taken over winning a national championship, conference, or even individual games for the simple reason that everyone can do it every day. "Each of us needed to be concerned only with doing our specific job to the very best of our ability," (Wooden, & Jamison, p.179). By each individual doing their job to the best of their ability whether it is in the classroom, at a social event, or on the field, then they are able to add value and with this no one person feels as though they cannot contribute to the mission of the team.

The only way for each team member to add value is for each of them to be "on-it" at all times. This is why being "on-it" is the second pillar. Like the first pillar, the second also contains three words to expand its meaning. Being "on-it" consists of task-by-task, separate and finish. John Wooden was famous for teaching his players every little detail, even how to put on socks and tie their shoes. "Just as there is a correct way to tie your sneakers, there is a correct was of executing virtually everything in the game of basketball," (Wooden, & Jamison, p.142). To do something task-by-task, is to see the importance in everything we do. In this case when we tie our shoes, make sure that is where our focus is and tie the shoe the best we can. This is the same as making an important play at the end of a game. Our focus should be at the task at hand and nowhere else. This allows us to focus on the details that will lead to our success.

To succeed in going task-by-task, we must learn to separate. The ability to separate is the ability to take the general and make it specific. "All good strategic thinkers are precise in their thinking. They try to match the strategy to the problem, because strategy isn't a one-size-fits-all proposition," (Maxwell, p. 144). To take the focus from generally getting ready for the game, to specifically putting on our socks and tying our shoes, is to be able to separate. This then allows us to see the specific tasks and then take them "task-by-task".

Finally, to be "on-it" we must be able to finish. This is the most important aspect of the entire pillar for me because as Dr. Cellini stated, "Ninety percent of the people can do the first 90 percent of the work, we have to be one of the last 10 percent that can finish."  To be able to finish even the seemingly most miniscule tasks allows us to separate ourselves from our competitors. This also becomes important because it is by finishing the small details of these tasks that we allow for better preparation in the larger tasks. "Everything was connected to everything; all details connected to other details as part of the whole," (Wooden, & Jamison, p.144).

The third letter stands for "now". Now consists of three parts as well: this moment, opportunity and attack. To be in the "now" we must be in the moment. "Give me 100 percent. You can't make up for a poor effort today by giving 110 percent tomorrow," (Wooden, & Jamison, p.155).  As Wooden describes it, the only thing we have control of is the current moment and once that moment has past, it can never be regained. This shows the importance of being in the moment.

Being in the moment is magnified by the second word, which is opportunity. Each moment presents an opportunity and it is an opportunity that may never come again, therefore we must be prepared to make the most of every opportunity that is presented to us. It is also very important to see be able to reflect on an opportunity once the moment has passed, this is in case the opportunity presents itself again in a different context. We will then be able to recognize it and capitalize on that moment. "It's not necessarily experience that is valuable; it's the insight people gain because of their experience," (Maxwell, p. 180).  This shows us that even past opportunities can benefit us if we are able to reflect on them and use them when we recognize them again.

Finally the "now" is defined by attack. Attacking the moment and each opportunity allows us to be fully invested in everything that we do. There are no regrets; only mistakes if an attack is present in everything we do. Wooden credits his father with the idea of making "everyday your masterpiece." By attacking each day, each moment and each opportunity, you will be able to make that day your masterpiece by getting everything you can out of it, by staying in the "now."

The final letter in "Dons" stands for simple. It is a simple thing to define yourself, but few people take the time to do it. As a leader it is very important to provide clarity throughout an organization so that everyone has a clear definition of who they are. Then there can be unity and an understanding in the overall mission of the organization. To be a leader is to sell yourself to your followers. To do this we must know who we are and have a clear idea of what defines us. To define ourselves is to shape our thinking and in turn our actions. It takes a leader to define an organization and therefore, shape its thinking and its actions and in turn allowing the organization to reach "competitive greatness."