🏆 Carry the Luggage: The Ultimate Leadership Story...

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ONE THOUGHT...

First of all, HAPPY THANKSGIVING to Everyone! I hope you enjoy the day with your friends and family! 🦃

I am going to start by giving some background of one of the Greatest Winners and Leaders in the History of Sport.

My guess is that most of you have never heard of her. Her name is Carla Overbeck. Consider her pedigree.

• She was captain of her college team at UNC. Won 4 straight National Championships with a career record of 89-0-6.

• She was captain of the U.S. national women’s soccer team that won Olympic gold in 1996.

• Captain of the team that won the World Cup in 1999, a team that, over four years of international play, posted an 84-6-6 record, making them one of the winningest teams in the history of sports

• 8 YEARS: 173 Wins, 6 Losses, 12 ties. 91% win%.

Carla Overbeck was the ultimate WINNER.

Why did her teams win? 

This is best understood through a great book and story about Carla Overbeck from Author Sam Walker and his book, The Captain Class: The Hidden Force That Creates the World’s Greatest Teams (I HIGHLY recommend this book).

• Walker set out to study the greatest teams in sports history and figure out what traits they shared.

• In 11 years, Walker studied 1200 teams in 37 sports. 

• He traveled around the world conducting interviews on what made these teams so ELITE. After all of these interviews, he could find only one thing that extraordinary teams had in common, and it wasn’t what you would think.

What Walker discovered was that it was not the coach. It was not big money. It was not a superstar player that made these teams win year after year.

The key to their success was that each TEAM had an extraordinary captain, an extraordinary leader - a leader like Carla Overbeck.

So, Carla Overbeck was an incredible leader. She was the Captain of a great soccer dynasty. 

How did she lead? Why was she a great leader?

There is a great story from Sam Walker's book that helps us better understand Carla Overbeck.

Overbeck was arguably the key to Team USA's success -- “the heartbeat of that team and the engine” and “the essence of the team,” as one teammate put it. Yet, few have ever heard of her. She wasn’t the best player on the team or the most talented. She played defense and rarely scored, even though she played almost every minute of every game. To most of the outside world, she was unknown, but to her teammates, she was the Captain, the Leader.

Overbeck had one unusual habit: When the team arrived at a hotel, she would carry everyone’s bags to their rooms for them.

Why did she do it? According to her coach, and the story in the book, the theory was this. Apparently, Overbeck was a relentless taskmaster. She pushed her teammates relentlessly both in practice and games. Slack off during a game, or slow down, and you would hear it from her, usually in some rather colorful language. She had no problem shouting at her teammates, telling them to shape up or work harder.

But because she had carried the bags, she had earned the right to be a tyrant. Carrying the bags meant that once the team took the field, “she could say anything she wanted,” her coach says.

When the U.S. team won the World Cup in 1999, they all went on a big victory tour. Overbeck skipped the celebrations and flew home to North Carolina. On the day of the big rally in New York City, she was doing laundry. “I’ve never cared about getting my name in the paper,” she said. “As long as my team wins, I’m happy.”

Overbeck defined what being a Servant Leader is all about.

And her teams WON.

Team Captains like Carla Overbeck are what Sam Walker discovered were the keys to these winning dynasties.

So what did he learn about leadership?

The great captains were humble, selfless players who seemed to believe that leading people was about serving them.

“The most crucial ingredient in a team that achieves and sustains historic greatness,” Walker argues, “is the character of the player who leads it.”

What’s more, the great captain was not always the best player. In fact, as with Overbeck, the best captains were often not superstar players. They were often less gifted than their teammates. They were quieter, unassuming, and worked behind the scenes. Yet they still managed to be great leaders.

What were their attributes?

• They were fierce competitors. 

• They played aggressively, to the point of testing the rules. 

• They did the grunt work, the “thankless jobs in the shadows.” 

• They were the kind who insisted on playing even when they were injured, who practiced longer and trained harder than anyone else.

Walker’s book makes one think maybe the best leaders are the quiet ones.

Elite Leaders understand and implement the theory of Servant Leadership.

Anyone who aspires to be a leader or is a leader and hopes to get better at it could be inspired by the story of Carla Overbeck.

Read "The Captain Class" by Sam Walker for more details about leadership and elite teams.

Looking for another great Carla Overbeck story? Check it out here: Overbeck Story.

Good Luck!

TWO QUOTES...

“Pressure is an illusion. I’m just here to have fun.” — Sydney McLaughlin

"No one ever expected me to be here so that feeling of being an underdog is ingrained in me. It's a natural part of my consciousness." – Steve Nash

THREE TWEETS FROM OTHERS...

Culture WINS: 50 Ways to Build a Winning Culture — gberge.gumroad.com

Why do some teams WIN year after year?

There are many reasons, but creating a Winning Mindset and a Winning Culture are two big ones.

This 42-page eBook (pdf) is loaded with 50 practical and useful ideas that coaches can use NOW to help build a Winning Culture and Winning Mindset in their program. Some of these ideas include:

• Create MUDITA

• No Deposit - No Return80-8 Rule

• Be an MVT (Most Valuable Teammate)

• Life is an Echo

• Listen with your Eyes

• Do Simple Better

• NITE Communication

• Cool Doesn't WIN

• The Secret

• 1% Better

• And much, much more.

This eBook is practical, purposeful, and written by a Coach and for a Coach. It is based on decades of coaching experience with very successful teams. I am very confident that you will pick up MANY strategies and ideas that you will be able to bring to your team and program!

Click here for Paperback Version on AMAZON: https://buff.ly/3BBupxT

eBook Version (PDF) on Gumroad: gberge.gumroad.com