NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – The following is a statement from Michael T. Strickland, Bandit Lites Chair and Founder.
More details from Bandit Lites (www.banditlites.com):
“Pat Summitt was a good friend of mine and a mentor. The world knows her best from her body of work in basketball, as well as the one hundred percent graduation rate of her players from the University of Tennessee. If you look up the words ‘Quality, Intensity, Honor or Dignity,’ you will find a picture of Pat. Pat was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, need I say more?
Now more than ever, we need Pat. She taught us a lot in life, but two points stand out at this strange time. First, she always said you must coach in two-minute segments. Always. Pat would tell you that no one, not even her, can see the end of a game. Thus, she always broke it down into two-minute segments and focused on what she could control, which was the next two minutes.
In the end, you will win the game if you break it down and coach well. Pat won. A lot. Eight National Championships.
I urge every leader of any type in the world today to please talk in two-week segments. No one can see the end of Covid-19 at this point. No one. We can see a week or two. Things change every day. It was announced that the drug remdesivir shows very encouraging results as a treatment. Other medical solutions continue to come forward, and we look better today than yesterday.
It is possible a cure could be found next week, or the week after. No one knows.
It is possible we never find a cure. No one knows.
What is a fact is that when you make blanket statements such as, “We will be shut down until 2021,” you destroy all the hope people have. There is no way anyone knows, as a fact, that we will be shut down until 2021, and it is irresponsible to say so. Please remember Pat’s advice and speak in two-week segments.
The second thing we learned from Pat is ‘Believe.’ Believe in yourself. Believe in your team. Believe in the ability to win. Without this belief, it is almost impossible to win. We all need to follow Pat’s advice and believe not only that we can beat COVID-19, but that we will!
How do we do all this? It is another quote from Pat: “Left foot, right foot, breathe, repeat.”
We will get through this. Humans are resilient and tough. Human nature will allow us to prevail. We need all our leaders to please talk in two-week segments and make daily alterations as needed. Each time a leader makes a long-term negative projection, one they have no way of knowing, they destroy the fuel of human existence, ‘Hope.’
Pat Summitt, we need you now, but you left us too soon. The next best thing is for all our leaders to follow in Pat’s footsteps and coach in two-week segments and give us Hope and Belief in ourselves. Anything less may not win. I want to thank everyone in a leadership role for all that they do, but also urge them to be like Pat.
Thank you,
Michael T. Strickland
