To understand
this, you have to go back to 1998 when I first started with KSA. My boss was a
great man who I will always look up to, and he is one of the reasons I have
been so successful in consulting all these years. He is one of the few that I
believe had found that right balance between consulting and family, and I have
tried to model myself after his example.
Torre was his
son’s soccer coach, and I remember times when he would tell the client that he
could not be there…and it was most likely because he had to coach. He was
confident enough in his value to the client that he did not have to sacrifice
his devotion to his family. I believe that he also understood that, if he did
not work on the family stuff than he could not succeed at the consulting
stuff... A great example that I follow to this day.
So, one of my
life’s goals back then was to coach my kids team. I did not care what sport, or
what age, or for how long…just that I wanted to be coach! However, over the
years I kind of forgot about that goal. I let the work take over a little too
much and let the family stuff coast on cruise control. Fast forward to 2012
when I started to get the feeling that something may be wrong with me…
Side note:
Whatever is wrong with me it is still undiagnosed. MRI showed a lesion, and the
doctor said MS is a possibility, or the lesion could be perfectly normal. The
doctor said they needed to wait another year or so and see if another lesion
shows up. I have bouts of ZERO energy, some lingering yet unexplained muscle
pain, I still can’t feel a lot of my face and I have numbness in my extremities
a lot! This puts me in this fun waiting game…the good news is I do not have an
actual diagnosis of MS…the bad news is I do not have a diagnosis of anything
that explains why my body is freaking out on me.
Anyway, I
started to try and put things into perspective and make sure I was putting
family first. I had the opportunity to be my sons assistant coach for flag
football (Actually, my wife made me sign up, but now I am glad she did!) The
week before the season I get a call that they are out of coaches, and would I
be the head coach. Well, I know nothing about flag football but it is 5-6 year
olds so what could go wrong. Then, two days later we get a call that there are
not enough 5-6 year olds so they are combining them with the 7-8 year olds…but
still not enough coaches so I had to be head coach. I go into study mode and
come up with a game plan, a play book, practice drills, formations, etc. Next
thing you know I am a head coach with a clipboard, a whistle, and a bunch of
kids who look to me for guidance on something that I know nothing about! Fast
forward to week 4 of the season…I have had a bunch of stiffness in my legs,
probably from this mysterious whatever the hell is going on with me. I step out
on to the field for practice, and during the first drill I pull my calf…and not
just a normal pull…a fall to the ground and fight back the tears because there
is ‘no crying in football’ pull. The next three hours were more of the same (we
had a double header…yea!) We won both games, but about every 5th
play I felt the muscle pull some more.
By the time I
got home I could not walk. My wife carried me into the house and I started a
steady rotation of pain killers and alcohol so that I could do my mile. By
11:30 I was ready…I took a double shot of painkillers and a couple swigs of
beer and headed to the basement. 5 minutes later I was at the door…which would
not have been that bad if it were not 10 feet away! I quickly did the math and
realized that at that pace my mile would be completed by the next month…and I
slowly came to the realization that the streak was over. VERY disappointing,
almost to the point of depression, but fitting that it was on my wife’s
birthday (she was never a big fan of the streak anyway), and at least it was a
result of something I loved doing. If I could go back…I wouldn’t! 5 years was a
damn good run, but coaching those boys to victory is pretty good too!
