Colin's Column: Your Attitude Is Your Altitude & Other Lessons I Learned From Coach Dino Babers

I was recently able to attend a leadership seminar given by Syracuse University Head Football Coach, Dino Babers. The event was a great opportunity to network with people in the Syracuse area and then listen to Coach Babers speak for an hour on leadership and how he applies his values to his work and his football team. For those of you who haven’t had a chance to hear Coach Babers speak, take a listen to this. Coach Babers commands a room. He has the absolute attention of his team and fellow coaches. And his words are powerful. I’ll be the first to admit that I am NOT a Syracuse Football fan. But, after hearing many clips of Coach Babers on the radio and finding out about this speaking opportunity I thought it was something too good to pass up.

I’m so happy I went, even if I did have to walk around campus a bit to find the correct building because they changed the event location unannounced. No worries as I got my steps in for the day and I came ready to mingle and listen. I love networking opportunities because as much as it is an opportunity to get my name out there, it is a better opportunity for me tolisten to others. It’s amazing how much you can learn by listening to people. I think many people go into networking opportunities too worried about what they are going to say, their elevator pitch, and they miss opportunities to listen to other people that can be of help or interest to them. Coach Babers himself said, “Let all those who can hear, listen”.

Anyway, as the networking hour turned into “Dino’s Hour”, I was eager to hear what he said. The topic of leadership, in particular, is of serious interest to me. I’ve always been interested in how people become successful in all realms of life, and I’ve always wanted to learn how I could become a better leader. More recently, I’ve wanted to advance further and figure out how to help other people develop into leaders.

Immediately, Coach Babers took control of the room. He asked us all to put our phones away - luckily I brought paper and a pen to take notes on - and said that he didn’t want to be filmed in any way because he was about to get real with us. I thought that was an interesting way to start off his presentation, and maybe even turn some of the younger crowd off because, seriously, who can’t live without their phone for an hour these days? From there, Coach Babers moved into his career progression and how he got to Syracuse. This was not a seminar dedicated to pumping up the crowd for the upcoming football season, although Coach Babers did get a few points in about why people should be excited about what he and his team have been building. Then he got to the meat of his presentation.

As Coach Babers talked through his points and took questions from the crowd he addressed many things. Some of his more notable points were that “words trigger pictures” and that there are “no perfect people” and you have to “forgive yourself” and that “certain people get juiced by competition” - no pun intended, I’m sure.

There was one thing in particular that struck me most about Coach’s seminar and that was when he said, “your attitude is your altitude.” Damn. That was a powerful statement. And when he said it the room got very quiet so my assumption is the phrase struck other people in the audience as well. He went on to say that as a leader you need to be able to turn positives into negatives and not to let other people get you down. This is so true, yet so hard for many of us to do. He also mentioned how important your circle of friends was. This wasn’t this first time I heard someone talk about how you are a representation of the people you are closest to, but pairing it with everything else just really made a lot of sense to me.

I think our attitude is a true reflection of all of the things Coach Babers talked about that night. In sports, there is a famous saying that you should never get too high or get too low with your emotions. However, I think it is important to note that you are more likely to be successful if you have a positive attitude versus a negative one. I don’t think Coach Babers was literally saying to be happy-go-lucky all the time, especially after he said that he is “deadly honest” and I can imagine coaching at the Division I level can be taxing, but I think he was saying to let positive influences be a part of your life and to get rid of all the negative ones.

The proof of this comes from his talking points during the seminar, and they included: family, hard to be a good person, weapons of mass destruction, ego, are you sure?, and nightlife. We didn’t have time to cover all six topics, but of the four he spoke to it was clear that his values and his attitude on life were largely shaped by the points he discussed with the crowd that night.

It got me to thinking about what my talking points would be if someone asked me to give a leadership seminar. What I came up with I think is a true representation of me as a person: family first (thanks, Coach), always be learning, do things right the first time, be early, always compete, and finally, have integrity. These are the points that I believe can shape my attitude and allow my altitude to soar. They are specifically unique to me and they will help me stay focused on what is important and how I can be the best leader possible. I think at the end of the day that is the point. Anyone can be a successful leader. But first, you have to believe in yourself and you have to have an action plan. Once you believe and once you have an action plan you are on your way to becoming the best leader you can be.

I’ll leave you all with a quote from the late and great Jim Valvano, former Head Basketball Coach at NC State University:

“It’s so important to know where you are. I know where I am right now. How do you go from where you are to where you want to be? I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal. You have to be willing to work for it.”