Take Above The Line: Lessons In Leadership And Life From A Championship Season Originated By Urban Meyer E-Text
am one of the biggest Ohio State football fans you will meet but that is not why I read this book.
In the Air Force there is an emphasis on the whole airmen concept, This is basically striving to improve in all aspects of your life all the time, We can all work on being better leaders and this books has some advice that I think everyone can benefit from,
This is actually one of the better leadership books I have read with more good material in the firstminutes than a lot of others have in the entire book.
The only reason it didnt getis that the book seemed to fizzle out as far as good points and start to become a recap of a bunch of Urban Meyers football games.
I watched all the games Urban so I dont need play by play, Any readers focused on the leadership aspects of the book wouldnt want the play by play either,
Overall a very good read, This is now my favorite book, hands down!
The way Urban Meyer puts his leadership and spiritual concepts together, and develops a championship caliber program is unbelievable.
I felt very connected to this book, like he was talking to me! I will be using a lot of his tactics in my everyday life, and I will be referring to this book often! One word to describe the book Above the Line by Urban Meyer is “detail.
” It is the word to describe it because everyone sees the success of a group of people, but what they don't see is the detail: sweat, tears and blood that an individual or team puts in.
This book exposes what theNational Championship Ohio State Buckeyes went through to get them there,
I chose this topic because I followed this season really closely and, of course, found it interesting how they won it all after all of the adversity they faced that season.
It is easy to see success from the outside, Only successful people or programs actually know what you have to do and continue to go through to be successful, This book shows what theNational Champions did to achieve the ever elusive title they wanted,
Another thing I found interesting about the book was that Urban Meyer talked about the way he coached and his personal life in the book throughout the journey to the championship.
The book changed the way I viewed success, It gave me reasons to help others find success and what do if things go sour.
The book is a mustread for anyone but especially people who are into sports, selfimprovement, biographies or looking for a book to read.
I found the book interesting because in the book the football season and the events before that were given a new perspective.
I like the writing style of the book because it reminds me of being presented with a game plan, It told what they did to succeed and how they made plans when things got tough and succeeded even then, After reading this book, it is apparent why Urban Meyer has been successful at every school he coaches, He has a detailed
leadership strategy that is implemented from the top down from himself to his assistant coaches to the players.
Many leadership books from coaches tend to get lost in story telling of game recaps, There are a few game stories, and Above the Line is refreshing in that the smaller anecdotes are used merely to give an example of the leadership principle being explained.
Obviously, Michigan fans will have a hard time giving this book the light of day, but the messages Meyer conveys are applicable to everyone regardless of their team following.
He does a bit of name dropping in the book to perk up your eyes and get a little excited, That is a luxury accrued from coaching at top Divisionfootball schools,
This book will definitely stay on my shelf, It has numerous highlights and markings from my first read, although each chapter has a summary of the key points, My only question is how this book would have been different if written the season after Ohio State did not defend the national title, rather than after the season where they overcame the odds to win their first national title under Meyer.
My notes:
prioritize family and loved ones
you always need the culture kids amp make sure their importance is known and felt
intentional on purpose and skillful
blame complain defend not about it
its how you respond to unexpected / setbacks
ERO
Physical and mental situations to challenge them to respond ABOVE the line
R: press pause ask what does this require of me challenge athletes to do this when they fail to respond well
R: get your mind rightfocus and think so you perform BEST talk positively/productive mindset have a time every day that we stop and ask how we are thinking
R: step up big E amp O requires big R build your capacity for R dont run from pain, learn from it
R: adjust and adapt foolish to resist change, break habits that will break you where would they lead you if you continued
R: make a difference your R is an E for others, the quality of your relationships is based on what you give and how you respond and how much effort you give make the others around you better
R: build skill talent is a gift, greatness is a CHOICE, elite level is achieved by those who desire to grow beyond their talent, be uncomfortableif it doesnt challenge you it wont change you
enjoy the moment dont be so quick to move on to whats next
change or die other book to read
we are not measured by one your intentions but by our actions
how we spoke was about building a culture that trained at the elite level
commitment to team and core beliefs are seen culture by design trust attitude and effort
quality of the leaders is the difference maker
performance must be led not expected
the right behavior must be reinforced
clarity of culture blueprint what be believe, how we behave, what we expect to achieve
Relentless
Toughness
Game reps and mental reps
Power of the unit
Competitive excellence
what behaviors do we need what beliefs align with those
adherence is a requirement keep people accountable
if you permit it you promote it
guard culture making by not speaking too much about winning
How do we practice All in
How do we play All in
How do we train All in
How do we rest All in
embrace the grind.
Being elite is toughness. Mostly mental toughness
mixing up sets and reps and partners
what is the process/pathway to achieve every goal
how you compete in practice will be how you compete in games
you never know when your opportunity will come its your job to be prepared for when it does
MOTIVATION
Small unit cohesion
Love for teammates and coaches
Trust belief in the reliability of a person
You can only push to the level of trust
Strength of team is determined by that of the bonds between people
Characterethical trust
Competence technical trust
Connectionpersonal trust
People experience your behavior not your intentions
Trust principles amp why its important outings to develop it small groups
Time is the developer of love and trust
Need to affirm the good too
ALIGNED
Hire there right people and recruit the right players
Communicate purpose and hold people to that
Disloyalty gone
Operational details very important to smooth sailing
Get theto the top, dont waste time on the bottom
Remind them its worth the effort to become topmastery amp belief
Spread out theto be with the
Give themore ownership
Knowing what each person needs
Little victories
Giving people the confidence to take risks
Capacity for change who knowstimes Do they want it Truly Then put in the effort to give those opportunities
Positive peer pressure
You have to be prepared in advanced you dont wait for the opportunity to explain your belief to consider it.
Take time to think and reflect esp during the grind
Encourage new ideas, think about common things in an uncommon ways
Belief relentless and resilience “I will”
Youre only as strong as the obstacles youve overcome
You rise or fall to the level of your training mental and physical
Nothing more powerful than a team that believes together
.