YOUR PERFECT EFFORT
Football at every level has had special programs that have achieved historic feats. The NFL’s New England Patriots set a pro football record by winning 21 straight games from 2003 to 2004. College football’s Oklahoma University Sooners won a record 47 straight games from 1953-1957. But neither of them compare to De La Salle High School in Concord, California, who set a national high school record by winning 151 (151!) straight games - including 12 straight state championships - from 1992-2003. The program’s historic run of success, and the aftermath of their streak-ending loss, was even made into a movie, the 2014 film titled When the Game Stands Tall.
The head coach of the De La Salle football team and the architect of that winning program was Bob Ladouceur (pronounced LAD-uh-sir), who took over as a first-time head coach in 1979, won 399 career games against only 25 losses (and three ties), and retired after winning his final state championship game in 2012. Ladouceur has been recognized as one of the premier leaders and culture-builders in American sports history, and his program’s memorable winning streak speaks for itself. But like many great coaches, his team’s success on the scoreboard was really the byproduct of a more focused commitment to the process that winning required.
One of Coach Ladouceur’s primary points of emphasis with his teams was their commitment to what he called a “perfect effort.” In both the movie production and in his personal writing, Ladouceur emphasized this unique, process-focused approach. “We’re not asking you to be perfect on every play,” he said. “What we’re asking of you, and what you should be asking of each other, is to give a perfect effort from snap to whistle.”l
For 12 straight years, the De La Salle football team created a perfect result. They never lost. But that was never the focus. Why? Because Coach Ladouceur recognized that some elements of their experience were controllable, and some aren’t. He never asked his team for perfect execution. He never demanded perfect performance or held them accountable for a perfect outcome. Despite his own and his team’s desire to win, the coach realized that the execution and the performance and the outcome were never going to be perfect. They can’t be. Mistakes, errors, and even failures are a part of any meaningful pursuit, and expecting perfection in those areas was foolish and unrealistic.
But in the area of effort? Coach Bob Ladouceur recognized that that element of their experience was completely controllable. How hard we choose to work, what attitude we bring to the experience, and how we respond in the aftermath of our mistakes, our errors, and even our failures? That’s a decision each of us gets to make. And the more we focus on those controllable elements of our experience, the more we put ourselves in a position to earn the success we say we’re after.
When the Game Stands Tall opens with Coach Ladouceur leading his team onto the field just before the 2013 state championship game - what turned out to be the last win of their historic streak. A reporter walks alongside the coach and asks him bluntly as they approach the packed stadium, “How long do you think you can keep the streak alive?” Ladouceur, his eyes fixed on the field, calmly replies, “The streak was never our goal.” That simple statement highlights the coach’s focus to the process, and clarifies once again his team’s commitment to the controllables.
There’s an important lesson each of us can learn from the architect of high school football’s winningest program, and an important question each of us - including you - would be wise to consider here today. Whatever it is you’ve got on your to-do list…what would your perfect effort look like? If that’s your focus and your commitment - if that’s your goal here today, like it was for Coach Bob Ladouceur’s teams all those years - then you’re doing what champions do. You’re putting yourself in the best position to perform at a high level, and the best position to earn the success you say you’re after.
