YOUR PERFECT EFFORT
There have been impressive teams and historic winning streaks at every level of football. The NFL’s New England Patriots set a professional record by winning 21 straight games from 2003 to 2004. The Oklahoma University Sooners set the college mark by winning 47 straight from 1953-1957. But nobody's success can compare to De La Salle High School in Concord, California, who set a national high school record by winning 151 straight games - including 12 straight state championships - from 1992-2003. The program was so dominant, their streak so impressive, and their coach so unique that they were the subject of the 2014 film When the Game Stands Tall.
That coach was Bob Ladouceur (pronounced LAD-uh-sir), who took over at De La Salle 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. His team’s memorable winning streak speaks for itself. But like many great coaches, his program’s success on the scoreboard was really the byproduct of a unique perspective on elite performance.
Coach Ladouceur's primary focus - before the streak, during it, and afterwards - remained on the daily 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” - or from beginning to end.
For 12 straight years, the De La Salle football team created a perfect result. They never lost. But ironically, winning was never the focus. Why? Because Coach Ladouceur recognized that some elements of their experience were controllable, and some weren’t. He never asked his team for perfect execution. He never demanded perfect performance, and he never held them accountable to a perfect outcome. Despite his 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, for any of us. Mistakes, errors, and even failures are a part of any meaningful pursuit, and expecting perfection in those areas is as foolish and unrealistic for us today as it was for his teams back then.
But in the area of effort? To Coach Ladouceur, that element of the experience was completely controllable. And the same is true for each of us. 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? Those are decisions we get 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 2003 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, says without flinching, “The streak was never our goal.” That simple statement highlights the coach’s focus on 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 here today - would be wise to consider. Whatever it is you’ve got on your to-do list today…what does your perfect effort look like? If that’s your goal, then you're in good company. You're adopting Coach Bob Ladouceur’s unique perspective on elite performance. You’re focused on the process and committed to the controllables. And you're putting yourself in the best position to earn the success you say you’re after.
