Coach Paterno's Amazing Career---Teddy Roosevelt Answered His Critics

With the passing of Joe Paterno, what everyone should realize is that the world is a much better place because of Joseph Vincent Paterno. The recent disclosures of the Jerry Sandusky scandal should not detract from all the great things that JoePa accomplished in his life. Just hearing the comments from his players speaks volumes about the impact he had on lives. The good that this man did for many people in so many different ways can never be measured. Hopefully he will be remembered as an American icon who represented so many of the values of a great society. The big question, is how will the media and the spin doctors paint his portrait?

One key lesson to be learned from Paterno is that as a leader you will always be under constant scrutiny. The talking heads, print media and folks on the periphery, will all have better ways to do things. After the fact, they will have all the answers. For a coach they will have more knowledge of who should have played and what plays should have been called. For any leader, realize you will be second-guessed and criticized. However you need to understand two things:

1. You earned the right through your efforts to be in a position to make those decisions.
2. You had the courage to accept that leadership role and be willing to make those decisions.

So my advice to every leader is---- feel good about the fact that you are a leader and not someone who sits in the background and makes disparaging comments when the result is not perfect. Do not be one of those status quo managers who are afraid to make a decision because some outsider might question it. Did Coach Paterno make all the right decisions? No, but he did make a ton of great decisions that affected so many lives in a positive manner. Hopefully everyone will focus on all the great things he accomplished, not the media storm of the last three months. For me, I always want individuals with me who are not paralyzed by the thought of the outsiders’ criticism. Not doing anything is the sign of no leadership and no progress. Interestingly, Coach Paterno never relinquished his willingness to serve the role of leader.

I would encourage every leader to make a copy of this great quote by Teddy Roosevelt and keep it somewhere close to you so you can read it periodically. It probably more than anything perfectly brings into focus the reality of leadership and Coach Paterno's career.

“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so this place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat."