The Hard Hat

21 Ways to Be a Great Teammate

Jon Gordon

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781119120131
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Développement personnel
• Subtopic: Réussite personnelle

Great teammates don't just impact you today; they impact you for the rest of your life.

From the moment Jon Gordon heard about George Boiardi and the Hard Hat he was intrigued and captivated. Over the years he visited George's coaches, attended several "21 Dinners" held in his honor, met his family, talked to his teammates and observed how he inspired all who knew him.

The Hard Hat is an unforgettable true story about a selfless, loyal, joyful, hard-working, competitive, and compassionate leader and teammate, the impact he had on his team and program and the lessons we can learn from him.

The book features:

• A True Story about George Boiardi, his Team and their Legacy.
• 21 Lessons to be a Great Teammate
• Insights from George's Teammates and Coaches that Bring the Lessons to Life.
• 21 Exercises to help you Build a Great Team

Infused with practical insights andlife changing lessons, The Hard Hat will inspire you to be the best teammate you can be and to build a great team.

*100% of author's royalties go to support the Mario St. George Boiardi Foundation

Part One
The Hard Hat

Chapter 1
Unforgettable

When you see something for the first time, you never forget it. As I write this, I can still picture the 2007 semi-final game of the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championships between Cornell and Duke. Duke was leading 10–3 in the third quarter and all seemed lost for Cornell. But with unparalleled determination, Cornell staged a furious comeback and tied Duke with 17 seconds left in the game. Duke would eventually win by scoring a goal with three seconds left, showing their own fortitude, but it was the comeback and effort by Cornell that left me in awe.

I played lacrosse at Cornell in the early nineties and had also watched thousands of games in numerous sports, but I had never seen a team play with such spirit, passion, grit, resilience, and relentless determination as Cornell did in the second half of that game. Since I work with many professional and college sports teams as well as teams in the corporate, educational, and non-profit world, I had to find out what inspired this team to play the way they did. As a student and teacher of human motivation, I knew it had to be more than a desire to win. They were driven by something much bigger and I was very curious to discover what it was.

So, I went on a quest back to the place where I spent my college years, a place that shaped and molded me in so many ways. On the plane to upstate New York, I realized that I could connect the work I did now with many of the growth opportunities I experienced as a student-athlete. Playing a sport in college changed my life forever and taught me to work hard; overcome adversity, rejection, self-doubts, and fears; and keep striving toward my dreams. I left as a student, became a teacher, and landed at the Ithaca airport ready to be a student again. As I arrived on the campus I hadn't seen in over 10 years, I felt a familiar chill in the October air and I was prepared to learn new lessons on leadership and teamwork.

Chapter 2
We Know Who Our People Are

I found Jeff Tambroni, the Cornell men's lacrosse coach, standing on the sidewalk by the lacrosse office as I walked up the hill from the Statler Hotel. I had played against Jeff in college when he was an All-American attackman at Hobart College and I was a face-off man and defensive midfielder for Cornell. I could still picture the way he looked back then and remembered his incredible quickness and uncanny ability to create scoring opportunities for his team. Unfortunately, it had happened against Cornell and me far too many times.

My time at Cornell is regrettably called the beginning of the dark years. Before I had joined the team, Cornell had made it to the national championships two years in a row. My sophomore year, we were ranked ninth in the country but, during my senior year, we had the first losing season in the history of legendary Richie Moran's coaching career. The program experienced a number of challenging times and losing seasons in the years following my graduation, but Jeff Tambroni, first as an assistant and then as head coach, had restored Cornell to a lacrosse powerhouse program once again.

When I asked Jeff how he got Cornell back to its winning ways, he said, “We know and embrace who our people are. In years past we would recruit lacrosse players en masse, but now we are looking to recruit a specific ten who most appropriately fit our culture. In fact, instead of trying to be everything to everyone, we actually try to weed out the people who wouldn't be a good fit. We highlight the reality of our culture; it's really cold in Ithaca much of the time and if you don't like the cold, this is probably not the right place for you. We let them know it snows a lot during the late fall and winter at Cornell, and if you don't like the snow, this is not the right place for you. We tell them that if they come here, we will provide them with an opportunity to train hard and be one of the hardest-working teams in the country with no illusion of wins and losses. If you don't like to work hard for others, this is not the right place for you. We tell them about the hard hat, and if it doesn't resonate with them then we know it won't be a good fit. The hard hat has become a big part of our culture and represents all that we stand for. By weeding out the wrong people, we are able to zero in on the right guys that fit our culture and then partner with them as they develop into great teammates and a great team.”

Chapter 3
The Hard Hat

I was very curious about the hard hat, and asked Jeff what it was all about. He said, “A few years ago we got together as a coaching staff, including our head coach Dave Pietramala, who is currently the head coach at Johns Hopkins, and realized we wanted our culture and program to be defined by our toughness, selflessness, and hard work. Hard hats are usually worn by construction workers, and we decided to use it to symbolize the blue-collar work ethic we wanted our program and teams to possess.”

“The idea is that our players will come to practice, punch the clock, and give a blue-collar, workman-like effort every day. We tell them, ‘Come to practice, do your job, and work as hard as you can.’ To ingrain the hard hat symbol and character traits into our culture, each season we select a freshman to carry the hard hat for the year. The player selected is someone who we feel demonstrates the blue-collar approach to the game of lacrosse. He sets the example for others and is driven and selfless. He may not be the most talented player on the field but is consistently the hardest worker. He puts his team first and embodies how our players are supposed to act on and off the field.

“The player selected to carry the hard hat is expected to bring it to practice and games. We want our guys to look at the bench and see the hard hat. It's in every team picture, as well. We want each young man to see it and remember why he came to this university and chose to be a part of this program. We want to remind them what we stand for as a team. We want them to live and share our values each day. We want our culture to build them into better men and, in turn, have them continue to build a better culture. Most of all, ever since George, we want the hard hat to remind them to do everything they can to be great teammates. George embodied everything the hard hat stood for, and now the hard hat embodies the teammate and person George was. You can't talk about the hard hat without talking about George, and you can't talk about George without talking about the hard hat. They have become inseparable.”

I saw tears well up in Jeff's eyes as he spoke about George and wanted to hear more, but didn't want to pry. I could tell there was a lot more to the story, so I was thankful when he walked me into his office, showed me a picture of George, and said, “You want to know why we have become the program we have, let me tell you about the heart of a leader and the spirit of a team. Let me tell you about the greatest teammate I have ever played with or had the honor to coach. Let me tell you about George.”

Part Two
George
Narrated by Coach Jeff Tambroni

Chapter 4
Mario St. George Boiardi

His name was Mario St. George Boiardi but everyone called him George. I can still remember the first time our coaching staff saw hi...