Lesson to Self #4: Hardworking
For the last three weeks, I have written lessons to myself about the importance of intentional character skill development including thinking well, becoming disciplined, and using creativity to find effective solutions. (You can find these in prior posts.) Since I was recently a witness to an exemplar of these three skills, I want us to be reminded of the importance of being hardworking, which is contingent on a hefty foundation of solid thinking, discipline, and creativity.
Allow me to introduce Lang Wedemeyer. Lang is the current head coach of Liberty University’s NCAA Division 1 women’s soccer program, ranked nationally this past season at #24. Prior to that, he spent 17 years at the helm of South Dakota State following his own 7-year tenure playing professional soccer and standout collegiate play with the Virginia Tech and Old Dominion Universities. Since he has been there, done that, you might think that he can now sit back and rest on his coaching laurels, doling out demanding instructions from the sidelines. Right? Wrong.
Coach Wedemeyer has led the Liberty Flames to remarkable accomplishments. The young women are bought into his coaching methodologies and approach. They are constantly improving their technical skills and, from all appearances, have developed an extremely tight-knit sense of “team.” It’s a beautiful thing.
So, what is Lang’s secret? Certainly, his own prowess in the sport and extensive experience as a coach contributes to his success. But I want to propose that the team buy-in and performance is largely a function of the example he sets.
Coach Wedemeyer got up close and personal with the sport of ultrarunning when he moved back into the Central Virginia area, a hotbed for trail running. One thing led to another as he entered the foray of long, sometimes tortuous mountain trail running. He began to enter races with mileage totals unknown to 99.9% of the population. He even ran the entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway (469 miles) and completed the nearly 500-mile Camino de Santiago in Spain in a mere 15 days. (14 days if you exclude his one day of rest. You do the math for miles per day.)
Lang is the kind of coach that leads by example. His players simply cannot rebel against his demand for excellence when he puts his money where his mouth is. He shows them (doesn’t have to tell them) how to be disciplined, how to accomplish hard things by grounded thinking, and how to be creative in finding solutions to difficult challenges. His hard work at maintaining his own physical, mental, and spiritual fitness leaves no room for a player to claim, “But Coach, you don’t understand.” He understands very well.
Yesterday I saw Lang in the middle of a 35-mile trail race. He got there by careful preparation and a healthy dose of hard work. He moved along with efficiency of stride and a smile on his face. He is the kind of coach that I most admire because there is nothing he will ask of his players that he is not willing to do himself.
Thanks, Coach Wedemeyer, for the inspiration.
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