John Niebrugge

Ben McCollum shares what it feels like to be around first-place people and a first-place culture. "I went to Northwest Missouri State, and my first practice with Steve Tapmeyer - best coach I've ever been around - I sat there and I'm like, 'This is what first place feels like. This is what a first-place culture feels like. This is what first-place people feel like.'" That was the wake-up call. He realized what first-place people have: "They've got an extreme work ethic. They've got an edge to 'em that other people don't - a competitive spirit." Then he quoted John Thompson: "You can tame a fool a lot quicker than you can resurrect a corpse...We want guys with a little edge to 'em." You can coach skills, but you can't coach competitive spirit. You don't want to consistently coach their effort and attitude. The last thing they look for: Energy givers. "Over the years, we found that guys that are moody don't make it in our program." "If you're moody, if you have low energy, if you suck the life out of the building - you don't make it." Talent isn't enough. Your energy matters. Your attitude matters. Successful people have a competitive edge, they bring energy, and they look to consistently get better. They raise the standard through what they do. (🎥 Watts Happening Podcast)