Be a Goldfish!

Not long ago, I started hearing rave reviews about a new sports-themed comedy-drama television series with an uplifting tone called “Ted Lasso” so I decided to check it out. The main character, Ted Lasso, is a successful college football coach in the U.S. who gets hired by a professional English Premier League soccer team as their new manager despite not knowing anything about the sport. He frequently throws out a witty one liner; a pearl of wisdom for his players and just about anyone he interacts with. My favorite motivational quote is heard early in the series during practice when a defensive player has a bad practice. Coach Lasso asks the young man if he knows what the happiest animal on Earth is. “It’s a goldfish. You know why? It’s got a ten second memory. Be a Goldfish!” Coach Lasso used this metaphor to help his player shake it off as dwelling on bad experiences or mistakes can be unhealthy.

“For me, success is not about the wins and losses. It’s about helping these young fellas be the best versions of themselves on and off the field.”

“For me, success is not about the wins and losses. It’s about helping these young fellas be the best versions of themselves on and off the field.” answers Coach Lasso when asked about the lack of wins. This reminded me of my high school soccer coach, Gene Baker, who had an incredible impact on me and my fellow teammates. Unlike Ted Lasso, Coach Baker was a brilliant soccer strategist, an astute student of the game who played for the 1965 NCAA National Champion St. Louis Billikens. Coach Baker taught us the importance of prioritizing academics, good sportsmanship, being gracious in victory and defeat, being disciplined, showing respect to our parents, siblings, referees, players we were competing against, teammates and most importantly, ourselves. Coach prepared us for success on the field and in life. I would like to share some of my favorite lessons from Coach Baker.

“Preparation precedes performance.”

Coach Baker was meticulous in his preparation and employed an army of soccer alumni who would scout games of upcoming opponents. Armed with a treasure trove of intel on the other team, he would spend hours devising a well thought out game plan. Starting players would receive a detailed assignment, a set of instructions to execute during the game. We knew the physical characteristics of players, their strengths and even some weaknesses that we could exploit. During a high-profile game against our crosstown rivals my senior year, one of our star players scored a goal off a free kick that he chipped in from about 15 yards. The goalie had a weakness catching balls that were kicked toward the goal in an arcing trajectory, a finding in one of the scouting reports. We always had a tremendous amount of quiet confidence before the starting whistle because we knew that Coach Baker had us so well prepared. I must give credit to Coach Baker for his inspiration whenever I’m complimented on my attention to detail. Ironically, I never feel that I’m prepared enough for anything.

?“What we do in practice, we are going to do in games.”

Coach instilled discipline in his players. He had us in top physical condition, only team captains were allowed to ever talk to a referee and all non-starting players were instructed to sit on the bench the entire game unless they were asked to go into the game as a substitute. Coach demanded that we stay focused and attentive during practice. His philosophy was simple: if we had a bad practice, we would likely have a bad game.

?“Try and elevate the game every time you go onto the field.”

Coach Baker was all about getting the most out of each player teaching us that we should strive to have an impact on the game whenever we walked onto the pitch. No matter how small or large your role, do whatever you can to have a positive influence on the outcome of the game. He would often tell us, “You don’t have to win; but do your best to try to win.” I’ve tried to carry this theme into my personal and professional lives.

?“True champions earn bragging rights, but never use them. Only chumps use bragging rights.”

Whenever we would win a big game, Coach would do his best to make sure that we didn’t reflect poorly on the soccer program or the high school we represented. He never wanted to hear any of his players bragging about a victory in public, over celebrating a goal, or beating their chest about how good the team was. He always reminded us that someday, the role could be reversed (which was a valuable lesson in empathy and humility).

?“In order to be successful, you must take risks.”

This was probably my all-time favorite Coach Baker saying. Coach Baker would always have a strategic game plan that included risk-taking. Be it trick plays, trying something new every now and then, making halftime adjustments to the game plan or even getting into the head of opposing players such as the time he had our home field named “The Gauntlet”. I believe the desired effect Coach Baker wanted was for opposing players to recognize that if they were to walk away with a victory on our home field, it wasn’t going to be easy! The key takeaway for me was that nothing worth winning or achieving happens by accident. You must leave your comfort zone and learn to take calculated risks. And perhaps, this was the best life lesson of all!

?Gene Baker coached the boys soccer team for 27 years and the girls team for 13 years. He was twice awarded National High School Soccer Coach of the Year. He compiled an overall record of 777 wins, 197 losses, and 53 ties in 1,027 games as head coach at Granite City (Illinois) and Riverview Gardens (Missouri). The teams he coached won 14 regional titles, 20 sectional titles, six super-sectionals, and a state-record nine state championships at Granite City (Illinois).

What lesson from Coach Lasso and Coach Baker can we apply to industrial hygiene or occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS)?

Both men were exceptional at teaching their players humanistic skills: how to be better people; not just how to win a soccer match. Oftentimes, there are EHS Managers who place too much importance on illness and injury metrics or other safety related measures of performance. Obviously, metrics play an important role in the success of any robust EHS program. However, in my opinion managers need to spend more time developing their employees, building the organization’s safety culture, and promoting psychological safety.

I suggest that we need to think differently in our profession. Developing people and the workplace to be more humanistic should be a priority. An investment in improving skills such as empathy, civility, communication, teamwork, listening, and patience, if done properly and consistently, can have a positive ripple effect on the desired outcomes of any health and safety program. Obviously, workforce development doesn’t fall under the purview of the safety and health organization. But there needs to be more dialogue and a joining of forces between Human Capital/Human Resources and the Safety and Health organization. Think of it as a synergistic partnership. We should be hiring people based on human skills instead of solely vetting job candidates on technical skills alone. Additionally, a workplace that prioritizes psychological safety will see a more open and inclusive environment that encourages people to submit their ideas for process improvement and to feel empowered to speak up when there is a legitimate safety concern. Senior leadership and middle managers need to learn how to be more empathetic to employees. Fearless organizations become better and are more likely to achieve their business objectives when they focus on humanizing the workplace, cultivating meaningful work and meaningful relationships. In other words, teach workers to be more human. Unless you make a mistake, get scolded by your boss or just have a bad day. Whenever that happens, be a goldfish!

Tim Paz, CIH??????????????????

#empathy #psychologicalsafety #humanistic #civility #teamwork #industrialhygiene #OEHS