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PHILOSOPHY
I have been extremely fortunate to be in and around championship behavior my entire life. As the former head coach of the UCLA Softball program, I saw first-hand the common themes that are woven throughout all champions. They possess important core traits which enabled them to improve on a daily basis, understand how patience is vital to their rate of success, and last, their humility about their gifts.
I articulate my philosophy of life, leadership, and competition in three words: Prepare. Love. Honor. Anything worthy of your passion should be worthy of your preparation. Your passion may be achieving success in business, growing your service organization, or leading your athletic team to victory. But whatever the case, your dedication must lead to preparation.
For over three decades, UCLA has been my home as a player and coach. As the Head Coach of the UCLA Bruins softball team for almost two decades, intense preparation was my mantra. That preparation paid off. Together, my teams and I won more National Championships (11) than anyone in softball history.
Preparation must breed love. Leaders learn to love what they do. After all, what good is being the best if it brings out the worst? I believe that true leadership—whether in the worlds of business, public service, or athletics—requires learning to love those aspects that others loathe. It’s that player who learns to love the burn in her muscles, learns to love the nervous feeling before the big game, learns to love the pressure that hovers when it’s the bottom of the ninth, two outs, and everything is riding on your bat. That’s leadership: training yourself to love the struggle that others avoid or fear.
As a softball player, my love for the game propelled me to become a World Champion, USA National Team player, and part of the first Pan American gold medal team (1979). Maybe your interests are different. Maybe you long to start a business and create jobs, or devise innovative solutions to vexing problems, or help heal strained relationships and bring people together. Whatever your vision, you must learn to love all of it—even the things that bring little glory or recognition. Then and only then, will you have truly honored your passion.
For me, honoring the game meant coaching. It meant respecting the game enough to demand excellence in every dimension large and small. Honoring the game also meant inspiring and motivating my players to let the game teach them integrity, mental toughness, teamwork, leadership, and most of all humility and gratitude. In 2006, after 27 privileged years coaching the UCLA Bruins, I concluded my career with an 887-175-1 record, making me the winningest coach among all active coaches. I was humbled further when I was inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the UCLA Hall of Fame.
I look forward to the opportunity to share with you the principles I have been privileged to learn throughout my professional career. Please review the enclosed materials which apply to players on and off the field, as well as, important strategies to help parents, coaches, and administrators inside and outside the athletic environment.
Until then…Prepare. Love. Honor.
Sue Enquist
Former Head UCLA Softball Coach (27 years)
11x National Champion |
