The SportsLeader Blog

We at SportsLeader are blessed to have the support of numerous men and women around the country who believe in our mission with as much passion as we do.

One of those very generous people is Duncan Taylor.

Duncan is the President and CEO of Taylor Made Sales Agency.

Taylor Made'€™s Core Values are Honesty, Exceed Customer's Expectations, œGoals Driven, Teamwork. Sounds pretty familiar right? Virtue in the business world as well.

Duncan serves on the Breeder™'s Cup Board of Trustees and Breeder€'™s Cup Board of Directors, Keeneland's Board of Directors and the Keeneland Executive Board. Duncan and his wife of 25 years, Carol, have five children: Marshall, Morgan, Danny, Madeline and Caroline.

Duncan has organized conferences, trainings and meetings for many years in the Lexington, KY area, and we are so grateful for his support, insight and encouragement.

Thank you, Duncan!

Virtue = Strength, Lou Judd

I recently did a virtue camp with a high school baseball team here in the Cincinnati area. A virtue camp is a team building event where you focus on your team's strengths and weaknesses in order to forge greater leadership on the team. We tried something I had never attempted before and it went over extremely well. Awesome is an understatement.

One of the coaches, Don DiGiacomo, reached out to former players via text and email. I believe he sent out about 40 messages in one way or another.

The message was basically - "Hey we are doing a virtue camp, could you write a short testimony about what playing baseball at the school meant to you and more in particular the position you played, share a great memory"

The hope was to receive at least 1 letter for each position as the ideal. So if you were a First Baseman for example you would get a letter from a former First Baseman. If fewer came in, then you would just get a letter from a former player.

Well in less than 1 week Don received about 35 letters. Every position got at least 3 letters. During the virtue camp, 4 more had come in.

I've included one of the letters below as an example from Rocky Boiman, who went on to play in the NFL helping the Indianapolis Colts to a victory in Super Bowl XLI.

We ended the day of the virtue camp ... as the kids were going to bed, they got handed their little packet of letters, they were asked to be quiet (good luck with that part -smile), read their letters and go to sleep.

Since so many letters came in I think they are going to read one a week or something like that ... There is so much mileage you can get from this ...

Maybe you can't get one for every position, maybe you can ... but I definitely recommend you do this ...

As a tradition starter ... at the end of every season, have your graduating players write these letters so you can begin building up your stockpile if you will.

This will also help you build up your team alumni association ...

Virtue = Strength, Lou Judd 
859.512.2572 
SportsLeader Web Site

Coach D,

As a St. Xavier baseball alumni, I look back with great fondness on my 3 seasons of playing baseball for the Bombers. While I don't remember the score of any game I played, I routinely reflect back on the high caliber of men that I played with and the commitment to "team" that we all shared. I remember the pain of the 6am workouts, the beginning weeks of the season that were usually marked by snowfall, and the ending weeks playing double headers in the tremendous heat. But those hardships were a minuscule price to pay to beat Elder for the GCL or to make it to the State Regional finals in just my sophomore year. It was an honor to wear the blue and white and to have the memories of overcoming obstacles to achieve with some of the best friends and players in the city.

I was a player who played both infield and outfield which I saw not as a slight but as tremendous asset. I took pride in the fact that I was not a "one trick pony"...that if the team needed someone to make an adjustment and play not his everyday position, I could do it and do it better than anyone. To make a comparison, my NFL career lasted over 8years bc I was versatile. I could play weak side LB, strong side LB, MLB, Special teams, and even rush end. Where other players who could only play one position's career lasted maybe a few years I was able to play 4 times the average career bc of versatility. I kept making rosters bc I was more valuable to a team bc I could do more than the other guy. The same applies in the workforce or business world. Bosses, coaches, and managers want versatility because few situations in v,I've work out the way they are "supposed" to....there is always a wrinkle. Work to be more valuable than the next guy, it will pay off.

I wish all of you the best of luck on what I know will be a successful season in one way or another. Keep working hard and God bless!!

Rocky Boiman '98

One of the most common objections we face at SportsLeader from coaches is the phrase, "We do that already." Meaning that they as coaches teach character and virtue in their coaching. 99% of the time they are absolutely right. They do and they do a very good job of it.

Some are content with what they do. Others want more.

Larry Bird was drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978. He started at small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons, spearheading one of the NBA's most formidable frontcourts that included center Robert Parish and forward Kevin McHale.

Bird was a 12-time NBA All-Star and was named the league's Most Valuable Player (MVP) three times. He played his entire professional career for Boston, winning three NBA championships.

He was a member of the Dream Team that won the gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics, was voted to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996 and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998.

Larry Bird is an excellent example of someone who wanted "MORE".

One of the greatest players in the history of basketball ... He did MORE than most players.

His daily program included a long-distance run, practice games with teammates, multiple sit-ups, and short-distance runs all sandwiched between lengthy shooting drills. No wonder he was such a superb fourth-quarter player -- he was in better shape than anyone else.

While most players waltzed into the locker room the required 90 minutes before game time, Bird had been on the floor by at least 6:00, more than two hours before tip-off. In the loneliness of Boston Garden, with only attendants and a few Celtics season ticket holders present, Bird shot more than 300 practice shots.

He'd start with 6 to 10 free throws, move out on the court a bit, and then start firing away at a comfortable pace as comrade Joe Qatato hit him with perfect passes.

Larry Bird could have easily said, "I do that already."

What kind of coaches do you have in your program?

Virtue = Strength, Lou 
SportsLeader Coach's Manual

Yes, even McDonald's needs virtue.

Less virtue = more complaints = less customer satisfaction = lose $ ... not good.

Sometimes we have to lose $ before we wake up.

Virtue = Strength, Lou 
SportsLeader Web Site

McDonald's Tackles Repair of 'Broken' Service 
By Julie Jargon | The Wall Street Journal

McDonald's Corp. (MCD), battling back from recent earnings disappointments, is putting unusual emphasis on a longtime challenge: getting its far-flung workforce to provide service with a smile.

The fast-food giant, whose restaurant sales in the U.S. began to slip last year, is pushing franchisees to improve staffing and service amid mounting complaints about rude employees.

In a webcast McDonald's executives held with franchise owners last month, the company said 1 in 5 customer complaints are related to friendliness issues "and it's increasing," according to a slide from the presentation reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The webcast identified the top complaint as "rude or unprofessional employees."

One slide said that complaints about speed of service "have increased significantly over the past six months." Another mentioned that customers find service "chaotic."

"Service is broken," said a slide from part of the webcast delivered by Steve Levigne, vice president of business research for McDonald's USA.

One franchisee said McDonald's has renewed emphasis on customer service since Chief Executive Don Thompson installed Jeff Stratton, the chain's global chief restaurant officer, as president of McDonald's USA in November, after two consecutive quarters in which the company missed Wall Street's earnings expectations.

"The new leadership has decided to focus on customer satisfaction as a real driver for us to build the brand and build sales," this franchisee said, adding that the company had been gaining market share for years. "So for us to maximize the potential that's out there, we've got to be the leader in guest satisfaction," the franchisee said.

A McDonald's spokeswoman wouldn't comment on the webcast or on what the company is doing to address complaints, and declined to make executives available for interviews, citing a quiet period ahead of the company's earnings on April 19.

...

McDonald's, which has more than 14,000 U.S. restaurants, performed well throughout most of the economic downturn by sticking to its strategy of remodeling and tidying up restaurants and rolling out a steady stream of new menu items at a range of prices—from inexpensive snack wraps to more costly fruit smoothies—intended to appeal to more consumers.

But achieving speed and friendliness of service across the chain has been a particularly elusive goal, at least in part because about 90% of McDonald's restaurants in the U.S. are owned by independent operators.

In QSR Magazine's annual Drive-Thru Study, the only comprehensive industry comparison of customer service at fast-food chains, other restaurants have consistently outperformed McDonald's in those areas. In last year's study, the average service time at the McDonald's drive-through studied was 188.83 seconds, compared with 129.75 for industry leader Wendy's Co. (WEN). Chick-fil-A had the top friendliness ratings. Out of the seven major chains in the study, McDonald's was second to last in the "very friendly" ranking, just above Burger King (BKW).

...

Some analysts say McDonald's is continuing to lose customers.

During its webcast, McDonald's told franchisees that customers rate good service almost as highly as dollar value, pointing to a National Restaurant Association survey.

...

"The service varies so much depending on which McDonald's you visit. It can vary from very friendly to very rude," said Jane Fiedler, an office manager who occasionally visits the same downtown Chicago location.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/mcdonalds-tackles-repair-broken-233000449....