Bench Notes : Great Mentors , Great Coaches Hon . Harlin DeWayne Hale
“ While I made my living as a coach , I have lived my life to be a mentor , and to be mentored ! Constantly . Everything in the world has been passed down . Every piece of knowledge is something that has been shared by someone else . If you understand it as I do , mentoring becomes your true legacy . It is the greatest inheritance you can give to others . It is why you get up every day — to teach and be taught .” — John Wooden
This summer I retired as a bankruptcy judge in Texas , having served for almost 20 years . In my last year I had many times to reflect upon my career and the people who impacted it the most . I thought about the president of the bank in my small hometown who let me work during summers to learn about debits and credits , paid and delinquent loans , and dealing with people . I remembered the law school professor who saw enough in me to hire me as his research assistant and then recommend me for a judicial clerkship . I recalled my judge and the clerkship that was full of intellectual challenges , hard work and a lot of fun . And finally , I thought of several judges and older members of the bar who took a shine to me early on , have given me guidance my entire legal career , and who still are my mentors today .
Coach Wooden is right . Mentoring is a lot like coaching . Or maybe certain principles of coaching can help us be better mentors . Great mentors and great coaches know how to play .
Kim Mulkey , now women ’ s basketball coach at LSU and former multiple national championship coach at Baylor , was a high school and college basketball star . She was and is a fierce competitor . Players long to play for her because she always tries to do her best and expects no less from her team .
That ’ s the way it is for great mentors . A mentor must be a great player for folks to want to follow . If your work as a lawyer , judge or teacher is not top notch , few people will want to emulate you .
Great mentors and coaches have their players ’ backs .
Great coaches and great mentors support their people . The 1992-93 the Michigan men ’ s basketball team was fantastic and made it all the way to the Final Four in New Orleans . They were known as the “ Fab Five .” In the final game against Kentucky , their star player , Chris Webber , made a fatal error and called a timeout when Michigan had none remaining , resulting in a technical foul at the end of the game . Kentucky won . I was there !
After the game the Michigan coach was asked a question which gave him a clear opportunity to throw Webber under the bus for losing the game . Instead , he said he was not upset with Chris Webber , because Webber was the reason the team made it to the finals in the first place . This event was a pivotal moment in Webber ’ s future basketball career and in fact , his life . The following year he was the NBA Rookie of the Year . Quite an accomplishment . While
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