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Misty May Treanor and Kerri Walsh
Jennings 2012 Gold Medal Ceremony
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3 Golds in a row, something must be going right!
Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh-Jennings proved their dominance in beach volleyball once again; in fact, they’ve been doing so for a decade.
Clearly, they are very skilled and athletically blessed, but equally or even more so are many of their world class opponents… and, as age creeps in on this dynastic-duo, the scales continue to lean towards the other side of the net. Sure, their savvy play and experience can overcome some of this deficit, but it was in these London games, that the world witnessed a “virtue” (a practiced, rare skill) that differentiated them from all other contenders. Their ancient Greek Olympian ancestors would have called this virtue “Temperance” and would have aspired to it among the other “develolped” character traits of Courage, Prudence and Justice. Thousands of years later, Misty May, the team’s leader, demonstrated Temperance brilliantly.
The Mastery of Emotional Control (and Focus)
Misty May-Treanor is known for many things when it comes to volleyball. She is revered and sometimes idolized by the other great players of the world. But despite her incredible skills and her athletic prowess, she is capable of living out two completely divergent personalities. This, when done so on demand, is a radical and rare power. However, surprisingly, it is dismissed by many athletes and untaught by all too many parents and coaches.
Personality #1 - Misty May patrolled the beach like a lioness, focused solely on the return of the volleyball, as if each possession might produce the single meal that would sustain her pride for a week. Then, when the kill presented itself, she pounced on it with an efficient fierceness that only results from the perfect mixture of power, skill, clarity of purpose and emotional energy.
Personality #2 - As if controlled by a switch, once the game was over, she lit up the camera, “shouting out” to friends and family, saluting the troops and demonstrating the unfiltered joy of the moment.
When an intense focus of adrenaline was required, she elevated above all others. When precision was the imperative she subordinated her emotions to insure a hand-eye coordinated mastery. When neither were at stake, she allowed herself the freedom to follow her emotions, enjoying the pinnacle of success.
A Societal Problem
Our world is filled with people who wear their emotions on their sleeves, who think it a virtue to just “be” who their emotions dictate them to “be”. Our world is also filled with unrestrained emotional competitors who roam the “athletic savanah” like young, fully grown male lions who have the power to steal prey from the cheetahs, bully the hyenas and yet, are mauled by the more experienced “Kings of their Prides” when they think their size and skills warrant an attempt at the throne.
Unfortunately, our society all too often lifts up these two undisciplined character traits as virtuous.
· In the workplace, I often hear variations of something like this, “they (the company) just want me to be quiet, to be politically correct, but that’s not who I am, so I just went off on my boss!” These are the same people who wonder why promotion eludes them and why employment troubles follow them from job to job.
· Or, from the sidelines, I witness parents who deride referees, screaming uncontrollably as the highs and lows of the game toss them about like a small sailboat in the throws of a giant storm. These parents often encourage unbridled emotional play as if this is the outpouring of a finely tuned competitive athlete. And then, as their child-athletes self-destruct on the court or field of play as emotions run high, they are dumbfounded as the game’s momentum turns… as their children are figuratively mauled at the hands of their opponents.
Misty May Treanor expertly controls and differentiates her focused intensity from her carefree exuberance… she transitions flawlessly from her dangerous, emotionally fueled attack to her reserved, restrained, perfect set-up for Walsh’s world renowned spikes.
All young athletes, coaches and parents should take notice of this power of emotional control. This self-mastery increases athletic accomplishment exponentially, while on the other hand emotional self-indulgence scuttles the otherwise greatest of athletes, families, jobs and communities. Kids will not develop this “virtue” apart from
1. Consistent expectations
2. Opportunities in which to succeed and fail
3. Situations ignited by high emotion
4. Practice, practice, practice
But, no matter the environment, whether on a field or a court, there is no better instruction than the example of a coach and a parent who demonstrate Misty-May-Treanor-like “temperance” before… during… and after their games. It is precisely our behaviors, not our words, which will either prepare them with the “temperance of a lioness” or will condemn them to a mauling in a life for which they have not prepared.
Remember, the way your son or daughter plays on the fields of friendly strife will be how s/he will fight the greatest battles of their lives!
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