True North

What is your true north?  I guess what I mean by that is what direction are you taking in life and what principles are you going to follow to get you there, what symbolizes you?  When I think of that question the image of a compass rose comes to mind.  For some reason, ever since I’ve been making adult decisions, I’ve always gravitated to that image.

As a plebe at Navy I had to memorize every fact about every monument, sculpture, building, ALL OF IT.  It was a pain in the ass and to be honest, I don’t remember all of it.  One thing I did realize after I graduated is there are a lot of beautiful things on the campus that I did not appreciate.  However, despite all of the historically significant monuments and buildings, the one I like the most is not even on the plebe memory list.  It’s a compass rose outside the Visistor’s center, off the historically significant beaten path.  When I go home to Annapolis to spend some much needed time with the wife, I like to run around the yard ( USNA speak for campus) and I usually enter through gate 1, pass Halsey Fieldhouse and run along the water.  Every time I do that I take a good look at the compass rose etched in stone (it’s also hard to miss since it’s about five feet in diameter).  I usually do it to orient myself, but at the same time I never do not look at it (double negative equals positive).  I like what it represents.

To me it represents what direction I’m going to take.  Yes, I’m a cheeseball, but whatever.  I’ve accepted it, along with the fact that I will most likely not have a son and my daughters will be coxswains, haha.  I guess the direction I want to take in life is embodied by principles of hard work, dedication, humility and family.  Almost every successful institution has a direction.  USNA and the Navy, for example have the core values of Honor, Courage and Commitment.    I like these core values because they are meaningful and concise.  

Another successful institution is Apple Inc.  I think of them because of the recent death of the innovator, Steve Jobs.  Their core values are not as concise, but definitely give the company a direction and are one of the reasons why they are one of the most successful companies in the world. 

Apple Inc.’s Corp Values

·  We believe that we’re on the face of the Earth to make great products.

·  We believe in the simple, not the complex.

·  We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products we make.

·  We participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution.

·  We believe in saying no to thousands of projects so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us.

·  We believe in deep collaboration and cross-pollination of our groups, which allow us to innovate in a way that others cannot.

·  We don’t settle for anything less than excellence in every group in the company, and we have the self-honesty to admit when we’re wrong and the courage to change.

Both institutions have a direction that leads their mission and creates an excellent product. 

Core values can and should also be used in sport.   In my opinion each team should have a set of values that guides them.  It pains me to think this and I'm becoming more in tune with it as I get older, but sport is not just about winning or losing.  It's about growing as a person and a team's core values will help you become not only a great team, but a great person.  I'm going to use another service academy graduate as an example, Coach Mike Krzyzewski (known as Coach K) is a West Point grad and now one of the most successful college basketball coaches in the history of the game.  He coaches at Duke University and his core values are Communication, Loyalty and Unity.  These have been the core values of every team he has coached for the past 3 decades and helped him to an amazing record of 827-225 (.786).  

I'm not saying you have to adopt my, Apples' or Coach K's core values.  Not every person's should be the same, but the point is to have some so that you have a direction.  

So the next time you are trying to make a life or team decision, think about what defines you and apply that definition to the decision.  It should help you in achieving your true north.

Have a good one.

- Jimmy