Jackie Stiles is one of the most renowned basketball players in the history of the women’s game. However, if you knew where she came from, most people would have never thought someone from a tiny farm town in Kansas could have such a profound impact in basketball. Jackie’s story teaches us an important lesson.
It doesn’t matter where you came from, all that matters is where you are going.
Jackie started small by being the best in her town, to the best in her state, then the best in the area, and finally one of the best to ever play college basketball. What’s even more impressive is that she wasn’t the tallest or the fastest, she just continued to work to be the most skilled. She was focused on being the best and she was willing to do what it took to be the best including being the best teammate as well.
The greatest players are at their core some of the greatest people.
They know it takes a team to accomplish anything of significance, therefore they uplift others and don’t ask others not to do anything they also wouldn’t do. Players like Jackie lead by example, then use their words to encourage and uplift others.
There are many lessons we can learn from Jackie Stiles but I think there is one that stands out the most.
Great players make others great around them. They don’t care who gets the credit, they just care about the team’s success and the well-being of their teammates.
So right you are Jason Holzer. Some of the winners of Noble Prize in science came from very poor countries.
“They know it takes a team to accomplish anything of significance, therefore they uplift others and don’t ask others not to do anything they also wouldn’t do.”
They believe in collective effort and uplifting others. Spot on