Above the Line

I just finished the book Above the Line: Lessons in Leadership and Life from a Championship Program by Urban Meyer. I read this because I coach a competitive Roller Derby team and want to learn more about coaching. This is a motivational guide drawing from Meyer's experience as a three-time national champion college football coach (at Florida and Ohio State). He emphasizes that success stems from mindset and collective effort, not just talent, which agrees with me.

"Above the Line" Behavior

• Above the Line: Intentional, proactive choices aligned with long-term goals. Conscious, skillful actions that drive progress.
• Below the Line: Reactive, impulsive responses driven by habits or emotions, leading to stagnation or failure.
  • Blame, Complain, Defend (BCD): Represents a mindset or behavior which is counterproductive to success and characteristic of a reactive, victim-oriented approach.

Explanation of BCD:

• Blame: Pointing fingers at others for problems or failures instead of taking responsibility. This deflects accountability and hinders problem-solving.
• Complain: Focusing on what's wrong without offering solutions or taking action. Complaining drains energy and fosters negativity.
• Defend: Making excuses to justify poor performance or mistakes, which prevents growth and learning.

BCD is a natural, impulsive reaction to challenges but leads to failure if unchecked.

Culture Leads To Behaviors Which Lead To Success

1. Culture as the Foundation

Every organization has a culture, whether by design or default. A strong, intentional culture is the bedrock for success because it shapes how individuals think, act, and interact.

• Shared Values, Beliefs, and Standards
• Define a team's identity and guide its members' decisions

For Ohio State, Meyer deliberately crafted a culture rooted in three core beliefs:

• Relentless Effort: Consistent, incremental progress through disciplined work.

  "Success is cumulative and progressive. So is failure."

• Competitive Excellence: Pushing mental and physical limits to thrive under pressure.
• Power of the Unit: Fostering trust and connectivity among team units (e.g., offense, defense) to eliminate silos.

Culture is reinforced through daily practices, team meetings, and off-season workshops.

Leadership is "the difference maker," built on trust via preparation and shared purpose. Meyer warns that every organization has a culture---"by design or default"---and proactive leaders shape it intentionally.

At Ohio State, he cultivated a culture through clear expectations, constant communication, and modeling the behaviors he expected. He also empowered players to hold each other accountable, reinforcing the "Power of the Unit."

2. Behaviors as the Bridge

Culture shapes behaviors, the actions and choices individuals make in response to events.

This mindset is the "foundation of success" in sports, business, or personal life, encapsulated in the equation:

E + R = O (Event + Response = Outcome)

A strong culture ensures that behaviors are "Above the Line" rather than reactive or impulsive ("Below the Line").

You can't control events, but mastering your response shapes results.

The R Factor: Six Disciplines for Responding Effectively

The 6 Steps Of The "R Factor":

1. Press Pause: Take a breath to break autopilot and respond thoughtfully.
2. Get Your Mind Right: Shift to a purpose-driven "Above the Line" mindset, avoiding survival mode.
3. Step Up: Assess the situation and your role in it.
4. Adjust and Adapt: Evaluate current reality vs. goals, then pivot strategically.
5. Make a Difference: Own your impact on others and the team.
6. Build Skill: Continuously develop habits to make "Above the Line" responses second nature.

These disciplines foster resilience.

3. Success as the Outcome

Consistent "Above the Line" Behaviors lead to success (wins but also achieving extraordinary results through collective effort).

Success is cumulative and progressive built on small, intentional actions over time.

A culture of accountability and purpose leads to proactive behaviors, which compound into exceptional outcomes. Likewise, a weak or default culture breeds "Below the Line" behaviors (like BCD), resulting in failure or mediocrity.

Final Thoughts

• Culture sets the tone by defining values and expectations.
• This shapes behaviors, as individuals adopt intentional, "Above the Line" actions over reactive ones.
• These behaviors, reinforced through training and accountability, lead to #success

A universal blueprint:

Build a purposeful culture, train disciplined behaviors, and success will follow.

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