“Everything he does has such grace about it,” said Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane about the New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. Jeter was recently named 2009 Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated. SI writer Tom Verducci began his story on Jeter this way: “Every sunrise is a fresh shot at victory – every day an invitation to compete with that same smile and delight of that (little) boy in the mirror that looked back at him …”.
As a kid, I was a Yankees fan listening to their games on the radio. Major League teams had not moved west of St. Louis, so Red Ruffing, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, et al, had become “my team.” I didn’t get to know them as we do about sports stars today, i.e., their ups, their downs, the ins & outs of their off-field personalities – which is probably too much information anyway.
There have been many other great Yankee players that I admired, but when I watch Jeter play, what strikes me first and foremost is his smile. He looks like he’s having fun playing baseball by treating every day, every game, and every batting practice like he’s happy just to be there.
One of his coaches said, “Players gravitate toward him. He is well-liked, has a great disposition, a good sense of humor and, of course, that smile, but when it comes to working, that grin melts into a serious look.” Is there any part of the above that prevents any of us from adopting that kind of behavior?
Certainly credit must go to his mother (Dorothy) and father (Charles) for instilling in him the values of integrity, humility and respect for others. Maybe this example expresses it: Dorothy and Charles have been in the Yankees clubhouse only once, and that was back in 1995 when Derek first reached the big leagues. His parents were reluctant to go there, saying “this is where you work.” Proud, you bet! But respectful of him and his place of work. Is that so hard to do? That behavior transmitted their values to their son. We all can do that!
What Jeter dislikes most is an attitude of “not caring.” He believes that you must care about winning. Having fun includes an attitude of caring about winning. That’s a passion that all athletes need to follow.
Will you practice the Jeter values in everything you do?
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Good and meaningful values that are established in childhood and held true as adults are the keys to preventing the many social, political, business, and sports ills in society.
THE VALUE OF VALUES
Five-Time Author Teaches Us We Can Each Make a Difference – The Choice is Ours
The Value of Values educates us on how to establish a culture that will ensure harmony for generations to come and diminish the aggressive ways of the powerful…just by teaching our children values.
Did you know that an individual’s values are established in childhood and serve as filters when determining right from wrong throughout the person’s life? In today’s society, this process of establishing values within our children is given little concern. How are our children supposed to grow up to be adults with values if we’re not teaching them values from the beginning?
The responsibilities of parenting have become a reactionary process whereby each parent is doing whatever he or she must do in order to just get through life. By default, we are teaching our children that values such as integrity, respect for life, courage of conviction, purposefulness and generosity are secondary to making a living. In truth, there is absolutely nothing stopping us from being true to good and meaningful values except ourselves.
The Value of Values teaches us the required actions and reasons this important transition is needed. This book identifies what it will take from each of us to sustain the drive to pass our values onto our children.
Publisher’s Web site: www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/TheValueOfValues.html
ISBN: 978-1-60860-381-7 / SKU: 1608603814
About the Author:
Ed Gagnon is a vice president at a manufacturing company in North Attleboro, Massachusetts. The Value of Values is his fifth published book, and he has more in the works.
For media inquiries, appearances, or other publicity — please contact:
Ellen Green — PressManager@aegpublishinggroup.com
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