KAIZEN IN SPORTS

 Here is yet another excerpt on my forthcoming book, THE COMPETITIVE BUDDHA,which will arrive in Spring 2021.  

My most recent experience introducing my competitive Buddha approach to inspire leadership, spirituality and mastery in athletics was with a men’s professional soccer team. The San Jose Earthquakes finished dead last in the MLS (Major League Soccer) in 2018. Prior to the start of the 2019 season, the Quakes hired me to assist in the building of a strong, connective champion sports culture as their psychologist and spiritual advisor.

To facilitate this task, I sat with the coaching staff and management to explain the Japanese concept of KAIZEN, the essential element of Japan’s spiritual competitive success and now recognized world-wide as an absolute necessity in sports, business and life. Kaizen is about small, gradual, incremental improvement in a safe, cooperative, connected, caring environment where everyone does their share while fulfilling their role. I convinced them that change takes time and with patience and persistence, we all win, we all gain and we all experience something miraculous. After all, the Japanese rebuilt their entire culture from complete devastation after WWII to become a world leader in most industries. Why are we any different, I reminded them, wanting to come back from being a cellar dweller. I also reminded them that iconic Hall of Fame coaches like Bill Walsh, Pete Carroll, Steve Kerr, Brad Stevens and Anson Dorrance were very much aligned with this special concept of Kaizen in their competitive cultures.

With this as a foundational, solid action plan, we moved head. We helped the athletes to become competitive Buddhas by being connected, more selfless, to let go of outcomes and focus on process, to empower and inspire each other and be transparent and genuine. With most of the season completed, we were just two points from being in fifth place out of 24 teams. When the season finished, we had amassed more than three times the victories than the previous season, using competitive Buddha principles and wisdom.