In this episode, Dr. Rice recalled a moment when she was eleven and was watching a football game between Notre Dame and Michigan State with her father John Wesley Rice. Late in the game, Notre Dame Coach Ara Parseghian went for the tie, thus ensuring that the Fighting Irish were named the national champions and Alabama, where the Rice family lived, would be left out. “Man, there needs to be a playoff!” exclaimed the angry elder Rice as he slammed down the remote.
Little could father or daughter have anticipated that 47 years later, in October of 2013, little Condi, now known as Madam Secretary Rice, would be selected as one of the 13 inaugural members of the College Football Playoff Committee (CFP), charged with picking the college teams to compete in just the kind of playoff format her father had wanted.
“Inaugural” would be one good word to apply to Rice, who was also one of the first two women to be invited to join the previously all-male Augusta National Golf Course. But I think the better term to describe Rice would be “bridger,” as in one who builds bridges between people, organizations… even countries.
“If you are deciding that you’re going to try to play the role of bringing people together, bridging differences, you have to take your own ego aside for a bit,” noted Rice. “Rather than impose my views, my role is to listen very carefully to everybody and to see if I can hear things that might suggest there are common beliefs here.”
Rice makes listening sound easy, but in this episode, she revealed herself as a true competitor: one who has excelled at applying what she has learned with a steady and quiet confidence that is extraordinary by any measure.
1. Does your team have an identity?
2. Does your team have a leader?
3. Do you trust each other?
4. Who do you play?
"Don is one of the best storytellers I’ve ever met. I’ve known him for a long time and every time we talk I walk away wiser and more inspired. He is the best in the business at teaching you a skill – storytelling – that will last you a lifetime.”
“The ability for athletes to get hired is carried on through you because you are putting out the message that lessons learned from sports are important in life. It is embedded in this podcast, what you’re doing is significant.”
We speak the same language. I am inspired by the stories you tell, the people you have met, and the things you’ve done. Those of us that are competitors like to follow others that have been down that journey, so it is always fun talking to you!”
“Many of the leaders I have worked with were excellent athletes, and I think there is a direct correlation. You’re one of the few people that really has pursued this study, Don. Keep up the great work. What you are doing really makes a difference.”
“Don, you have mastered the skill of interviewing and asking great questions. That is a great skill all leaders need in order to understand their team members’ thought processes.”
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