This is Phil Tran, championship-winning high school football coach and strength coach and NHSSCA Maryland Coach of the Year.
Culture is your trademark. It is yours so long as you enforce it.
In intellectual property law, trademarks are eternal so long as you take anyone who infringes upon your trademark to court. If you do not exercise your right to protect your trademark, the court will determine that you do not seriously care about your brand and identity and you will lose your trademark.
On a sport team, strength program, and business, your culture is your trademark. If you do not teach your culture to your colleagues and athletes and you do not enforce your culture, you will lose your culture.
If you determine that your team culture will be one of positive encouragement and you allow teammates to ridicule other on the field or off the field, you no longer have a culture of positive encouragement. If you determine that your team culture will be one of diligence and you allow laziness to fester, you will lose your culture of diligence. If you determine that your team culture will be one of discipline and you allow undisciplined behavior to exist, you no longer have a culture of discipline.
Culture trumps strategy. Decide who you want to be. Set the tone. Set the expectations. Set your demands. Set your standards. Enforce your culture at all times.
Let your competition know who you are, how you behave, and what you believe before you even step on the field.
Trademarks are eternal. Culture is your trademark. It is yours so long as you enforce it. Enforce your culture and your excellence will be eternal.
If this message resonates with you, please subscribe to my YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/PhilTran22?sub_confirmation=1 to receive my regular episodes of Sport and Life. I will see you next time. Thank you.