This is not as much about sports as it is leaders and true leadership over bosses and weak people in general, especially in positions of authority, but will simply not lead and just speak plainly and honestly. In my experiences in life, there is a gulf of a difference in between someone who bosses, and someone who actually leads people, and Kim is most assuredly in the latter of those two camps of people in positions of authority. She inspires people, even people who just randomly stumble upon a video of her speaking, which is what happened to me this morning.

2023 Annie Awards Speech at SLU

There are some real nuggets for everyone, both leaders and people who maybe just need a kick in the pants from time to time.

Some gems.

- When Babe Ruth came to the plate and pointed to where he was going to hit the ball in outfield and then did it, it astonished people, but when asked afterward what would he have done if he didn’t do it, he simply said he never considered that possibility. This is from a woman who similarly pointed to banners hanging from rafters in the PMAC and did quite similar in her first day on the job.

I think many of us, including yours truly here, sometimes get in a funk and find ourselves operating in a more cautious approach to things, maybe even overthinking things and playing it safe, when what is really needed is the expectation to win at all times. Allowing ourselves to be inspired and inspiring others to success as well. It happens to us all, and we need inspiration like this from leaders more than anything sometimes.

- Leaders are never surprised when they win. Leaders never expect to fail, but also aren’t afraid of failure either. Winners find ways to win, and losers find excuses.

Another anecdote she shared was leaders believing in others, and how powerful that is when you show you believe in others in what they are able to achieve knowing someone really truly believes in their abilities to do a job or get something done, even when they themselves can’t see it in themselves. That’s some powerful stuff, and found in leaders, not bosses.

And lastly:

- The biggest problem in this world today is lying.

I couldn’t agree more with that in the sense that people are either lying to others for whatever reason that may be, or maybe even worse than that is lying to ourselves.

You know, it’s ironic how I believe God places people like Kim Mulkey in our lives to demonstrate what leadership is all about. In a world that is in a sea of bosses, liars, and horribly weak men and horrific leaders, here’s some random College Basketball Coach showing what can be accomplished in short amount of time with real leadership and believing in yourself and others around you.

Regardless if you are a WBB fan or not, or even an LSU fan or not, we are truly blessed to have the likes of Kim Mulkey to show us all what true leadership and winning in life is all about. I drew inspiration from that this morning. I hope you will as well.