“To have a well-disciplined command, he (General U.S. Grant) did not deem it necessary to have an unhappy army. “Campaigning With Grant” by Horace Porter

The challenge for young leaders (especially military leaders, heads of schools, and coaches) is to know the “tipping point” between well-disciplined/conditioned and over-zealous discipline and conditioning. I have seen and done it both ways. It takes a trained eye to know when to press on and when to back off.

My college football coach’s nickname was “Hungry Horse”. August two-a-days were second only to USMC all-days as a recruit or an officer candidate. Hungry Horse was a man of faith and a role model, but his August practices were borderline abuse.

Nonetheless, when I finished college and became a high school football coach, I was much like Hungry Horse. I just didn’t know what was enough conditioning and commitment. I didn’t have the experience to realize that too much running, bear crawls up the hill, ups and downs, and sprints created dead legs and crushed enthusiasm. No one ever talked about a “tipping point’ between hard work and discipline and overwork and over-zealous discipline/conditioning. During my four years in college, we didn’t play football; we endured it. I am sure now that the process took a toll on us each Saturday afternoon.