In 1996, after a brief, consoling message from our coach, I stood before my tired, defeated teammates and promised that we would win next year's basketball championship. That following spring, summer, and fall, I hooped; I ensured my teammates hooped; and I watched, rewound, rewatched, and rewatched a VCR recording of our championship loss. In my bedroom, on a cork bulletin board next to an Olan Mills picture of my girlfriend clad in her Bugle Boys, I tacked a piece of notebook paper on which I scribbled "What are you doing today to be a champion tomorrow?"In 1997, my teammates and I won the 1997 8th Grade Boys Basketball Tournament, a moment in my life that defined my paradigm, or the attitudes and behaviors that I embody in my personal and professional lives.As a teacher, coach, principal, non-profit leader, leadership developer and, organizational executive, I have been and continue to be counted on for strategic planning and goal setting, for fostering collective efficacy among teammates, for executing plans responsibly within compliance of laws and available resources, for developing creative solutions to solve complex challenges, for holding teammates accountable, and for achieving positive outcomes.It's these skills that I identified in 1997 as foundational to success, and they continue to guide my professional journey that began in 2006 when I was hired as a college graduate to teach 8th Grade Language Arts and coach 8th Grade Boys Basketball.