'It's Not the Critic Who Counts'

One of the most-cited speeches in American history wasn’t delivered on U.S. soil but nearly 4,000 miles from Washington, D.C., at the Sorbonne in Paris.

On April 23, 1910, Teddy Roosevelt stepped to the podium at the University of Paris to address a wide-ranging crowd of nearly 2,000 Navy members, professors and ministers of state in a speech that’s still referenced in locker rooms and boardrooms today.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better,” Roosevelt said that day.

“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming.”

In recent weeks, tons of critics have stepped forward to second-guess and bash coaches across sports who they seemingly feel should be doing a better job with Xs and Os, team management or the always popular “in-game adjustments.”

In the NBA in particular, three of the last four championship coaches have been fired since season’s end. Mike Budenholzer of the Milwaukee Bucks, who won a championship just two years ago, was dismissed last week after his team’s disappointing four games to one loss to the Miami Heat in the first round.

Naturally, social media took to lampooning Budenholzer, a two-time NBA coach of the year who won over 70 percent of his games this season, as inept and out of touch.

But while it can be tempting to point the finger at other’s missteps, as coaches, executives and teachers who often get criticized ourselves, we’d be smart to rise above the din of blame and act a bit more on Roosevelt’s words in that famous “Man in the Arena” address.

The truth is that our jobs are incredibly difficult. We work tirelessly at them, agonize over details others would consider trivial, develop philosophies grounded in behind-the-scenes observations, and typically make the best decisions possible with the information we have.

Often times, they work out, occasionally they don’t.

While calling for others’ jobs and mocking their struggles can be tempting and may draw us some attention in text circles or on social media, as leaders, we should be a class above that and exhibit a little more empathy toward the people whose shoes we may well be in one day.

As Roosevelt insinuated, there’s nothing honorable about spewing opinions, pointing out others’ slip-ups, and rallying the masses about how the person putting in the work is wrong.

The credit belongs to us as coaches, executives and teachers pouring in tirelessly — knowing we may not have all the answers but still doing the best we possibly can.