Resilience - Nathan Whitaker

New Year, New Process?

by Nathan Whitaker | Jan 15, 2024 | Blog, leadership, relationships, Resilience, teambuilding, teamwork

When I was in school at Harvard, I took a class from the late, brilliant Stephen Jay Gould, a paleontologist and big baseball fan (the latter is what helped me understand any of his examples). He spoke and wrote often of our preoccupation with otherwise meaningless...

Mentoring, the US Army, and Me

by Nathan Whitaker | Jan 4, 2024 | Blog, leadership, relationships, Resilience, teambuilding, teamwork

I’ve been able to speak in some really neat settings, including to professional and college sports teams, on university campuses, in foreign countries…even at the Iowa Speedway. Last month may have been the most unique of them all, as I was invited to...

Patience – The Steeler Way

by Nathan Whitaker | Apr 27, 2023 | Blog, football, leadership, Resilience, teambuilding, teamwork

Be patient. Mean Joe Greene was drafted in 1969 by the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the team actually fell from 2 wins to only 1! The next year they drafted Terry Bradshaw and won 5. In 1972 Greene was tired of the slow progress and QUIT after the fourth game (the...

Lessening Super Bowl Distractions

by Nathan Whitaker | Feb 2, 2023 | Blog, football, leadership, Resilience, teambuilding, teamwork

Such an exciting times for members of the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles! Last Sunday both qualified for the Super Bowl, and they are heading to Glendale, Arizona for the game. We went through the same thing twenty years ago when I was in the scouting...

Fired Into the Great Wide Open

by Nathan Whitaker | Jan 17, 2023 | Blog, football, relationships, Resilience

This week in 2004, I was fired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bruce Allen had just replaced Rich McKay as General Manager, and I was a “McKay Guy,” weary from two years of internal battles between head coach Jon Gruden and Rich (as well as the rest of us in...

Backdating Goals

by Nathan Whitaker | Dec 26, 2022 | leadership, relationships, Resilience

I’m sure Tony Robbins might not approve, but I’ve been known to backdate my goals. Yes, backdate. (Yes, having actual, forward-looking goals or a “One Word” is good, but stick with me – this is different.) At the end of December,...