On Football, Being Uncommon, and Learning From Legends
Merril Hoge will be a keynote speaker at the 2020 CLN annual conference.
Sometimes the building business can feel like a full-bodied contact sport. We’re all out here, fixed on getting the ball to goal—and dodging formidable opposing players along the way.
We think people can learn a lot of lessons from professional football players who have made it through the long hall. Their playing field is also a school of hard knocks. There’s much to be learned from time spent on a professional football team.
For Merril Hoge, it’s not about winning a few games, it’s about having the tenacity, talent, and stamina to make it through multiple seasons. In fact, he credits those life lessons learned on the football field as the key to his success in fighting later battles.
Here are just three philosophical tenets of this unique mindset that we all can relate to.
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Learn From Legends. From illustrious teammates to exceptional coaches, Merril Hoge was lucky enough to cut his teeth as a professional amongst some of the greatest minds in sports strategy. He soon recognized that he was standing on the shoulders of giants—men whose advice can shape a person for a lifetime.
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Be Uncommon. One such mentor put his strength of character to the test. “Be Uncommon,” he said and therefore set the tone for expecting maximum effort. In practice. In playing. In Training. This work ethic has served Hodge for most of his celebrated career.
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Be Right in the Right Environment. We can’t all be in the right place at the right time, but we’d better know how to recognize it when we are. Even so, knowing it and being it are two different animals. You must be a team player, consistently bringing your A-Game, to reap all of the benefits therein.
Who could argue with the strengths of those philosophies?
And luckily for us—and the attendees of our Construction Leadership Network Conference 2020—we get to hear the man tell it himself. Weaving in stories of personal triumph against cancer and chronicling his professional growth, Merril Hoge inspires his audiences to be uncommon and find a way.
We couldn’t be happier to welcome Merril Hoge to the Construction Leadership Network 2020 Conference. He’ll be setting the tone for all of the amazing networking and learning happening in Houston in January and setting the tone for building connections and community.