For those of you who don’t know me, I am a sports junkie (go Cardinals!). I love the competition, the camaraderie, and the leadership lessons that come from a good sports story. With that, I often compare my life situations and observations to sports ...

One of my all-time favorite movies was released in 2000, titled Remember the Titans. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend throwing it on when you have time. The soundtrack alone makes it worth watching, but the invaluable lessons learned are much louder than the music. Based on a true story, Denzel Washington does a masterful job portraying high school football coach Herman Boone, who is faced with unimaginable adversity as he works to overcome desegregation and racism to combine two football teams, two schools, and two communities into a singular, synchronized team.

I could go on and on talking about the different speeches he gave, how his players and the community responded, but I'll save you from it; however, I will share one clip where the football team first meets. Coach Boone sets very high expectations of his young players and demands perfection. As the movie progresses, the team keeps winning and his speech is referenced repeatedly. This all builds to the movie's climax, when the team is losing in the championship game. In this scene, after Coach Boone backs off of his perfection demand, his star player gives a halftime speech refusing anything but perfection of himself and his teammates.

I compare this to our current healthcare situation. The way I draw it up is there are three comparisons: (1) coaches = public healthcare consumers, (2) football players = healthcare administrators and providers, and (3) desegregation = COVID-19 pandemic.

As previously mentioned, Coach Boone has extremely high expectations of his football players. He knows there’s adversity and turmoil surrounding them, but he still demands perfection out of them. Isn’t that much like our healthcare consumers? Not only do they demand perfection out of the healthcare system, but they deserve it. Coach Boone demands highly coordinated, well communicated plays with zero mistakes. The everyday public healthcare consumer deserves highly coordinated, well communicated care plans with zero mistakes.

On to number two, our players – the healthcare administrators, providers, and nurses. They feel tackled, tired, and ready to quit. The backbone of our healthcare industry is shaken and weak. Throughout the movie, the swirling desegregation turmoil creeps its way into the team and between the players. At one point of the movie, the two best players (of opposite color) are in a heated argument about each other’s performance commitment and attitude, to which one star says to the other, “Attitude reflects leadership, Captain.” Even our team captains are struggling and at times it feels like the healthcare team is losing the championship game. They need support; they need encouragement; they need a rallying halftime speech to help them dig deep and find the energy and effort to continue as a unified front.

And finally, the swirling chaos around COVID-19. The healthcare “game” is challenging on its own without the added complexity of a relentless global pandemic. Similarly, in football, a championship game is challenging on its own without the multiplier of ongoing swirling chaos and civil unrest. In both examples, through all the difficulties and distractions, the team must perform if they are to win the championship game. They must play as a team, remove silos, and communicate seamlessly if they want to win against this unprecedented pandemic.

If you already followed the links above to the YouTube clips, I'll ask you to go back and rewatch in the context of coaches = healthcare consumers, players = healthcare, and the game = our collective fight against COVID. Today in healthcare, we look to each other much like those involved in a championship football game – we look for leadership, guidance, and direction. So, now I'll throw the ball to you and ask what do you think is needed? How can we be better? How can we come together, remove inefficiencies, leverage data, improve processes, and achieve

perfection?

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