In our first episode in this new format, Coach Jay Wright of Villanova Basketball discusses what coaching college national championship teams and Olympic gold medalists can teach you about team-building.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/9OO_YQDJlk8

Jay Wright is not affiliated with Hartford Funds.

Julie Genjac: [00:00:03] And I'm Julie. [00:00:03][0.5]

centric investing podcast [00:00:08][3.4]

inspiring thought leaders to hear their best ideas for how you can

John Diehl: [00:00:19] Let's go. [00:00:19][0.3]

has to share with us today about teams. [00:00:24][3.5]

coach Jay Wright. Coach Wright is the William B. Finneran endowed

head coach for Villanova Men's Basketball in 20 seasons as head

coach. Jay has guided the Wildcats to new heights, including NCAA

of the Naismith National Coach of the Year award and in 2019 became

the first men's coach in Big East history to be selected as the

R. Wooden Legends of Coaching award and in January 2020 was named The

Associated Press men's college basketball coach of the decade. This

past summer, he was part of the coaching staff for Team USA

September 11, 2021. Jay was inducted to the Naismith Memorial

Basketball Hall of Fame. Jay's book attitude, which was published in

2017, was a New York Times bestseller. With that, I want to welcome

Jay Wright: [00:01:37] You know, was pretty cool. John, is it? We're

doing this podcast and we have such a great relationship with

Hartford Funds. Hartford Funds have sponsored our podcast that we do

talking Villanova Basketball with Jay Wright, and we we love this

relationship that we've had for over six years here between Hartford

Funds and Villanova, so it's good to do it back, right? We do. We do

Julie Genjac: [00:02:04] Absolutely, and we're delighted to have you

here. And I know I personally been looking forward to this

conversation for weeks, and it's so nice to see you here with us

today as you, you know, Coach Wright, I'm very passionate about

teams, teams of different shapes and sizes and styles, and I'm

curious today I'll just dove into the heart of the matter. What, from

your perspective, is the big the biggest challenge when it comes to

Jay Wright: [00:02:32] Well, I love that, Julie, that there's a

position that you have with within an organization that helps team

building. You know that because it's such a it's such a unique

challenge. I think in our society now, maybe me and John, not

usually, but in our era, it was kind of easier to build team. There

was a coach, there was a leader and you did what the coach told you

to do and and that was easy to put a team together. It's not it's not

so much that's that way anymore. And in in building a team now, one

of the things that we do and maybe differently than the last time I

spoke with you guys, we actually explained to our players the value

of being a part of a team explaining to them that you actually can be

your best personal self if you give to others and if you are a part

of something bigger than yourself, you know, in the past, we should

talk about team assuming that. Young people knew what the benefit of

a team was, but we find so many of the people that come to us, their

whole basketball careers, you know, we get them when they're 18. But

their entire basketball careers, they've been told, you know, it's

it's about you. It's about you getting a scholarship. It's about you

being the best player on the team. It's about you getting exposure

and getting recruited. It's about you getting to the NBA and it's

never been. Look, the way you can accomplish that is to be a part of

a team and actually think about others and make others around you

better. And that can actually be your best path towards accomplishing

your personal goals. So explaining the value of team is our new

Julie Genjac: [00:04:29] Well, that's fascinating, and I think you're

so right that oftentimes the why behind what we're doing is missed

and we all assume that we all have that at our in our minds and we're

all coming from the same place. So I think that's such an incredible

improvements to your process outside of explaining the why and really

defining team and making that truly a part of your culture. What are

some other secrets in your mind to creating a great team?

Jay Wright: [00:04:56] Well, I'm glad you gave me a chance to to back

up on that because, you know, I didn't I didn't want to pass that by

because I wouldn't be truthful because I really believe anything that

we do after anything we do without explaining that now. Really

doesn't hold any value because, you know, the young people we get are

saying, well, hey, I'm here for me, you know what? This is about me.

So after we explain that, I think. The most. Important and probably

the most difficult challenge is building trust, be between the team

members and also, and most importantly, trust between the leadership.

And and the team, the players itself, that is that takes time. And

and I think the players and the staff evaluate each other based on

our actions, you know, we have a saying that your actions speak so

loudly. I can't hear what you say. And as a leader, I always tell our

staff, but I always try to remind myself. Every decision that you

make as a leader and every situation good or bad, dealing with

success or failure. Is an opportunity. To create trust within your

organization, so, you know, we know you can have difficult decisions

to make or you could have difficult challenges to take on as a

leader. And you can you can win that battle short term. But I think

you always have to recognize. How is this decision going to be

perceived by my team and by my staff, and is this decision or this

approach to the challenge? Is this going to be consistent with the

culture we're trying to build a culture of trust? So sometimes you

might have to take a short, short term loss on a decision, you know,

or taking on a challenge. In our case, sometimes it's a game, believe

it or not. You know, John and I were talking off air about we we have

these preseason scrimmages where we're allowed to play a team. We're

actually not allowed to talk about. We're actually allowed to play a

team in a scrimmage situation game where no fans, no one's allowed,

but they're great opportunities for us as a coach to put into effect

what we demand of our players. The concepts that we want them to

adhere to and maybe lose but make decisions on game if guys aren't

doing the things that we know long term are going to help us or even

myself if I'm not being consistent with what I say that I'm

demanding. I've got to be consistent even if it cost us losing. We

scrimmage Rutgers last weekend and there were a lot of situations

where I thought, You know what? I could let this go. We might. We

might win this part of the scrimmage, but. I got to take this guy out

and set an example and let him know that that that this is not how we

play that situation so that the building of that trust is is

John Diehl: [00:08:25] Given your experience in college athletics all

these many years, I imagine that well, just by the nature of your

business, you're dealing with new teams all the time, right, as as

kids, graduate, move on and your new recruits come in. Is there

anything unique about some of those teams? And let me just ask

specifically, I mentioned some of those national championships, the

2018 National Change Championship team. When you look back, were

there certain things that come into your mind that you think were the

secret to their success as a team or your secret to your successes of

Jay Wright: [00:09:01] Yeah, definitely. You know, John, we talk

about our core values, you know, in our program and and it's what I

was referring to when we play scrimmages like I have as a coach have

to be committed to our core values. And to answer your question about

those teams. Any time I think any of us have success, we have very

talented people around us, right? But but the and we there have been

other teams we've had here are very talented, but maybe they didn't

completely buy in to our core values as well as those teams did. And.

Those teams. Even though they were talented and sometimes when you're

talented individually, it's difficult. To buy into the core values of

a team because you recognize, Hey, I can. There's some things I can

do by myself and be really successful, but I'm one of our terms. Here

is everyone's role is different, but everyone's value is the same.

Everyone gets treated the same. They have the same status, no matter

what their role is. So, you know, in business, you might have high

performers, right? And we have leading scorers. But on those 16 and

18 teams, the leading scores and the stars were the most committed.

To our core values, and they weren't committed to individual success.

And then they that trickled down through the team and that, you know,

we've had some other teams where. You know, the best players. We're

we're committed to core values, but not to the level of 16 and 18 and

18. Ryan Archer Jack and what was this? I mean, six, 16. Ryan Archer,

Jack and I was a senior. Daniel Chappell was a senior. Those guys set

the tone of what was really interesting was the young guys on that

team. Jalen Brunson was a freshman. McHale Bridges was a sophomore.

Josh Hart was a sophomore. Those young guys. And then in 18, when

they became upperclassmen and they became the stars, they learned

from the guys that came before them. How to do that instead of saying

it's my turn to be the star. They said I watched Ryan Archer, Jack A.

and Daniel Shapiro. I watched when they were stars. They were

unselfish and committed to the team. So now when I'm the star, I want

to do the same because I see they benefited from that individually.

John Diehl: [00:11:48] So that's part of the culture. [00:11:49][0.7]

of trust there, like we talked earlier, you know, when you get to be

the star, you got to trust that. OK, I'm the star, I might be the

highest paid in the company. Yes, yes, I'm needed and I'm valued, but

so is everybody else? I'm not. I'm not as good by myself as I am, if

I'm with everybody else, and I have to show. My impact as the leader

on everything I do and my commitment to the core values is going to

Julie Genjac: [00:12:28] I think that culture of respect is such an

incredible way to view the world. And I know in your book attitude,

you specifically talked about how each person has a role to play and

no one role is more valuable, whether it's the bus driver or the star

player or a member of the coaching staff. And I love how you framed

instilling that culture of trust and respect once an individual has

joined the thing. I'm curious how do you ensure that the players

you're selecting and bringing on as new additions to the team will be

strong team players? I'm sure you've you've gone through this process

so many times over the decades. And what are your words of wisdom on

Jay Wright: [00:13:11] It's funny what you mentioned. The bus driver

is a great example. We are team bus drivers got two and say national

championship rings. And one of our most enjoyable experiences when

our team was able to present him with the ring and let him know how

valuable he was to all of us, right? And. It always happens. A

freshman freshman star comes on our team, right, and. When he first

gets there, he thinks he's a star. We're all lucky to have him there,

which we are. But in practice, one of the managers come out when

there's sweat on the floor and I'll run out and wipe up the sweat at

his feet, you know, he'll look down at him like, this is crazy. And

you know, we'll all say to him, like, Hey, did you? Did you thank him

for wiping up that sweat? And you know, the kid's always taken back

at first. He kind of looks that, well, that's his job. I'm the star.

He's supposed to wipe my sweat, you know? But then they they learn,

you know that that's valuable, and we respect that guy for that, for

that role. And to answer your question. We use our our players and in

us as a staff, as we're recruiting and recruiting in college

basketball, very competitive as it is. You know, in the business

world, you know, we're out there recruiting against the Dukes to

Kentucky's and they they can show these guys a lot of bells and

whistles and. We don't want a guy that's going to make the decision

based on that. We have to have the bells and whistles too. But we

want him to make his decision based on whether he's going to come to

the program based by explaining to him our core values and how we're

going to educate him about being a part of a team and how that's

going to benefit him. And when he comes and visits, we have him spend

time with our players. We show him some of these things. I'm

explaining to you a practice and show him our guys thanking the guy,

wiping up the sweat and showing him how we treat people and having

him experience that. And you know, he might go to another school and

they might treat him like a king while he's there, right? And if we

want him to make the decision based on seeing the reality of what we

are, but we also want him to spend time with our players away from us

and then we meet with our players and we ask our players, is he going

to be able to fit into our culture because. Rarely do we get somebody

rarely. Sometimes we're fortunate we do that gets all of these

concepts in these core values, just like if you hire someone that

they're not going to get exactly what Hartford Funds is all about

coming in, they're going to. But you have to ask your people and then

you have to judge, do they have a good heart? And are they open?

They're going to be open to learning and changing. We have another

term that we use and we tell them this. We're recruiting. You become

us. We don't become you. So you don't come into the program and then

we change the program based on your abilities. You come into the

program and you learn our culture and then once you learn it, your

John Diehl: [00:16:38] So coach, as I hear you talk about the secrets

of putting together these great teams. Talk a little bit about your

experience in Tokyo coaching the Olympic team now there. We have some

of the best individual players in the world coming together to play

as a team, and you didn't have that much time to kind of meld them

together. Were there any secrets or anything that you, as part of

that coaching staff kind of did to bring those those guys together to

Jay Wright: [00:17:08] You know what, John, this that's it's an

incredible I could probably spend an entire podcast talking about

this. Winning the Gold Medal this summer, I was assistant coach,

obviously. Gregg Popovich was the head coach. Steve Kerr from the

Golden State Warriors was the other assistant coach and Lloyd Pierce,

who was with the head coach, Atlanta Hawks and now with the Pacers.

But we were the staff, but so I was only an assistant but still been

an assistant. It was the greatest coaching experience I've ever had

in my life and the most fulfilling I've ever had because the

challenges were incredible. Tokyo was was under emergency conditions

with COVID, so we were quarantined for 37 days. We started in Las

Vegas, our training camp. Our family couldn't be with our families

couldn't come. And I originally agreed to coach the Olympics and the

World Cup because I thought my family could come the Olympics. I

thought it would be nice, you know? But. You know, when Tokyo

announced that, you know, they're not going to have any fans and no

one from out of the country can can come to the games. The challenge

is just started to begin. So these players? As you mentioned, you

know, the highest paid players in the world, the greatest players in

the world, their lot. We were locked in a hotel for thirty seven

days, first in Las Vegas for training camp. Then when we went to

Tokyo, we couldn't even go outside. We weren't even allowed outside.

So. That was a challenge. Also, the NBA season, because of the

previous year with COVID, was prolonged and went into July when the

Olympics started. So we we had three players from our team. Khris

Middleton from Milwaukee Bucks, Jrue Holiday from the Milwaukee Bucks

and Devin Booker from the Phenix Suns. They played in the NBA Finals

in July while we were in Las Vegas training. After the NBA Finals,

the three of them now, they had played against each other in the

finals, got on a plane and flew 14 hours to Tokyo. It came in a two

night, two o'clock in the morning on the day of our first game. So

the challenges were incredible. But to answer your question about

what were the secrets, what was amazing was. We, you know, we had

grown men, professionals, guys that make $40 million a year, locked

in a hotel for thirty seven days, just doing basketball. And and we

went through some adversity because in our our leading scorer from

that Washington Wizards tested positive for COVID. He he got sent

home. Then. We had other guys that were Kevin Love got hurt. He had

to go home. We had guys like Chris Paul who was going to play for the

team. He got hurt in the playoffs so he couldn't play. So we had all

this adversity and we're locked together. Inn in a hotel and. The

closeness and the sacrificing that everyone did. Because we were

forced to be together was incredible, and it pulled us through it.

And. I normally normally if you're at the Olympics and we had been in

the World Cup couple of years, you know, when you come out of the

hotel, there's thousands of people waiting for his NBA guys

autographs and the guys are going out at night and they're all, you

know, they're enjoying the the thrills of being an NBA player in a

foreign country. And but no one could do that. We all we could do was

practice together, watch film together, eat meals together, hang out

together. We became so close that literally. And when we lost some

games early, the USA team never loses, but people didn't know what we

were going through. We were getting criticized and we were. We were

in this hotel looking at all the social media and ESPN. Everybody

criticizing Popovich, criticizing Kevin Durant Crevasse criticizing

Draymond Green just brought us closer and closer to the point where

we won the Gold Medal. There was literally grown men crying. We were,

so we had been through so much together and we were so close. And all

of us, you know, said like, this is one of the greatest

accomplishments we've been a part of in our coaching staff to this

day now. Jeff Van Gundy emailed Doc is the coach of the Celtics, and

those guys were there with us supporting us. Part of our staff, you

didn't see them on the bench, but all of us keep a text thread to

this day, and every time we text each other, we just first where we

we value. We're going to say to each other is always gold. So it was

one of the great experiences of of a coach's lifetime.

Julie Genjac: [00:22:22] You mentioned coach Gregg Popovich a moment

ago and obviously arguably one of the greatest coaches of all time.

What lessons or words of wisdom did you pick up from him during your

Jay Wright: [00:22:37] A lot. I hope I'm a much better coach this.

This was about a five year commitment, Julie. So we coach Popovich

Coach Chayefsky, we coached the select team, which was the young NBA

guys that practiced against the 16 Olympic team to get them ready for

the Olympics. And then we watched Coach K and how he prepared. And

prepared for that. And then obviously, the Olympics were supposed to

be 20, so we prepared for 20 and then they got canceled. So then we

had to do it all over again at 21. So it was five years with them,

which was invaluable and personally again, a great experience. We

developed an incredible relationship and friendship. But to watch him

as a leader? No, no one. So, you know, the guy is going to be great.

He's one of the coaches the greatest of all time. So you're going in

with high expectations. It's difficult for him to. It would have been

difficult for him to impress me because I was already thinking, he's

he's the best. But. From the first day that we met before the 19 Gold

Cup. His his preparation and attention to detail. Was by far the best

I've ever seen in, you know, I study business people like John and I

and I watch them do their work. But we had a staff meeting in San

Antonio in June before the the World Cup, and he had every possible

detail covered and prepared for us. Our staff, before we came in

there, even we were playing in China that year, even alter terms that

we should know in Chinese that we would need in basketball and and in

in going to restaurants and in the hotels he had in every city. We

were going to listed the best restaurants in each city. And then the

detail of basketball wise and for all of us who were everybody's an

NBA coach and then myself, I was the only college coach. But he had

every change in FIBA rules as compared to NBA as compared to college.

Every game situation that would come up, that would be different for

us based on the rules. He had the rosters of all the teams. On every

team we were playing, set up scouting, set up for each other. Now he

went to the Air Force Academy, so and I had been with Coach K too,

who went to West Point and I was always amazed at his level of

preparation. And they're very both of them were very close in that

way. But. After that, as I just explained to you our story about what

had happened to us, I can't share everything, but it was. Daily,

there was a crisis. You know, we all know this in business, right? We

we use a term here. You know, every day you come into the office,

expect problems, know that that's going to be your your that's going

to be your day is attacking these problems and these challenges,

right? That's what we do as leaders. But every day there was a

crisis. You know where? You know, somebody tested positive for COVID.

Somebody said they weren't going to make the team somebody age, it

wasn't happy with how they're being used on the team. You know, they

were talking about maybe canceling the Olympics. You know, the plane

wasn't going to get there in time to get us, you know, to Tokyo when

we needed to be new levels of testing, contact tracing, guys were

out. So you don't you don't have enough guys to practice today. You

know, this guy gets hurt every day, his ability. To attack a problem.

Stay positive, keep everybody united and see that the leader is not.

Daunted. He gave it. Not now we were, as I said to you, quarantine,

so just among us sometime his guys, we have a glass of wine late at

night and you could see it was killing. But he never let anybody else

see it during the day. His ability to lead under pressure was

Julie Genjac: [00:27:35] I'm fascinated by the level of preparation

and organization, and I was. I'm just curious based upon that

specific best practice. Is there any part of his process that you

implemented or enhanced what you are already doing? As you look ahead

to the season after spending so much time with him and soaking up

Jay Wright: [00:27:57] Yeah, definitely, Julie, I'm a I'm a hands on

guy, I I have a we have a great staff here, we really do, and I trust

them. But. I think I learned from him more. To delegate. Better. Man,

he even with our coaching staff when we did scouting reports for our

opponent, the level of responsibility that he gave us, I want to do

that more with our staff. I don't, you know, I don't feel like I give

our staff as much responsibility as he gave us. Now he's working with

head coaches, you know, that are his assistants. But he he had his

staff was with us too. He does the same with with his staff. And as

we all know in leadership. He he did an amazing job, and this is what

I'm trying to take with my staff of giving us our say. He wouldn't

make a decision without all of us giving our point where we really

felt like. He he he trusted our opinions. But he had a way of making

it very clear that he was making the decision. But but many times it

was your your suggestion as an assistant or in a scouting report,

your plan, he was putting it into effect. But he did it in a way

where you felt like it was your idea, but it was really clear he was

in charge and really clear that he was. He was the leader it was. And

I'm trying to do that here with my team better. And I don't know if

it's his charisma, his he's a big guy, he's a strong guy, is a tough

guy. But I just I've never seen anyone. Delegate, as much give his

staff as much say, but still clearly remain in charge.

John Diehl: [00:30:14] Coach, a couple of minutes ago, you were

talking about pressure and I want to change gears a little bit. I

mean, sometimes pressure is from forces we never saw coming. But

other times pressure is something that we see coming. And that's

where I want to go to is the madness of March Madness, which you have

to contend with every spring, right? So how does the pressure of

something like March Madness impact the team, even a team that's been

cruising along, let's say, through the through the season? But now,

you know, you talked about the Crucible in Tokyo, but in a similar

way, I'm guessing you experience that every march with your teams

that are now in the focus of March Madness. What are some of the

things that you share with your teams as you begin that process of

the March Madness tournament? And you know, what takeaways do you

really want to impart to them so that they play the kind of game that

Jay Wright: [00:31:14] Yeah, that's a great question, John. And I

can't answer that without referring to the Olympics because and I'll

get to the March Madness part, but. I always thought, as you said,

the March Madness is crazy. You can, and we've done this, you can

have a year where you're the number one seed. You have the greatest

team of any team all year long in the country, which which should

mean the most, you know, over 32 games you ended the season, No. One.

But you lose in the second round, the NCAA tournament and

perceptually your entire season was a failure. That's that is a lot

of pressure and but not as much pressure, and I didn't know it until

I went through. It is when you're the head coach of USA Basketball,

there's no there's no excuses. It's just you either win the gold or

you're a total failure. And if you win the gold, there's no. There's

no applause or recognition. It's just all right, that's where you're

supposed to do it. And if you are. If you're into it for recognition,

then you shouldn't be. You shouldn't be into it. You know, if you're

doing what you do for for outside recognition and praise, you're in

it for the wrong reasons. And it's kind of the same thing we try to

impart upon our players when it comes to the NCAA tournament that

that we've we use a term we practice every day to create habits that

are going to make us successful in the most difficult situations. So

every day, everything we're doing, it's not. Just to win the game or

to win that drill, in practice, it's create habits that when we're in

the NCAA tournament and all the pressure's on us. And when you're a

high seed, when you're a number one seed or a two seed and you're

playing in the NCAA tournament and it happened to us in Philadelphia

one year, we were a one, we were a one seed. We're playing a 16 seed.

It was Monmouth and they were making a comeback on us. It was getting

close to the second half and we're in Philadelphia and the whole

place turned on us because in the NCAA tournament, everybody loves

the underdog. So we're literally playing in Philadelphia and

everyone's rooting for Monmouth and and you know, you're in that

pressure where, you know, everybody wants to see this 16 one upset.

It's pressure. And if you're if you're only focused on the result or

if you're if you're only focused on what's going on outside of your

team or your culture. You're doomed to failure. The closer we get to

the big games. The more we talk to our guys about what we can control

and we can control our attitude and we can control our effort, and we

never fear failure. Failure. We never fear failure. As defined by the

were a number one seed, and we lost to a number eight seed in the

second round and we were crucified for, you know, being losers and

and we explained to our guys that year and we still do it every year

in this program that that team every day was committed to our core

values. And in that game until the last second, we played true to our

core values. So it wasn't failure to the outside world. It was, but

to us it was not fair and it will never be. That team within our

program is is looked at as one of the great teams because we wanted

the young guys to learn a lesson that you had that team had. The most

wins at that time in the history of Villanova basketball in a season,

so we said to them what you did was you had great habits every day

and you brought it every day over a. You know, a three month season

for 34 games, I think we were 32 and two. Bringing a great effort

every day. Is what you can control and bring in a great attitude

every day is what you can control. That's what you did. So one game,

you know, one day there were some circumstances maybe that we

couldn't handle or maybe some circumstances that were out of our

control. That we lost the game. So everyone's going to call us a

failure, but we evaluate ourselves from within that. That's not a

failure. So we've used that within our program to teach our guys

going into March Madness. Hey, you're a one seed, you're playing a 16

to see you're a one seed, you're playing an eight seed now you're a

one seed, you're playing a four seat. There's no fear of failure. The

only thing we fear is not living up to our core values and not living

up to playing for each other and giving our best effort and having

John Diehl: [00:36:24] when I think coach. That's why you're

recognized for not just being a great coach, but also a great leader,

because I think that's what great leaders would do is stay focused on

the goal and stay committed to the values that we've established. And

I guess, you know, with that in mind, I'll I'll ask kind of a almost

a round up question, which is if there's one thing you could tell

people who are listening today about ways to make their teams more

effective, their whatever that team may be, might be better.

Leadership role in your family might be in the workplace, whatever it

Jay Wright: [00:36:58] Well, great point, John, because all those our

teams, right and your family and your circle of friends that your

your, your, your company, that you work for, you're your group within

your company or your division, whatever, they're all separate teams,

right? And as leaders. What we've tried to do over the years is talk

to our guys that that we we are we are a family. We're a team. And

what we're trying to do is define how we're going to live. Not just

how we're going to work or how we're going to play in the game, but

it's going to be how we treat each other after the game, how we treat

the people we work with during the week, how we handle success and

how we handle failure. It, our culture and our job as leaders is to

create a way we're going to live. So even if you work for Hartford

Funds, even when you're not at work, you're a part of that team. So

what you do in the community represents Hartford funds, right? And

it's bigger than just what you're doing when you're working for us,

it's what kind of person are you and how are you going to treat

people? And how are you going to handle success? And how are you

going to handle failure? That's the core values. It's it's as a

leader. It's our job to to build those core values. We have to be the

keepers of the flame. We have to lead by walking the walk and not

just talking the talk, but not not define what we're going to

celebrate. Like the example that you lead me into, which was great

about? That team in 15 that lost in the second round, but won the

most games in the history of Villanova basketball. We didn't

celebrate or we didn't. Kind of feel bad about the fact that we lost

a second round. We were proud of the way we lived all year long, the

way we held on everything. That next year we won the national

championship and we won the national championship. It was about how

we handled that too. We have a saying that that we play for those who

came before us. It wasn't. We didn't celebrate those guys that they

were any better than the guys in 15 or the guys in nineteen sixty

five that built this program. Everybody was a part of that. The last

one to leave you with is, is this the. Stonecutter, if you look at a

stonecutter tapping at his rock, he'll tap it at his rock maybe a

thousand times before that rock breaks. But it wasn't that thousandth

blow. It was the it was all the blows that came before that. And when

we won the Championship in 16, we said to the guys, Hey, it's not.

This this isn't about you, this isn't just you. This is all the guys

that have came before you that have built this. So how you handle

failure, how you handle success? That's really what we define as

leaders. And if we're going to keep those core values strong in that

culture, strong, we've got to make sure that that we are always

John Diehl: [00:40:26] Well, coach, if we come to about the end of

our time together. But Julie would not forgive me if I didn't ask

you, can we expect another Wildcats championship this year?

Jay Wright: [00:40:36] Yeah. Hey, you know the answer? I can't

promise the Championship, but I promise you we'll be committed to our

core values. And you know, each new year, even though you have the

some of the same guys back, they're different people. They have

different expectations. So you got to get them recommitted to the

core values and you got new guys coming in. You've got to get them to

learn the core values and then commit to them. So by the end, we want

to be playing the best basketball we can and we want to be the best

Villanova team we can, which means be as committed to our core values

as we can. If that's good enough to win a national championship,

fine. If it's not, we'll accept our destiny based on the fact that

we're committed to our core values. So I know that's not the answer

you want to hear, but that is really how we do it. It really is.

John Diehl: [00:41:27] well. Well, good luck this season, coach. I

Jay Wright: [00:41:32] Thanks, guys. [00:41:32][0.3]

words of wisdom and all of the inspiration, and for those of you

listening, if you want to learn more about how to optimize your own

adviser, team and then coach write words live, how to learn how to

live all year long. Click on the link in the show notes. Or please

Julie Genjac: [00:41:54] Thanks for listening to the Hartford Funds.

Human Centric Investing podcast, if you'd like to tune in for more

episodes. Don't forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

John Diehl: [00:42:08] And if you'd like to be a guest and share your

best ideas for transforming client relationships, email us a guest

booking at Hartford Funds dot com. We'd love to hear from you.

Julie Genjac: [00:42:19] Talk to you soon. [00:42:19][0.0]