Former men’s basketball coach Don Meyer spoke to a crowd of students, faculty, staff and alumni in Allen Arena Thursday in Athlete Leadership Chapel.
Meyer, the namesake for Lipscomb’s basketball court, is one of the winningest coaches in college basketball and is set to be the subject of a feature film, co-produced and co-starring Lipscomb graduate and former MLB player Casey Bond.
Meyer spoke this morning on a multitude of topics, ranging from servant leadership to how to judge someone’s character.
Associate Athletic Director for Spiritual Formation Brent High introduced Meyer to those in attendance. “This is one of the Mount Rushmore guys in my life,” he said.
Talking about how to identify a person’s character, Meyer mentioned billionaire CEO Warren Buffet’s three key traits when looking to hire a new employee. According to Meyer, Buffet looks for someone with a strong work ethic, intelligence and character. To Buffet, a person who possesses the first two but lacks the third is not an ideal candidate.
Meyer strongly believes in the necessity of character in an individual, offering different ways to judge someone’s character.
“I’ve never met a selfish person that was happy, and I’ve never met an unselfish person that was sad,” he said.
Meyer said he believes that you can “tell a lot about a person when they’re getting their butt kicked.” He also noted that people should look for how people treat those who can’t do anything for them or do anything to them, citing Mets’ pitcher R.A. Dickey’s efforts to help those in need.
Meyer quoted Mark Twain in his third point about judging people’s character, saying, “Kindness is the language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”
“Character is really important. Character is important in everything you do,” Meyer said.
Meyer also spoke about the importance of servant leadership, reading from John 13 – the account of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet.
Meyer closed his lesson by encouraging students to know that God is everywhere and that trusting in Him and studying His word on a daily basis is necessary for the Christian walk.
“There’s nothing we can do that the Lord can’t do a lot better,” he said.
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics