PODCAST PEOPLE: A Summary from the Real Leaders Podcast
“You know, leaders don’t really start out at the front of the lines. Leaders one day have the courage to get out from the back of the line and walk up to the front and lead.”
Devon Still is a former NFL defensive end and now entrepreneur, peak performance coach, and advocate for childhood cancer awareness. More recently, he is the author of Still in the Game and host of the Undefeated Podcast, helping others to overcome adversity and reach their highest potential in life.
The following is a summary of Episode 124 of the Real Leaders Podcast, a conversation with former NFL defensive end and performance coach Devon Still. Watch, read, or listen to the full conversation below.
From Athlete to Advocate
Devon shares the journey full of ups and downs in his athletic career that brought him to the NFL. But he details that the biggest obstacle he ever faced was his daughter Leah’s battle with cancer. At the age of four she was given a 50/50 chance at surviving. Devon wanted to give Leah’s battle a purpose to help her fight as hard as she could. He decided to use his platform as an NFL player to shed light on what it’s like for families facing this situation.
“When I sat in the hospital, a lot of families were going through things that nobody knew about. It was like a hospital full of the voiceless. And I had a chance to use my voice to give those voiceless families a voice to talk about what they were going through.”
As part of their advocacy for childhood cancer, Devon and Leah formed the Still Strong Foundation, which provides assistance to other families whose children are fighting the same fight.
The Playmaker Playbook
Devon offers the playbook that got Leah through as guidance that can help anyone overcome adversity:
Give your battle a purpose.
“When you give any goal or any fight that you’re going through a purpose that’s bigger than yourself, you’re more likely to achieve that goal.”
Fight for four quarters.
“We have something in football where we’re taught that no matter how tired you are, no matter how much pain you’re in, you go out there and give it everything you have for four quarters, because you never know when the game can change.”
Triple A — Anticipate, Adjust, Accelerate.
“You have to anticipate that things may go wrong, you have to plan for things to go wrong. And then once they do, you have to adjust. Sometimes your goal stays the same, but the strategy or the plan to get to goal, it changes.”
Transcript
Connect
Find out more about Devon’s coaching here:
