How Teamwork Led Mike Eruzione to Olympic Victory

Most Americans over age 25 remember the United States Olympic hockey team’s dramatic upset victory over the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Games. The "Miracle on Ice" happened despite overwhelming odds-

Most Americans over age 25 remember the United States Olympic hockey team’s dramatic upset victory over the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Games. The "Miracle on Ice" happened despite overwhelming odds and, almost overnight, propelled the team and its young captain from relative obscurity to hero status. Twenty-five year old captain Mike Eruzione played a prominent role in bringing home the gold for the USA over the highly favored and seasoned Soviet professionals.

Since 1980, Eruzione has built a career as a successful speaker, drawing from his experience to help motivate others and raise money for the U.S. Olympic team. He is one of 12 Olympic athletes, sponsored by the Xerox Corporation, currently touring the country to raise awareness and corporate involvement in the Olympic movement. In an exclusive PSP interview, Eruzione related the lessons of his success and the team’s gold medal-winning performance.

–Early Lessons–

Eruzione’s parents taught him to pursue and expect success, but not to take anything for granted. Sporting his older sister’s white hand-me-down figure skates, the future gold medallist learned to skate on the sand traps of a nearby golf course. Since his mother would not allow young Michael out on the lake with the older kids, iced-over sand traps provided an excellent training ground for a small, but determined, Eruzione. By the age of eight he had demonstrated that he was committed to becoming a hockey player, so, with saved up S&H green stamps, his mother bought him a pair of bona fide hockey skates. "The only rule that we had around the house was that if you signed up for something, you had to commit yourself to work hard and stay with it. You couldn’t quit the team or pout if you didn’t score any goals. It was a case of playing because you wanted to enjoy yourself."

Until he reached college, hockey was merely a seasonal sport for Eruzione. "In the summer I played baseball, in the fall it was football and then when it got cold again it was time to play hockey. I thought I was pretty good at all three. I was actually hoping to go to college and play all three sports."

Throughout his childhood, Eruzione never thought of himself as a star athlete. "I never looked at it that way. I wouldn’t come home and say `I’m the best player on the team,’ or `I’m going to be a pro player because I’m better than the next guy.’ I always took things in stride and was part of a team. To me, the team was always more important than how well I was playing."

At Boston University, the hockey coach did not allow his players to play football for fear of injury. Because the baseball season coincided with the NCAA hockey playoffs, baseball was also out of the question. Consequently, Eruzione had to concentrate his athletic talents on hockey and the BU team. During his four years there, BU won the ECAC title and went to the NCAA final four every year, something no team had ever done before.

–Teamwork–

"I was fortunate that I was a good player on a team with other good players. If anything, I think I might have worked harder than some others. I was never so skilled that people would say `Wow, he’s really talented.’ Throughout my career, I think the reason I was successful was because of my work ethic. That’s what helped me strive to succeed, possibly where more skilled players did not. Having a father who worked three jobs and a mother who took care of six kids in a little apartment taught me the value of work. I know that often a little extra effort can mean the difference between a win and a loss."

Eruzione’s first real failure as an athlete came his first year at BU when he wasn’t chosen for the varsity after preseason and was relegated to the “B” team. "I can remember being completely devastated because I thought I had played well in the tryout. Another player by the name of Kenny Cusack put his arm around me and told me not to lose my confidence because he knew I was a good player and I had the mental toughness to come back. That was extremely helpful to me and kept me focused on my goals."

In less than two days, Eruzione had played his way back to the varsity and finished the season leading the team in goals. He credits this kind of nurturing, positive attitude, which characterized the BU clubhouse, with instilling winning attitudes and future leadership abilities in the younger players.

— Leadership —

By his senior year, Eruzione had grown into the role of team leader comfortably enough to be chosen as co-captain. "I don’t think you have to lead necessarily by being a yeller and a screamer. You can lead by example, and my example more often than not was just how hard I played. Growing up in my household, I learned that no one is going to give you anything; if you want to achieve something, you have to seize the opportunity when it presents itself. Not being afraid to make decisions is a very important part of leadership."

After graduating from BU, Eruzione spent two years in the minor leagues preparing himself for the Olympics. The lessons of teamwork and leadership he learned at BU helped him receive the respect of his teammates on the Olympic squad and he was selected as captain. He also learned that on a team of all-stars, egos must be set aside for the good of the team, and that the team leader must keep the team working together.

"On that team no one thought of himself as more important than anyone else. Our goal was to be the best team we could be. If that meant sacrificing a little of your skills, we had players who were willing to do that. Everyone on the team had to feel that they were contributing to some degree. For example, our backup goalie, Steve Janaszak, didn’t play one game during the Olympics, and yet he was just as important to our gold medal as anyone else. To be in a team atmosphere where the whole team shares in the success is a much greater high than when individuals take all the credit. That everyone felt equally important to our success was a great tribute to the team."

— The Coach’s Role —

Coach Herb Brooks knew how to put together the best possible team from the available talent pool. He also knew how to motivate the people he had chosen. "He wanted players who were willing to get along. By getting to know our mental make-up he could determine who would fit into the team chemistry. One of Herb’s great strengths was knowing what strings to pull to motivate different players. He knew that when I wasn’t playing well he needed to yell at me, but when Mark Johnson wasn’t playing well he couldn’t yell at Mark. Mark had to be handled a little differently. I think that’s the key to good management: knowing your players’ or employees’ different personalities and how to get the most out of each one."

Eruzione also learned from Brooks many effective ways of managing a team. "Herb Brooks was very strict and never got close to any of us on a personal level. Instead, he stayed aloof and let us develop our own team chemistry. I played with another coach who became a buddy to many of the players, and that worked for him. I feel that if I were a manager I would be one of the guys. I’d be on the bowling team and so forth because I like to be involved and I enjoy people. But Herb didn’t care if we liked him, he wanted us to respect him. We all did, so he was able to get what he wanted out of us. From what I’ve heard of [University of Indiana basketball coach] Bobby Knight, he and Herb have a similar style. There may be players who don’t like Bobby Knight but I’ll tell you one thing — every one of them respects him. A manager must have the respect of his people because without it there’s little chance that they will have any confidence in his leadership."

— The Big Game —

Going into the Olympic games, the Americans were given two chances of winning the gold medal: slim and none. According to Eruzione, however, the players had tremendous confidence in themselves and their ability to win. "If you don’t believe that you can win, you shouldn’t be in the situation in the first place. As we started to play and began winning, we became all the more confident that we could continue winning. Czechoslovakia was the only team the critics said was capable of beating the Soviets and we handled the Czechs pretty decisively, 7-3. That was the real turning point for us. The night before the Soviet game, we really felt we could win simply because we had confidence in our ability. That’s all that you can ask of your players, really. That they believe in themselves."

The Americans defeated the Soviets in an emotional game that came down to final seconds, with Eruzione scoring the deciding goal. The quest, however, did not end there. In order to win the gold medal, the brash young Americans had to beat a strong Finnish team. I spoke to Eruzione on the eve of the NCAA basketball title game between Duke and Kansas and he drew a comparison between his Olympic squad and the Duke basketball team.

"Someone asked me, `Can Duke get ready to play Kansas after last night’s heart-wrenching victory over UNLV?’ Well, they sure as hell had better be ready because they worked the whole season to win it all, not just one game. If we had beaten the Soviets and lost to Finland, who would have cared? (He correctly predicted a Duke victory but opted against picking a final score.) Just as you have to accept defeats and be able to overcome bad days, you also cannot rest on your laurels when you achieve your goal. You have to reassess and set new goals to shoot for."

— Focus On The Goal —

Eruzione credits both Herb Brooks’ coaching style and the players’ strength of character with helping them stay focused. While Eruzione admits to some celebrating on the night of the Soviet game, the next day in practice Brooks worked the team harder than ever so that each player’s energy was focused on one goal: beating Finland. Once a goal like this is accomplished, however, it is often difficult to move on to another arena and be successful. Eruzione decided to end his hockey career on a high note after the gold medal. He felt there was more to life than athletics. He knew the lessons he had learned about hard work and team sacrifice were universal and would lead him to success in another endeavor.

"I was a Phys Ed major in college, but I was fortunate enough to win a gold medal. Without that medal, I would never have received the opportunity to become a motivational speaker in the first place. But the fact that I’m still successful at motivating people 11 years later tells me I’m doing a good job. The work, the time and the effort I’ve put into my career bears that out."

— Motivate Yourself —

When Eruzione speaks to sales groups, people often ask him how he manages to stay motivated. "My answer is simple. I want to be successful and to achieve, and that spurs me on to remain motivated. I can’t answer people’s specific questions about the business world because I’m not a businessman. But I can tell them the reason we won a gold medal and the reason I remain successful in my new endeavors is my firm belief in my work ethic, and that hard work is going to lead me to success. You also have to believe in yourself and those around you. If you can impress that same work ethic and team cohesiveness on your employees, then you’re going to be successful. The greatest thrill in the world is to share your success with other people. Going around that locker room after we won, hugging everyone, knowing they were each an important part of the team made the victory all the more rewarding."

Eruzione emphasizes the effect a positive attitude has had on every facet of his athletic, personal and business life. "Disappointments and failures are inevitable on the road to success. They help you learn to take nothing for granted. When opportunity knocks, you have to be prepared for it. You can’t always expect things to be handed to you, so when a chance comes your way, you have to do your best to exploit that opportunity.

"I’m a very positive person. I play a lot of golf and if I’m down five strokes with five holes to go, I still think I can take it. Maybe I won’t win, but as long as I’ve given 100 percent, I can’t be disappointed in my performance. I like to carry that attitude with me all the time. I firmly believe that you can do anything if you seriously put your mind to it."

If Mike Eruzione and his determined young teammates could achieve success despite such overwhelming odds, there’s reason to believe that even the stiffest competition is beatable for any sales professional with the self-confidence and determination to work hard and challenge the odds.