If you've been following along on BGA Overtime you've read two posts regarding former offensive lineman Jeff Immelt '78 returning to campus for speaking engagement. (LINK, LINK)
Now the college has posted a story about that appearance under the headline Leading Through Change With Jeff Immelt ’78; The Teevens Center presented a Top of the Hop chat with the former CEO of General Electric (LINK).
Immelt spoke for more than an hour on many aspects of leadership with the college posting a video of his talk (see below). Here are gently edited excerpts of remarks he offered that are germane to Dartmouth football:
"If I look back on my life, one of the three best decisions I ever made was come to Dartmouth. And the person that led me to Dartmouth was my football coach. So I love coaches. Coaches helped me so much in my life (including) my high school football coach.
"I was a grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. I was a good enough high school football player to play at a lousy (football) school. So I got football scholarship (offers) at places like Vanderbilt, Northwestern, stuff like that.
"My football coach says, 'You might want to think about the Ivy League. I know some guys. I can get you a trip and things like that.'
"I came to Hanover in February of my senior year in high school. I fell in love with the place and I've been associated with it since that period of time.
"I spent a lot of time with football players. I spent a lot of time on the football team. So I love the place."
On Buddy Teevens:
"What a great teammate he was. Because he was not flashy. Not arrogant. He was a humble, dedicated, awesome athlete. Hockey player, football player, a friend to everybody in the locker room, whether you were a third teamer or starter.
"He was an awesome dude as a 20-year-old. All of you have had teammates like that who have the combination of being the best, the most talented, and also the best person. And when the most talented player on a team is also the best human being, you get culture. That was Buddy as a player.
"As a coach, I would see friends, I would run into alumni. … They would say, 'My son played at Dartmouth. Buddy Teevens has changed his life. Buddy Teevens has changed his life.' So both as a 20-year-old, and then as he progressed here, this was just a guy that made a difference in so many lives. So I'm sad that he's not here, but I celebrate with all of you the opportunity to know Buddy Teevens."
Immelt's response when asked what he thinks Teevens would challenge us to do to be better leaders today:
"I would give two elements of the Buddy that I knew that I think all of us can live with today. Or maybe three.
"One is remarkable integrity. Remarkable integrity. You guys have no idea how respected Buddy was in the football ecosystem, from NFL coaches to NFL owners to Roger Goodell. He worked at Archie Manning's camp in Louisiana ... He throws Johnny Manziel out of camp the year after Johnny Manziel won the Heisman Trophy. Manziel's parents went bat shit, came up and complained. Archie Manning threw them out and said, 'Johnny's never welcome to this camp again.' Nobody told Buddy what to do. He knew what to do.
"He always leaned forward into change. I saw him at the Houston Super Bowl with the tackling robot he was introducing at kind of an entrepreneurial effort. I'm sitting next to Buddy and I'm not sure. ...
"My high school football coach was insane. So we were literally the team that would play a game on a Friday night, and if he was unhappy with our performance, we would keep practicing after the game. I mean these days you'd throw this guy in jail. That was my (experience). And I was saying to Buddy, 'Are you sure this thing's going to work?'
"He said, 'Yeah, yeah, we're going to be better football players.'
"And the last thing, which I think is true for all my friends here today, is he believed in the process. In other words, he wasn't in it for the glory. He wasn't in it for recognition. He was in it to develop young men. And whether he was coaching a seventh-grade football team or Dartmouth College, or anywhere in between, Buddy had a passion for the process.
"You look at all the coaches here today; you guys are the same way. All of you are the same way, in that you really are about the student-athlete. … I watch Nick Saban on Saturday mornings on the college football Game Day. He talks process. You sit there and say Nick Saban's an awesome coach, but if he were coaching seventh grade kids, he'd be the same. I'd feel sorry for him, but he'd be the same guy. That's what great coaches do.
"So I'd say (regarding) Buddy, his integrity, his willing to lean forward, his respect for the process and really everybody that's played for you (coaches) feel like they're better people having played Dartmouth football. And I think that's awesome."
And on the most important things football taught him:
"I was a football player and I could talk about ... teamwork and stuff like that. But what I really learned in football was perseverance, that sometimes things don't work. It's the ultimate meritocracy. And so, when things are great, when it's a good play, that's cool. Everybody likes good, right?
"But it's when you miss the block and Buddy gets tackled, you go back to the huddle and he's staring at you. That's when you have got to persevere. And I've had times in my career on top and on the bottom.
'I have to say that the spirit of football taught me perseverance. There's always a next play. Accountability. And all three of those things I got when I was at Dartmouth."
On how to deal with public failure:
"People maybe get attracted by glamour, but they learn from grit. So if you want to be a teacher, you've got to be willing to share the good stuff, but also the bad stuff. Right? So that's what I'd say. Look, everybody skins their knees. You just can't let that matter.
"And again, where did I learn that? Playing Dartmouth football. Not every play works."
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