AFL: Queanbeyan sit at three wins, two losses, but coaching staff at Tigerland are hoping a pep talk on leadership from the Director General Military Information for the Australian Defence Force, Brigadier Dan Fortune, will refine their skills as not only athletes, but citizens in general.
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Brigadier Fortune formerly commanded the Royal Military College, Duntroon and was a member of the Directing Staff at the Australian Command and Staff College. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross and has a Masters of Management from the University of Canberra and a Masters of Business from the University of New South Wales.
He spoke to the group about leadership, goal setting and personal and organisational resilience, drawing on experiences and lessons from a 34-year military career and related them to on and off the footy field.
Brigadier Fortune told the players they should be on a "pursuit of excellence, not accepting of mediocrity and forcing yourself to improve".
"Focus on the responsibility and obligations you've been given and that will be enough to think about without worrying about the situation you're in- individual acts can inspire others," he said.
Brigadier Fortune explained to the group the four Australian Army values, Courage, Initiative, Respect and Teamwork, and encouraged them to stick to fundamentals and basics of football and leadership, hang onto their gameplan and ride the momentum shifts, not to be arrogant and to be a good winner.
The seminar was coordinated by Tigers sports chaplain Scott Minchin whose role was established this year to ensure a broad player development, mentor players on football and non-football related issues.