{"id":540,"date":"2020-03-03T15:36:16","date_gmt":"2020-03-03T15:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ehrreviews.com\/blog\/?p=540"},"modified":"2021-01-04T13:11:00","modified_gmt":"2021-01-04T13:11:00","slug":"what-i-learned-from-kobe-bryant-as-a-parent-coach-and-doctor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ehrreviews.com\/blog\/what-i-learned-from-kobe-bryant-as-a-parent-coach-and-doctor\/","title":{"rendered":"What I learned from Kobe Bryant as a parent, coach, and doctor"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019m still coming to terms with the tragic death of Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and the seven others killed in the helicopter crash.<\/p>\n<p>Kobe was not just a superstar on the court. He was a dedicated father and community leader whose compassion, patience, and heart of service shone in every action.<\/p>\n<p>To honor this amazing man, I want to share the lessons I learned from his Mamba Mentality that I aspire to emulate in my own life as a physician, leader, and family man.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Kobe wanted to be the best, and he was. This was no accident\u2014he worked relentlessly to achieve it because he loved what he did. In his words, \u201cIf you want to be great, you have to obsess over it.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>At the same time, he acknowledged that greatness requires sacrifice. \u201cA lot of people say they want to be great, but they\u2019re not willing to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve greatness,\u201d he said. It\u2019s a statement any physician \u2014\u00a0having dedicated decades to education and training \u2014 can probably relate to.<\/li>\n<li>While Kobe had high expectations for himself, he also acknowledged that success comes from small, consistent actions over time. The Mamba Mentality, he said, is simply about \u201ctrying to get better every day.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Many people attributed Kobe\u2019s achievement to natural talent without realizing the depth of his work ethic. \u201cHard work outweighs talent\u2014every time,\u201d said the man who famously showed up to NBA practice five hours early. \u201cMamba mentality is about 4 a.m. workouts, doing more than the next guy, and then trusting in the work you\u2019ve put in when it\u2019s time to perform.\u201d It works in basketball, and it\u2019s also a great strategy for passing your boards.<\/li>\n<li>Kobe was a fearless innovator who wasn\u2019t afraid to try new things on the court\u2014even if the result was a flop. \u201cI always kept the goal, the long game, in my mind,\u201d he said. \u201cI always focused on the fact that I had to try something to get it, and once I got it, I\u2019d have another tool in my arsenal.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Be present with your family and give your time to those who need you. Kobe\u2019s love and pride for his four daughters inspired #GirlDads around the world to share the joy of parenting and coaching their daughters, including me. When you have a daughter, you perceive the world differently. Coaching my daughter Athena and her basketball team has inspired me to be the best leader I can be, on and off the court and the boardroom.<\/li>\n<li>Kobe served as a role model and mentor to an entire generation of young athletes. He also freely gave his time and fortune to create an opportunity for underprivileged children, veterans, and many others. He used his philanthropy to draw attention to the plight of L.A.\u2019s homeless population, whom he perceived as being \u201cin the shadows.\u201d We\u2019re in the world for a short period of time, and if we don\u2019t impact it beyond our small, limited sphere, we\u2019ve failed as leaders.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Through my coaching of girl\u2019s basketball in California\u2019s Central Valley, my daughter and I were fortunate enough to know Kobe as a mentor and coach, and a person who inspired my daughter to be the best through hard work, dedication, and passion. While Kobe will live on as one of the game\u2019s greatest athletes, he wanted to be remembered for much more than his championships and scoring records. It\u2019s clear that he\u2019s left a legacy greater than his legendary basketball career, and I thank him for inspiring me to strive for greatness while honoring what matters most in life.<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/imamutomlinson\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Imamu Tomlinson<\/a>\u00a0is an emergency physician and CEO,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vituity.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Vituity<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019m still coming to terms with the tragic death of Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ehrreviews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ehrreviews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ehrreviews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ehrreviews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ehrreviews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ehrreviews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":542,"href":"https:\/\/www.ehrreviews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540\/revisions\/542"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ehrreviews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ehrreviews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ehrreviews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ehrreviews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}