Before the Scoreboard Knew
The Tuesday Letter, No. 02. Sent to subscribers on Tuesday, November 10, 2026.
This fall I coached two basketball teams at the YMCA, one for each of my kids.
My son’s team is in fourth grade. We run real plays, and we went undefeated.
My daughter's team, the Midnight Foxes, was playing its first season ever. They lost. Every game. Week after week, the kids showed up, practiced and lost again.
Then came our last game of the season. I looked across the court at the other team and thought: we can win this one. So I coached like I believed it. I called out to the kids, pushed them and encouraged them.
Then my daughter scored. She threw her hands in the air, shouted “Yes, I scored!” and ran over to high-five me.
A moment later a teammate scored and pumped a fist in the air. Then another kid scored, and another fist went up. Then another. And another.
In one afternoon, that team scored more baskets than it had scored all season combined.
We won.
All season, she sang "Roar" in the back seat on the way to practice. That afternoon, the whole team found theirs.
Standing on that sideline, I understood something. Those practices weren’t wasted. Every loss had been building toward that one afternoon. The progress was real the whole time. It just hadn’t shown up on the scoreboard yet.
What I am seeing
This fall I've sat across from dozens of students preparing for school interviews. Most measure themselves by grades, scores and awards. Few can see what they've built that doesn't show up there yet: the persistence, the way they treat a teammate, the thing they keep practicing because they love it.
Schools do the same. We count applications and retention, and rarely count the teacher who notices or the coach who stays late, the gap-standers I wrote about last time.
The scoreboard tells you what happened. It almost never tells you what’s coming.
One idea, taught small
At your next dinner or staff meeting, ask each person to name one thing they practiced this week that hasn't paid off yet. Then thank them for it, out loud. It takes five minutes, and it tells people the work counts before the win does.
What I am building
I'm in a season like that myself: searching for the right next opportunity, writing every week, and starting something new, helping people tell their career story. The small wins are adding up.
This Friday: a new piece on the interview question that reveals what a resume can’t.
Next week: a two-part series on mentorship and passing the torch.
In December: a session at NAIS Gather in Boston.
One question
A lot of us are in that kind of season right now. A family halfway through admissions season. A student whose grades haven’t caught up with their effort. A professional looking for what’s next.
So here's my question:
What are you practicing right now that hasn’t shown up on the scoreboard yet?
Tell me in the comments, or email me at jonathan.lee.blac@gmail.com. I read every one.
Listen. Learn. Lead.
Jonathan
Jonathan E. Lee, Founder, Bridging Legacies Across Campuses (BLAC)
P.S. If your family is in the middle of an admissions season that feels like a losing streak, email me at jonathan.lee.blac@gmail.com. I read every one, and I’m glad to talk.
The Tuesday Letter arrives by email first. Subscribe here to get the next one.
Comments