May, 2014 | Coach Pat Sullivan

31 May

Analyzing Leaders and Success

The study of William J. O’Neil, founder- Investor’s Business Daily

Over my 35 years in Sales I have been exposed to many varied, yet successful leadership styles in both the corporate world and also in my avocation, sports officiating.

For me the most consistent message of great leadership and successful people is contained in a daily publication delivered to my doorstep: Investor’s Business Daily. Founded in 1984, the creator of the paper, Mr. William J. O’Neil, saw the need for financial investors to make better investment decisions more quickly. He saw a need in the market: business publications at the time were not formatted in a way that was “investor-friendly.”

Existing sources made it difficult to find the information about stocks needed for an investor to make focused decisions. During Mr. O’Neil’s years of stock research he created a formula for successful investing called CAN SLIM, a strategy based on the historical facts of a stock’s performance. This formula is detailed on the company website, through the “IBD University” drop-down icon.

Among my favorite features of the paper that appear every day is a column emphasizing IBD’s “10 Secrets to Success,” always located on the “Leaders and Success” page. As IBD writer David Saito-Chung suggests, these 10 characteristics form an “action plan” for those who wish to create a better life for themselves and others.

What are these secrets of great Leaders? According to IDB, they are:

How you think is everything: “Think success, not failure.”
Decide upon your true dreams and goals: “Write ‘em down…”
Take Action: “Don’t be afraid- just DO it!”
Never stop learning: “More schooling, training, skills…”
Be persistent and work hard: “Never give up…”
Learn to analyze details: “Learn from your mistakes…”
Focus your time and money: “Don’t let others distract you…”
Don’t be afraid to innovate; be different: “Fear mediocrity…”
Deal and communicate with people effectively: “Learn to understand others so as to motivate…”
Be honest and dependable; take responsibility: “Otherwise, #1-#9 don’t matter…”

All of the successful people I’ve known over the course of my life have had some combination of these traits. Interacting with these living examples of leadership – as well as being exposed to them in my daily dose of the IBD – have helped me successfully navigate through challenging business and officiating situations. My hope is that by including the list here, they might benefit you in a similar way.

-Guest Blog by Dennis Bracco

Dennis Bracco is president of DMB Ventures, Ltd., a manufacturer’s representative serving customers with Packaging and Point of Purchase display needs. He is a former Big Ten basketball official. Dennis can be reached via LinkedIn.

31 May

Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say

The first person I heard use the expression, “Say what you mean, mean what you say,” was former NFL coach, Don Shula.

I think it is critical that leaders hire people who abide by this maxim.

This was especially true in coaching. The last thing a head coach needs is “yes” men. He needs assistant coaches who can see things differently than him and who don’t hesitate to express their opinions.

Most games are won or lost in the second half, especially when the two teams are fairly equal in talent. Therefore, half-time adjustments are extremely important. I developed the habit of going off by myself to think about what I had seen in the first half and make decisions on what I thought we should concentrate on for the second half.

While I was doing the above, my assistants would talk among themselves and come to decisions that they felt we should execute in the second half. We would then come together and decide what adjustments we would present to our players for the second half. The most adjustments we would present at half-time were three. We wanted execution, so we kept the instructions simple, congruent with our belief that success in sports comes from two essential ingredients – simplicity and execution. Two things were important at these half-time coaches’ meetings:

I certainly did not want coaches who were always thinking what I was thinking and as we were debating our approach to the second half, I did not want “yes” men. I wanted guys to give me their thoughts and to defend them passionately.
The second point was very important for our staff togetherness. Stephen Covey, in his internationally famous book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, stresses that interacting with people is like putting deposits in a bank account. The more we learn to trust each other, the larger that bank account grows. So, when a disagreement arises, it is handled with little problem because the bank account, the trust, is so strong. If the assistants had a different idea than I had as to how we should approach the second half, I sometimes rejected their suggestion and went with my conclusions. If we then proceeded to play poorly in the second half and lost, I never heard a “told you so” from my assistants. The converse was true as well. If they convinced me to accept their idea and reject mine, and we lost, I never said a critical word to them after the game. We were all on the same page. All of us tried our best to find the best decision for the second half for our team. It was that simple and there were no recriminations, either way, after the game.

I always have believed that the difference between a head coach and an assistant coach is decisions versus suggestions. The same is true for all leaders. The proverbial buck stops with the leader. He or she must make the final decision. Doesn’t common sense dictate that quality leaders want to get all the input they can before they make the final decision? I always liked Coach John Wooden’s philosophy when he would tell his assistants that he was not interested in their individual ideas. Equal to that, he was not interested in his idea. What he wanted was for all of them to get together and find the best idea. The leader can only make the best decision when everyone speaks their mind.

I have served on Boards where some people were constantly telling the leader what he wanted to hear. Constantly. I always felt that this was totally unfair to the leader. If the leader is not getting honest feedback, including ideas contrary to his beliefs, how can he make the best decisions?

In the last analysis, leaders need to surround themselves with people who say what they mean and mean what they say. With this kind of teamwork there is a great chance that the very best decisions will be reached.

15 May

Failure is an Option

I heard a commercial recently where the company said, “Failure is an option.” As soon as I heard it, I knew I liked it.

Michael Jordan used to say, “I succeed because I have failed.” Because he wasn’t afraid to fail, he wanted the ball in his hands at the end of the game. He was fearless because he was not afraid to fail.

John Wooden’s college coach at Purdue, Piggy Lambert, used to teach that the team that makes the most mistakes wins, a statement that would make most of today’s basketball coaches cringe. But his point was that if you’re playing aggressive and attacking basketball, you’re going to make mistakes and that’s okay. Don’t let the mistakes get you down. Just keep on attacking.

Often we learn more from failure than success.

I once played for a coach who constantly criticized me and my teammates. His continuous yelling could sometimes take away from your aggressiveness because you knew if you failed you would never hear the end of it. I learned a great deal from that coach on how I did not want to coach. It turned out to be a great learning experience.

I disagree with some of today’s educators who are so much into student’s self-esteem that they strive to take failure out of the students’ lives. I think they are cheating the kids. Like all of us, their students will meet with failure in their lives, both personal and professional. Instead of eliminating failure would it not be much more beneficial to teach kids how to deal with it? Learn from it, put it behind you, and move on.

Failure is an option. It is prevalent in business, in athletics, and in every phase of our lives. So, let’s not fear it but learn from it, and continue to aggressively strive for excellence.

09 May

Responding in the Heat of Battle

“Our greatest power is the freedom to choose our response.”

This is a quote from Viktor Frankl, author of Man’s Search for Meaning and a survivor of the Holocaust.

Viktor Frankl

When I think of the response of leaders to situations, I believe two totally opposite responses can be appropriate.

A very successful businessman once told me that when he was angry at another person, he would write a letter telling that person exactly how he felt, leaving no stone unturned. He would then tear the letter up, wait a day, and rewrite it. By waiting a full day, his anger would usually dissipate and he could write a more humane, rational reply. There is certainly a great deal of wisdom in this approach, especially when responding to a criticism that comes to you in writing.

On the other side of the coin, I once read an article written by the late Bill Walsh, former NFL coach, titled “Two Cheers for Pissed Off.” Being of Irish descent and having coached for forty-four years, I liked this article!

I think there is merit to this response, with three disclaimers:

• Your anger must be genuine. I have worked with some leaders who feigned anger. I don’t think that ever works. If you’re mad, be mad!
• I think being passionate about your beliefs is perfectly okay. If someone is attacking something you strongly believe in, and are doing it in an abusive way, why not let them know in no uncertain terms how you feel?
• Finally, it is always best to have your anger directed at the issue, not the person. I felt this was especially critical in coaching. The coach can get after what was done wrongly, not who did it.

Our meetings in athletics at the university where I worked for thirty-four years were often very spirited. People were passionate about their beliefs and said how they felt. But it was about the issue, not the person. The talk was candid and sometimes rough but we left the meetings as the friends we were.

I definitely believe open, truthful discussion is always best. Leaders can choose their response and both containing your anger and letting it show can be appropriate. The key is the issue, not the person.