Uncategorized | Coach Pat Sullivan

20 Sep

Are Good Leaders More Demanding or More Compassionate?

A recent blog article in the Harvard Business Review got my attention. It was entitled, “Nice or Tough: Which Approach Engages Employees the Most?”

More than 160,000 employees were surveyed to ascertain whether leaders who were “drivers” or “enhancers” were the most effective.

Their conclusion was something most athletic coaches do on a regular basis. They concluded the “or” in their question was the wrong word – that it should be supplanted by “and.”

The best leaders in business did both – they drove and they enhanced.

We have known and continue to know in coaching that you have to demand. Competition is tough; opponents are tough; and coaches have to be demanding to make their athletes game-ready.

Think of the best teacher or coach you ever had…… Was he or she easy or demanding? When I ask that question in a presentation, and ask the audience to raise their hands on easy or demanding, the result has always been unanimous. To a person, everyone agrees that the best teacher or coach they ever had was demanding.

We also know in coaching that you have to care about your athletes beyond the narrow confines of an athletic arena if you want to get the best they have to give. You don’t fool the athletes. They know which coaches genuinely care about their welfare and which don’t.

Great coaches do both. They demand and they care.

12 Sep

When “I” Becomes “We”

A story that circulated in Chicago during the Bulls Jordan era was very insightful for leaders.

Tex Winter, a Bulls assistant coach, reminded Michael Jordan that there is no “I” in “TEAM.” Jordan’s retort was that there is an “I” in “WIN!”

The irony of that exchange is that they both are right. The best “I’s” – the “I’s” being the leaders – have the ability to turn “I” to “we.”

In the first of Jordan’s six NBA championships the Bulls had to beat Magic Johnson’s Lakers in the final round. As a 34-year college basketball coach at the time, I was at the first game and watched Jordan score 37 points, only to have the Bulls lose 93-91. They had to play the very next day and as I drove to the Chicago Stadium, I wondered how Jordan would approach the game.

Jordan, the “I”, the leader, I believed, could have scored 50 points against the Lakers. Instead, he began the game by taking only one shot in the entire first quarter.

He knew the “I” – as great as that “I” was – could not beat the Lakers by himself. He had to involve all his teammates. He had to turn the “I” to we. The Bulls won that second game 107-86 and went on to win the next three in a row in their run to the championship.

The attitude of the leader does make a difference and the great “I’s” have the ability to turn their “I” into an organizational’ “we”….just as Jordan did.

05 Sep

4 Things Great Leaders Have in Common with Great Teachers

Mark Twain once wrote, “I didn’t attend the funeral but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.”

It does not have to be that way for a leader at the end.

I believe great leaders do the same four things that great teachers and coaches do:

They know their subject matter, be it algebra, football, or a particular business. This knowledge automatically earns them the respect of the people they are leading.
They can disseminate their knowledge. We all know of the brilliant professor who cannot bring his knowledge to our level. His brilliance is never questioned, but he cannot simplify his knowledge so we can learn.
They teach, coach, and lead with enthusiasm. They are enthused when we take their knowledge and succeed in history, basketball, or business.
By far, their most important characteristic is that they care about the people in their charge beyond the narrow confines of a classroom, a baseball field, or a work place. Amos Alonzo Stagg, the football coach at the University of Chicago when they were in the Big Ten Conference, was a perfect example of this trait. His degree was in divinity but he felt he could minister to America’s youth better from a football field than a pulpit.

Combined, these four traits help create enthusiastic followers and enduring respect for a leader. Despite Twain’s sentiment, people do want to attend the funeral of a leader who cared about them.

-Pat

27 Aug

Great Leaders Listen to New Ideas with Eyes, Ears

Listening is respect.

When I take the time to listen to you—-really listen—-I am showing you that I respect your insights and that I respect you as a person. People want to be respected, and this is especially true for the people who report to you. They truly appreciate your willingness, as the leader, to value their opinions.

When they know that their ideas will be listened to, they in turn give more respect to the leader and work harder in their position within the organization. They feel they are an important part of making the organization the best it can be.

“Give me your eyes.”

I first heard this expression from a high school football coach, Gordie Gillespie of Joliet Catholic High School at the time, at half-time of a game. After he had listened to the offensive players answer his questions on exactly how the defense was playing, he was ready to give his second half adjustments. Prior to giving the adjustments, he told the players to “Give me your eyes.”

Obviously, he felt if he had their eyes, he very well may have their minds. I took this concept into my forty-four years of basketball coaching and my listening. In basketball, you have a total of only one minute for a time-out. First, I would quickly listen to my assistant coaches’ inputs, then I would go to the huddle to give instructions to the players, having approximately thirty seconds to get our ideas across to them. So, very assertively, I would say to our players, “Give me your eyes,” prior to the instruction.

The players had to pick up the salient points of the adjustments in a very short period of time and often in a very hostile environment when in the opponents’ gym.

I then took this very same concept into my leadership position as the athletic chair. When conducting meetings or in one on one sessions with my colleagues, I gave them my eyes while they were talking. I found that by doing this, I enhanced my listening skills.

Great leaders know two things about ideas: 1) they know they do not have all the answers and 2) they never know where the best ideas will come from. Leaders who believe they have all the answers cannot be worked with. Their egos won’t allow it. I always felt they were the worst people to report to because they had no regard whatsoever for your ideas or the ideas of others in the organization.

But the best leaders were the best listeners. They knew that they wanted to listen to everyone’s input because they never knew where the best ideas would come from.

There definitely have been times in my leadership roles where the best idea actually came from the least experienced person on our team. That is why it was – and is – the best way to lead. You need to listen to everyone in your organization.

21 Aug

Traits of Quality Leader Observed in School District Superintendent

I spoke yesterday to the teachers and administrators at the Channahon school district and watched an outstanding leader in action. Karin Evans is the district superintendent and I thought she exhibited four traits of a quality leader in her running the first meeting of the 2013-14 year. She sure demonstrated the characteristics of a great leader articulated in my soon-to-be released book – Attitude – The Cornerstone of Leadership.

First, she was very organized. She developed a theme for the year – Go the Distance and Never Give Up. She showed two excellent videos that highlighted this theme. They were a great way to complement and supplement her goals for the year.

Secondly, she had to get a very lengthy and complicated report to the State of Illinois during the summer months and she did something that the late UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden, used to say about leadership. He said, “Give all the credit away.” Karin did just that and integrated it into the first part of her theme, “Go the Distance.” She honored five teachers who came in during the summer and completed the State’s report. They were honored in front of their peers for going the distance.

Third, the audience involved all the people in the district. Not only were the teachers and administrators present, but the bus drivers, the custodians, and the kitchen workers also attended. As the leader of the district, Karin was acknowledging that everyone’s job was important. They all have to work together to serve the students in the very best way possible.

Finally, humor and fun were an integral part of the meeting. Karin made the meeting very enjoyable and laughs were plentiful. I think great leaders demand that their constituents give their best effort every day, but they also can and do add levity into their demands. Karin did both.

It was really enjoyable for me to watch a superb administrator lead her people.

-Pat

14 Apr

Why write a book?

With the vast volumes of leadership books already occupying the available spaces at local bookstores and airport news shops, is the world really ready for another?

The question is a valid one.

After giving this a great deal of thought, I decided to pursue this endeavor because I haven’t yet come across one that intrinsically ties a leader’s attitude to a leader’s effectiveness. For years, I have spoken on the topic but had not ventured into putting pen to paper.

I believe these two items — leadership and attitude — are married to one another. I base that on my life experiences and the role models I have been blessed to know in my professional career.

-Pat