Broncos—Leadership—Tebow

All the experts had serious questions about Tim Tebow and his draft status in the NFL.  They questioned his delivery, arm angle, touch, and every other technical football throwing fundamental and then projected him into a mid to low round draft pick.  However the Denver Broncos decided to ignore conventional wisdom and selected arguably the most successful college quarterback of all time in the first round.  The Broncos actually used the same type of logic that Michael Lewis discussed in his bestseller (“Moneyball) about the Oakland A’s and their general manager Billy Beane. Billy Beane was the typical 5 tool phenom who could not really play the game and after much fanfare proved that potential meant almost nothing when compared to productivity.  Using his own career as a model, as the A’s general manager he focused on winners who could really play the game and could be a integral part of a team rather than the guy who matched the 5 tool profile.  Without question Tebow would be the perfect “Moneyball” example,  a great teammate who has a huge upside that can lead a team and will figure out how to win.  The one thing that people forget is Tim Tebow is a freaky athlete who is big, strong and fast.  While some people might think the Broncos took a huge risk, I contend that Tebow is almost no risk as he will figure out a way to be part of the Broncos success.  If I were going to war, I would want Tim Tebow on my side. If you get a chance check out “Moneyball”, it is a good read that flies in the face of conventional  wisdom.  One leadership principle I strongly believe in is —-Associate yourself with winners.

The Coaching Carousel

The hopscotch game of college coaches moving has just about run its course for 2010.  The question arises is why are there so many changes and why do coaches feel compelled to move so rapidly.  Intuitively it would seem that by staying in one position, coaches could build a brand, create a solid foundation and have more success as the culture of the coach becomes more ingrained in the program.  Why would Oliver Purnell move from Clemson to DePaul?  Why would Wake Forest hire a coach with a record significantly worse than the coach they just fired?  Maybe the answer to those two questions lie within each.  If leaders do not create a comfortable environment for their inner circle then their relationship is one of convenience and will result in early disconnect.  Leaders must provide a haven for their inner circle by demonstrating unflinching support publicly.  Once there is question in the group as to the commitment of the leader to the individual or his/her program, then the coach (in this situation) is there on borrowed time.  Paranoia, fear or uncertainty encourages the coach to look for a safer challenge and causes uncertainty in the ranks which assuredly creates an atmosphere of limited investment with results being negatively impacted.  Irrespective of your personal feelings, you need to demonstrate  to the masses that you and the coach are on the same page and working together.  When there is disconnect within the echelon of upper leadership of any organization, the results are going to suffer proportionately to the perception of amount discord.  Do not allow the group to ever see any conflict within the leadership function.

Billy Payne—the voice of a leader?

Why would Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne unleash a very harsh and focused reprimand on one of the participating golfers at this year’s Masters? Last time I checked the ability to hit a 207 yard sweeping 40 yard hook with a five iron out of the rough to 12 feet at hole number 9 to setup a birdie, has nothing to do with an individual’s own personal decision-making on how he lives his life. While Tiger Woods’ overly analyzed personal life has certainly disappointed all his fans, I do not think that Payne’s diatribe did anything but bring focus to the elitist mentality of the membership/leadership of Augusta National. Arrogance, self-righteousness, pomposity could all be words that could describe Payne’s Wednesday’s news conference. However please understand that this worldwide televised prepared statement was the message that the membership of Augusta National wanted to communicate and Payne as the leader delivered it with great clarity. As a leader, you can be placed in some difficult situations as you represent attitudes, beliefs and culture of your organization. Do I think Payne was conflicted with the responsibility of pontificating about how Tiger had let down the next three generation of kids around the world? No. Just remember as a leader the old axiom—-”people who live in glass houses”. As a leader you have to take stands, but self-righteousness is not a characteristic that will encourage most people to buy-in into you as a leader.

Why 96?

The NCAA in their infinite wisdom has set the stage to expand to 96 teams. Looking at the rationale behind this move, it is pretty clear that this decision is a money grab based on the ability to generate more dollars from television. As a former athletic director, I greatly appreciate the reality of generating more dollars for the member schools so that programs and student-athletes across the board will benefit. Will the leadership take some shots from this decision, of course. Yet this is a case where I believe they have looked at the cost-benefit analysis and determined if the dollars are there, then we need to make the move. I can assure you that some faculty will toss a few grenades at the NCAA for creating a scenario where there will be more missed class time for the players. I would encourage the NCAA then to take a leadership role in encouraging the faculty to create learning models where students can have instruction delivered to them at any time anywhere. Tenured faculty ought to learn these three words—University of Phoenix. Leadership is about developing solutions not about being an obstructionist.