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.

Dooley Long-Term?

When the University of Tennessee hired Lane Kiffin they were very interested in “winning the press conference.”  Clearly Kiffin had the “wow factor”.  He was handsome, had the LA background, had been an NFL Coach, had the beautiful wife and brought a confident and charismatic personality.  Following Phil Fulmer, Kiffin could energize the entire Volunteer Nation.  He immediately created a great deal of enthusiasm.  Yet soon thereafter red flags started to surface.  NCAA violations, disdain for authority and a marginal won-lost record raised doubts as to was Kiffin really the answer.  When last week USC came calling, without much concern for UT, Kiffin bolted Knoxville for the bright lights of Hollywood.  This time the Vols learned their lesson and chose Derek Dooley who assuredly does not command the national spotlight like Kiffin.  His 17-20 record at Louisiana Tech would not immediately put him on the national radar screen.  Yet there is no doubt that Dooley will build a program over the long haul and will do it right.  Remember as a leader this is a marathon not a sprint, you need to make decisions that are congruent with your mission.

Conventional wisdom and the Jets

Interesting enough this year the New York Jets qualified for the playoffs and made it to the second round.  When comparing this result to last year, one would would have to scratch his noggin and wonder how you could get a better result this year with a rookie quarterback compared to last year with a guaranteed hall of famer.  You have to give credit to the Jets leadership this year as they controlled the situation and developed a system that  uses the talents of Mark Sanchez while minimizing his shortcomings.  They put him in a position to succeed and accepted the responsibility of making that decision.  With Brett Favre last year they pretty much handed over the reins and then sat back and hoped for the desired outcome.   Conventional wisdom is—- rookie quarterbacks don’t win—-reality is—–good leadership wins.

texas tech and mike leach—a question of loyalty

As the  Texas Tech administration plowed through the confusing saga of Coach Mike Leach and his interaction with student-athlete Adam James, many questions started to surface.  However, the number one question had to be, what kind of leader do we want in our most visible position?  It is pretty clear the Leach had a very strong belief that he was in total control of the program and felt comfortable making arbitrary decisions with little concern for the implications of those decisions.  Interestingly enough this is the same program where Bobby Knight had more than a couple blips on the public relations front yet seemed to always have the support of the administration.  What was the difference?  When Leach pursued the Washington head job just months after signing his $12 million five year deal, he demonstrated no loyalty to Texas Tech and for all intent alienated all the administration who had supported the new contract.  On the other hand, Coach Knight always had strong support and a good relationship with AD Gerald Meyers.  When the ugly situation with James surfaced, the equity he had gained from his wins on the field were not going to trump the lack of loyalty to the Administration and the University.   Coach Leach had no no advocates in the decision-making positions and all his .  That lack of loyalty coupled with a dose of arrogance led to the final outcome.  Remember leaders need advocates at every level.

Sosa: Another Cheater or Victim of Poor Leadership?

The revelation by the New York Times that Sammy Sosa was one of the 104 major league players who tested positive for drug use in 2003 came as no surprise to anyone. What this story does is bring to light the insidious lack of leadership demonstrated by Bud Selig and Donald Fehr. Anyone remotely connected to baseball knew for years that amphetamines were more accessible in major league clubhouses than skittles. On some teams the attitude was that if you were not using “greenies”, you were not really trying.

Everyone knew that Major League Baseball had a culture of steroid and amphetamine use and yet the leadership chose to ignore the potential problem. Without question performance enhancing drugs was a tough issue as the union clearly did not want any drug testing programs and had enough power to cause an ongoing confrontational relationship with Bud and his buddies. Major League baseball was not willing to engage in a major confrontation so the issue was totally ignored.

In 2005 (2 years after the drug screening that found 104 positive tests from major leaguers) Commissioner Selig penned a let to Fehr that said, “It’s time to put the whispers about amphetamine use to bed once and for all. To the extent that our culture has tolerated the use of these substances, the culture must change.” Talk about closing the barn door after the horses are out. The leadership clearly failed the players by not accepting the responsibility to see the future and understand the potential major train wrecks that could be on the horizon. Leadership must always be very cognizant of any issue that could derail the success of the organization. Clearly a major drug scandal can create havoc for any initiative but particularly for a sports organization.

Leadership vs. Management

One term that always bothered me was that some educational programs teach sports “management”, or business schools teach “management”. I always thought what we need is more leaders not more managers. What is the difference?  More than one would think at first glance.

The best way to think about the difference is by thinking of navigating of ship, leaders chart the course and managers keep the ship on the course that was charted by the leader. It takes someone with unique talents to have the ability to be able to think about what the future holds and then create a plan to move the organization, team ,group forward into the unknown. That is what makes successful leaders so valuable. They have to understand so much about not only today but what is going to happen “on down the road”.  Managers, on the other hand, make sure today goes by with no glitches.

Words that characterize leaders:

• Long-term
• Big picture
• Vision
• Future
• Intuitive
• Change
• Two-way communication
• Entrepreneurial
• Innovative
• Charismatic

Words that characterize managers:

• Today
• By the book
• Follow guidelines
• Bureaucratic
• Status quo
• One-way communication
• Procedural
• High risk aversion

To be successful, organizations need leaders and managers.

Who pops into your head as a great leader? In the sports world I actually think of Phil Knight. Nike has been an incredible leader in the sports industry

How much is teamwork worth?

To be a leader you first must be able to understand what leadership is. Sports provides the best paradigm to get a real understanding of leadership. Coaches must get a team to work together for the common good understanding that the final benefit greatly surpasses the individual benefit. Sound like a pretty easy thing to do? Especially in a league like the NBA where it is the players job, no? I can assure you that dealing with individuals and their egos will be the greatest challenge to any coach or leader.

Does the name Stephon Marbury ring a bell?

Can you be a team player for $20.8 million per year?

Introduction to SanderLeadership.com

SanderLeadership.com is a site, blog and community that is a resource for individuals seeking to cultivate their leadership skills, build better teams and win, whether that is on a court or a field or in the board room. The engine that drives this site is Dr. Richard L. Sander, a long time educator, coach and leader in college athletics. Dr. Sander recently (semi) retired from his post as Director of Athletics, Assistant to the President and Director of the VCU SportsCenter and his mission is to continue to educate and grow young professionals aspiring to lead people, teams and organizations.