The Wisdom of Jeff Van Gundy - Part III

He is at it again!

The great Jeff Van Gundy, former NBA head coach for the New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets and current TV analyst, who has been the subject of not one, but two posts here on the blog, gave us more sage wisdom to chew on during the telecast of Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers this past Tuesday night.

During a timeout the camera cut to a shot of the Lakers team huddle, and we saw the team's star and best player Kobe Bryant emphatically and forcefully giving instructions to several of his teammates. Bryant had the rapt attention of the other players, and while the audio did not pick up what he was actually saying, it was clear from facial expressions and body language that he was delivering a tough message. Perhaps a message that the other players were uncomfortable hearing.

Observing this activity in the huddle, JVG shared with us this gem: 

You don't want your best player to be your best liked player.

Think about that one. When the best player is also the leader of the team, that often means having to get in the other player's faces, to make sure that the effort and passion is there, and also to simply instruct and coach.  When the best player takes on those responsibilities, and stops worrying about being 'liked' all the time, chances are overall team performance will improve. 

Being the 'best' carries with it another level of commitment not only to personal excellence, but to doing the kinds of things that can impact the performance of the other players on the team.  In basketball that may mean sharp criticism, aggressive play in team practices (Michael Jordan was notorious for this), and putting in extra time in the weight room or doing additional running or sprints.

In the workplace the same kind of rules can apply. When the 'best' or most respected employee consistently sends the right message, displays a high level of integrity, actively supports and coaches the newer members of the team, and essentially models the kind of behaviors that indicate the expected 'way we do things', then the other members of the team, and the overall organization can improve, and can win.

It doesn't really work in the converse, a sports team can almost never be led by the last guy on the bench.  He or she may understand the key leadership skills, but without that respect or standing that comes with actually excelling on the court or field then it is less likely the team will choose to follow.

In basketball, there are dozens of 'best' players, but there are only a precious few great players.

Inside organizations that same ratio probably applies.  Every group has their best performer, but only a few make an impact on the team and the organization in the broader sense. 

And you don't necessarily get there by being liked all the time.

The Wisdom of Jeff Van Gundy - Part II

Several weeks ago I posted 'The Wisdom of Jeff Van Gundy' - a little piece highlighting the sage advice of the former NBA coach and current announcer with respect to developing leadership capability throughout the organization.

Well JVG the Wise is at it again.

During a broadcast of a Los Angeles Lakers game this week, in a timeout while the Laker team was in a huddle, the Laker coach Phil Jackson was overheard on audio encouraging/admonishing/coaching star player Kobe Bryant to get more aggressive and attack the basket more strongly on offense.

For the non-basketball fans reading this post (assuming you haven't bailed by now), Kobe Bryant is by far the best player on the team, the team leader, and one of the very best players in NBA history.  He has four league championships, an Olympic gold medal, a league Most Valuable Player trophy, numerous All-Star game appearances and league scoring titles.

In HR or workforce terms he is a 'Top Performer', 'A-player', 'rockstar', take your pick.

So in the huddle, as the viewers listened to Coach Jackson talk to Bryant, JVG the Wise offered up this comment:

See this is why Phil Jackson is a great leader. He is not afraid to coach his best player. He needs his best player to get more aggressive and is not shy about letting him know.  That sends a message to everyone on the team, that if the star player can be coached, then everyone else can as well.

JVG is on to something here, I think.  When the coach singles out the team's best player and gives some instruction, feedback, or direction it makes such an important statement to the both the star (Bryant) and the rest of the team (other guys that are all talented in their own right, and may at times feel they might be 'above' coaching as well).

The star gets the message that being the 'star' means delivering great performance, and that they simply can't be satisfied with what they have achieved in the past. The rest of the team sees that the top performer still has room to improve and can be coached and guided.

Inside sports teams and often in work teams it becomes clear who the top performers are.  It really isn't much of a secret. When these stars set the right example, if they can be coached, if they continue to try and make themselves better, while realizing that the team objectives are primary, the team has a much better chance for enduring success.

To win a team needs a star.  But it also needs a coach that is not afraid to coach that star.

And that is this edition of the Wisdom of Jeff Van Gundy.

The Leadership Development Carnival

The latest Leadership Development Carnival was posted over the weekend at Dan McCarthy's excellent Great Leadership blog.

This edition of the carnival had a special 'Best of 2009' theme, and included you will find some fantastic pieces from some of the best leadership writers out there, over 50 articles in all.

Some of my favorites from the Carnival are Mark Stelzner, with Common Sense is Not So Common, posted at Inflexion Point, Jennifer Miller who offered Praising Mastery | The People Equation posted at The People Equation, and Jon Ingham with this: Visa Europe: What do you want to be when you grow up.

Many thanks to Dan for including my piece on a team needing more leaders, The Wisdom of Jeff Van Gundy.

Lots of great pieces to get your 2010 started right, take some time to check it out.

I apologize for being late to post about this, that is what I get for writing about 'me' yesterday.

With great power...

comes great responsibility.

I am a comic book geek.  I remember and still own the first comic book I ever purchased.  It was Amazing Spider-Man #149, in 1977. 

Please keep the 'old fool' jokes to yourself. 

It cost $0.25 and I was so proud of myself for investing the quarter in a comic that I could read over and over, versus buying some candy or gum that I would have enjoyed for five minutes and then would have been gone forever.

Now, I wish I still had every comic that I bought when I was a kid, but the fact that I still have the very first one still means a lot to me, and that I will be able to pass it on to my son is special to me.

The key message of Spider-Man was always, 'With great power, comes great responsibility'.  Peter Parker (Spider-Man's true identity) constantly struggles balancing his 'responsibility' to use his tremendous powers to battle evil with his desire to have a 'normal' life, and be happy and content. Of course throughout the Spider-Man saga, his responsibility to fight crime leads to tragedy and pain in his personal life, and many times he battles the urge to simply walk away from it all, and just live his life as a regular man.

This is an incredibly unsettling time.  Jobs are disappearing, investment portfolios are worth half what they were a year ago, and everyone is looking over their shoulder waiting for some bad news.

If you are a leader or manager of employees, you too have a 'great responsibility', sometimes one that you don't always relish.  Your employees are looking to you more that ever for leadership, guidance, and most importantly, to make the right decisions that may mean the difference in saving their jobs.

It is not easy, it is not fun, it is incredibly hard to hang in there, to give your best day after day under this kind of pressure.  But you have to.  If not you, then who?  You are Peter Parker. You are Spider-Man.

With great power, comes great responsibility.