How to Handle a Mutiny

Detroit Pistons’ head coach John Kuester recently found himself at the epicenter of the worst of management storms: Mutiny.  Seven Pistons players apparently staged a protest against Kuester, purportedly wanting ownership to ouster him, by skipping a required practice.  Kuester responded by benching the protesting players in a loss against the 76ers. 

There are conflicting reports about what actually led to this whole mess in Detroit, as well as about who is more or less to blame.  Regardless, the important question for us is what the hell a manager can do to end a serious controversy and return his team to a state of relative calm, normalcy and productivity?

Here are 3 things a manager facing mutiny must do:

1.       Take Stock.  Bad storms are violent and disruptive. But managers need to find time in a quiet place to reflect on how they got to this awful point to begin with.  And because managers are in the center of it, they are wise to get counsel from a smart, objective, observant, straight-taling sounding board.  Could be a colleague, mentor, executive coach or hired consultant.  An objective person can help you identify the keys to sorting through all of the noise, and understanding how you got here and where you are now:  What factors led to this?  When did the problems begin? How did it escalate? Who is involved? Who holds the power? What are the possible outcomes?  Which, among those, are the best for you (or least undesirable)?

2.       Own Your Own Shit.  When asked about his job status amidst the Pistons’ fallout, Detroit’s Keuster said: “One of the things you have to do is feel comfortable about the way you're handling things, and I feel comfortable."  I’m often accused of looking too much into things, but Kuester sounds to me like someone who is not owning any responsibility for his team’s mess, and that strikes me as problematic.  Every manager facing mutiny contributed to it at least a little bit: maybe he hurt an employee’s feelings, or let the powerful disgruntled employee go unchecked for too long, or reacted too severely when team policies were violated.  Managers must answer honestly what they contributed to the trouble or the mutiny will end with the manager walking the plank.

3.       Initiate a System Shock.  Don’t pretend it’s business as usual.  Because your employees are revolting, you are in crisis.  Crises require crisis management.  You need something strategic and big to let your people know that radical change is coming.  Some possibilities, depending on your own situation:

·         All-Hands Emergency Meeting/Off-Site: Redefine your team’s mission.  Identify new ground rules. Re-establish trust.  Blah, blah, blah.  Who cares what you do when you're there?  You need a profoundly impactful event.  One-day events rarely create lasting change, but you need to stop the negative landslide and stabilize the troops.  This might be your only chance.

·         Cut Off the Monster’s Head: Sometimes, “Taking Stock” will reveal that the power of the opposition lies in the hands of one thug who’s wreaking all the havoc (in Detroit’s case, fingers are pointing at Rip Hamilton).  In that case, your best move might be to remove him.  Sure, if he’s a compelling leader, you might have others follow him out the door.  But you’re just as likely to gain the respect of those who remain, and hopefully you’ll have a more positive powerful force fill the void.  If nothing else, you will have ridded your team of the thug’s poison.

Mutinies happen for a variety of reasons: crazy managers who drive employees to revolt, powerful veteran employees who use their influence to organize a walk-out, or a confluence of negative outside events.  No matter the reason, mutinies are unnerving for any manager, and often ultimately result in a manager’s departure.  Because they are so serious, they need to be dealt with seriously, swiftly and effectively by the manager if he has any chance to survive and bring his team through.

About Sean O'Neil

Sean O’Neil is an expert in workplace and team dynamics.  He is also Principal and CEO of One to One Leadership (www.one2oneleadership.com), a sales and management training firm with clients that include the National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer, News Corporation, First Data, ADP, Xerox, the Oakland Raiders and the New York Knicks.  Sean and John Kulisek co-authored Bare Knuckle People Management:  Creating Success with the Team You Have – Winners, Losers, Misfits and All, which is due to be published in May 2011.  Sean has contributed to or been featured in, among others, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Selling Power Magazine and Incentive Magazine.

Rebuilt Knicks: Can Coach D’Antoni Rise to Transition Challenges?

So the Knicks finally landed Carmelo Anthony, among the NBA’s top players, to become relevant again in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.  But the price was steep: the Knicks shipped 4 of their 5 most recent starters – all young, developing talent – to the Nuggets along with numerous future draft picks.  As a result, the Knicks are now a completely different team, and Coach Mike D’Antoni bears the pressure to make it work now, for the Knicks have left themselves little chance to rebuild if the Melo move proves unsuccessful.

D’Antoni’s task is similar to that of any coach or manager who’s team makeup has materially and suddenly changed – he needs to facilitate a smooth transition so his new team can quickly get up to speed and achieve success. 

This ain’t easy, but here are 3 specific actions Coach D must do now:

1.       Allow Mourning among the Remaining Few: The few Knicks not traded are undoubtedly shaken, and D’Antoni must allow them to mourn the loss of friends and come to grips with what the future holds for them.  Before the trade, this had become the most exciting Knicks team in years.  They rallied around their new star, Amar’e Stoudemire, and together thrived within the pressures of playing in New York.  Roles had been defined, and the team’s identity was certain.  Now, only uncertainty remains.  Where is the team going?  How will it affect each player?  Do they have to jockey for position all over again?  D’Antoni must speak to these questions and more.  The X Factor to the Knicks’ success, after all, as with many teams, will lie in the hands of their role players.  Coach: Better make sure they’re on solid ground if you want to make things interesting in the East!

2.       Meet with Power Brokers: Who’s team is this?  Who gets the ball at the end of the game?  How will individual statistics be impacted?  How will they handle any adversity, particularly in the beginning (remember, the star-studded Miami Heat started this season with a record of 9-8, and faced relentless questions about their ability to come together). Stoudemire is apparently happy to have Melo on board, but Coach D better make sure Amar’e understands the impact on him.  Will new point guard Chauncey Billups work the pick and roll as well as Felton?  Similarly, Melo will have to get used to sharing the stage, something he hasn’t had much experience doing.  Knicks fans have been chanting M-V-P! at Amar’e all season.  Will that jive with Melo? Finally, Billups, while in the twilight of his career, is the only roster player with a championship, and commands respect.  Not to mention, he publicly stated he wanted to end his career in Denver.  Coach:  Bring the studs together early and speak to them individually.  If they’re not on the same page with you and each other, it could get ugly quickly.

3.       Don’t Underestimate Team Time:  Not recommending “trust falls” or Kumbaya circles here, but D’Antoni needs to get this team together off the court to allow for informal bonding.  Getting to know each other as individuals, not just basketball players, will accelerate gelling.  D’Antoni should organize a few loosely-organized team gatherings so players can interact freely outside the media focus of games and practices. Coach: Force social interaction.  It’ll be awkward at first, but you don’t have the luxury of time to let chemistry evolve naturally.

Knicks fans – and I count myself among them – are rightfully hyped.  We haven’t had this sort of star power on the court in years.  But we share the pressure to succeed now, particularly since the Knicks pushed all their chips into the middle of the table by shipping their young talent and future draft picks. 

Mike D’Antoni has proved himself a talented manager, showing the guts to make significant midseason adjustments and by tweaking his lineup and shifting player positions.  But the pressure is on now – he got what he’s been waiting for since he became the Knicks’ head coach.  He’ll have to make his most meaningful midseason adjustments yet!

About Sean O'Neil

Sean O’Neil is an expert in workplace and team dynamics.  He is also Principal and CEO of One to One Leadership (www.one2oneleadership.com), a sales and management training firm with clients that include the National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer, News Corporation, First Data, ADP, Xerox, the Oakland Raiders and the New York Knicks.  Sean and John Kulisek co-authored Bare Knuckle People Management:  Creating Success with the Team You Have – Winners, Losers, Misfits and All, which is due to be published in May 2011.  Sean has contributed to or been featured in, among others, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Selling Power Magazine and Incentive Magazine.

Dynamics of Conflict and Resolution

I coach my 13-year-old sons' basketball team.  At practice recently, in preparation for a big game, I got into a battle with my point guard son, Ryan.  You know Ryan.  You love him.  He might even work for you.  He's your hard-nosed, never-say-die "coach on the floor" whose grit, stubbornness, and will to succeed - the very qualities that allow you to lean on him so heavily - occasionally cause friction between you that jeopardizes your relationship.

I arrived at practice still tense from work that day, and early on I needled Ryan when he held the ball too long on a fast break.  He shot me a glance as if to say, "Ouch, where did that come from?"  A moment later, in the exact same situation, he made the exact same mistake, and I barked at him loudly.  Ryan rolled his eyes, as if to say, "Really, are you going to ride me like this all practice?"

Then, on the very next possession, the moment he collected the ball in the back court, Ryan purposely flung it far out of reach of his teammate up ahead, as if to say, "There, did I get rid of it soon enough that time, Coach?" 

I was shocked and pissed.  No kid in any practice I had ever run had been so blatantly disrespectful.  I didn’t think.  I just reacted by blowing my whistle and said, "Ryan, on the line. You’re going to run."  In a fit of rage, Ryan drop-kicked the ball against the far wall and raced out of the gym.  The scene was raw and visibly tense.  I didn’t have any idea what to do.  My assistant (I think of him as my own personal Shooter from the movie Hoosiers) eventually prodded Ryan back into practice, but it wasn't until the end.  Ryan never ran his "suicide" for his outburst.  Practice ended.  Oh shit.  Now what?

On the ride home, Ryan, sensing my conundrum, apologized profusely, but I knew (and he probably knew) I needed to do something to respond to his outburst. 

The next day, after a sleepless night, I told him that he would sit out the 1^st quarter of our next game.  After some tearful pleading, Ryan (and my wife) stopped speaking to me – right up until game time.

During my pre-game talk with the team, I told everyone about Ryan’s punishment.   They glanced down at Ryan, who angrily glared at the wall.  I told the team that I behaved poorly as well, and that this could safely be characterized as punishment for me.  Ryan continued to glare.

Ryan's sullen behavior extended into the pre-game warm-up, and I mentioned to Shooter that if he didn’t pull it together and take on his typical emotional leadership role on this team, I might be forced to sit him beyond the 1^st quarter. 

I was struck by how uncertain I felt.  What would I say to him?  What if his moodiness persisted, and I kept him out of the game?  Would this be the first step in a precipitous slide out of the starting lineup and to the end of the bench?  Would our relationship off the court remain strained?  How does this end or at least get better?

Ever been there with your Ryan?  Found yourself backed into one of those awful little corners with one of your favorite people?  Worried that one wrong word or shift in the discussion might turn what should have been a minor issue into a bigger, perhaps irreversible one?

Here’s what I did:  I had Ryan to come over to the bench while the teams were still warming up, and quietly said:

Listen, I know this sucks – it sucks for me too – and I know you’re pissed.  This is almost over, but I need you to conjure up some support and enthusiasm for your team here, especially while you’re sitting out.  They’re all watching us closely, and I can’t put it behind us unless we get through this the right way.

Ryan nodded tersely, and re-entered warm-ups.  When he thought I wasn’t looking, he clapped hard and shouting encouraging words to his teammates.  He continued this positive behavior through a hard-fought 1st quarter.  Ultimately, we won the game, and Ryan played great. 

Ryan bailed me out and made my decision to put him in to start the 2^nd quarter easy.  But what if he hadn’t?  Just because I was the “coach” and the “adult” didn’t mean I had all the answers.  It certainly didn’t mean that I held all the cards.  Ryan had cards to play too, and I wasn’t sure what they were or how he would play them.  A poorly-played card here or there could have led to a much worse outcome.  There's no coaching manual for situations like that.

Luck had a hand here.

It worked out this time.  But maybe next time I won’t be so lucky.

About Sean O'Neil

Sean O’Neil is Principal and CEO of One to One Leadership (www.one2oneleadership.com), a sales and management training firm with clients that include the National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer, News Corporation, First Data, ADP, Xerox, the Oakland Raiders and the New York Knicks.  Sean and John Kulisek co-authored Bare Knuckle People Management:  Creating Success with the Team You Have – Winners, Losers, Misfits and All, which is due to be published in May 2011.  Sean has contributed to or been featured in, among others, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Selling Power Magazine and Incentive Magazine.

CC Sabathia: Flexing his Franchise Muscles to Management

The NY Yankees' ace, CC Sabathia, certainly turned heads upon his arrival to training camp.  Showing up 25 pounds lighter, svelte CC sent a clear message to the Yankees' brass:   I am the Franchise of this organization, I got myself in shape to continue my dominance, so extend my contract and pay me more or I'll opt out of my contract and potentially leave. 

Yankee-Red Sox commentator, Dom Amore, got it right when he said CC is fully aware of his leverage and would be foolish to give it away. CC has been watching the Yankees' management this off-season - the money they offered Cliff Lee (which is a better deal than CC has), and the way they treated their fading Franchise and soon-to-be Legend, Derek Jeter. 

Franchise players on the field and in the workplace give managers fits because they use their leverage to ask for - and often receive - more.  Managers bristle at the leverage play and often fail to bend sufficiently to retain the Franchise talent.  Clinging to your principles looks pretty foolish when your stud is packing his bags to head to your competition.

Managers need to do the following to keep their Franchise:

1. Give In:  Managers fear that caving to the Franchise would somehow weaken or threaten their authority, or perhaps be deemed unfair treatment by Franchise's peers and ultimately lead to low morale.  Sure, possible.  But managers who clearly articulate a policy of perks for performance and apply those equally across their team are likely to look like savvy business people and not like wimps.  In business, he with the most leverage wins.
2. Offer Value Not Easily Acquired Elsewhere:  Skilled, observant managers highlight value they offer Franchise that other managers would not or could not.  In the Yankees' case, they promote pitching on baseball's biggest stage, Yankee Stadium.  In the workplace, maybe it's removing Franchise's obstacles so he can perform better, or securing part-time admin help to ease his paperwork burden.  Managers would be wise to think creatively and self-promote often. 

"Self-promote?  To a subordinate?" you ask.  You bet.  This guy is your meal ticket.  Treat him like he is.  Managing Franchise players is challenging, but won't you look better if you attract and retain them, instead of sending them running to the competition?  Creating an environment that recognizes Franchise value will help you keep your very best producers.

Word to Brian Cashman (or the George's kids, or whoever is making player personnel decisions for the Yanks these days):  Take care of Big CC now, or the hat he famously tilts off the side of his head might have a big ugly B on it instead of the much more appealing inter-locking NY.

About Sean O'Neil

Sean O’Neil is Principal and CEO of One to One Leadership (www.one2oneleadership.com), a sales and management training firm with clients that include the National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer, News Corporation, First Data, ADP, Xerox, the Oakland Raiders and the New York Knicks.  Sean and John Kulisek co-authored Bare Knuckle People Management:  Creating Success with the Team You Have – Winners, Losers, Misfits and All, which is due to be published in May 2011.  Sean has contributed to or been featured in, among others, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Selling Power Magazine and Incentive Magazine.

Inspiration and Gimmick - Finding the Line

3 Questions to Determine Whether Your Rally Cry is Inspirational or Gimmicky:

    1. Is it personal to your team?

    2. Is it unique and meaningful (or is it another in a long list of contrived attempts to motivate)?

    3. Does your team embrace it and add to it so it evolves organically (or is it solely your creation)?

 This morning at the gym, I saw a moving piece this morning on Sports Center about a Tennessee high school football team that found inspiration in a teammate, Dylan, who was diagnosed with cancer and extended his battle right up to the day the team won the state championship.

Much to the chagrin of my elliptical machine mates, I found myself blubbering like a baby. ("Uh, Sean, are you crying?" "No, my eyes are sweating.")  I really lost it when they showed Dylan's best friend and teammate giving his impassioned speech before the championship game, in which he implored his team to selflessly fight like Dylan fought for his life and in his last hours asked about his team.  Needless to say, the team charged out of the locker room and thoroughly romped their opponent to claim the team's first state championship in 58 years.

Dylan's courageous battle was truly inspirational to his team - they cared for their friend, they knew he wanted them to win, and they rallied behind him.  It appears, at least, that Dylan's battle motivated the team to perform beyond expectations.

Coaches (and managers) constantly and ineffectively try to manufacture this type of inspiration to motivate their teams, and instead of inspiring, it gets dismissed as gimmick.  Every college team these days seem to have a black band or teammate's number or the water boy's uncle's initials patched onto their uniform, purportedly in the interest of motivating the team.

There's nothing wrong with seizing upon a life circumstance is personal, meaningful and embraced fully by a team to help it outperform.  But events like Dylan's are (thankfully) rare.  As a coach or manager, when you go to that well too often or frivolously, the message rings hollow, and often distracts you and your team from rolling up your collective sleeves and doing the real, hard, day-to-day work that makes you better.

About Sean O'Neil

Sean O’Neil is Principal and CEO of One to One Leadership (www.one2oneleadership.com), a sales and management training firm with clients that include the National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer, News Corporation, First Data, ADP, Xerox, the Oakland Raiders and the New York Knicks.  Sean and John Kulisek co-authored Bare Knuckle People Management:  Creating Success with the Team You Have – Winners, Losers, Misfits and All, which is due to be published in May 2011.  Sean has contributed to or been featured in, among others, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Selling Power Magazine and Incentive Magazine.

Brand You: Little Ways to Distinguish Yourself from the Herd

Thought the attorneys among you might enjoy this article in LawCrossing: Brand You: Little Ways to Distinguish Themselves from the Herd

About Sean O'Neil

Sean O’Neil is Principal and CEO of One to One Leadership (www.one2oneleadership.com), a sales and management training firm with clients that include the National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer, News Corporation, First Data, ADP, Xerox, the Oakland Raiders and the New York Knicks.  Sean and John Kulisek co-authored Bare Knuckle People Management:  Creating Success with the Team You Have – Winners, Losers, Misfits and All, which is due to be published in May 2011.  Sean has contributed to or been featured in, among others, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Selling Power Magazine and Incentive Magazine.

Phil Jackson: Passive-Aggressor, Shameless Self-Promoter

Flipping through the NY Times this morning, I saw an article about Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan's sudden and unexpected resignation, purportedly over ongoing conflict with guard Deron Williams.  Thinking there was a bare knuckle management message in there somwhere, I read on.

But I couldn't get past the following quote from Lakers head coach, Phil Jackson, when he was asked to comment about Sloan's retirement:

"You hate to see a guy go out without having won a championship after all the great teams he’s had."

Phil, that's just awful.  It's obvious you despise and/or disrespect Sloan, and we've always known about your penchant for self-promotion.  So why not plainly say what you meant to communicate?: 

"Wow, I can't believe Jerry never won a title despite having Hall of Famers John Stockton and Karl Malone all those years.  Everyone says the only reason I won my 11 titles is because I was blessed with the best players in NBA history.  Everyone always holds this guy up as a smart, hard-working, innovative NBA coach, and he hasn't won s#!t!  I guess it's not that easy coaching elite players, is it Jerry?...Is it?!"

Don't want to reveal all the bad stuff you're thinking?  Then an emotionally-neutral - even bland - response such as this would have sufficed: "Jerry has been a fiercely competitive and successful coach in the league for a very long time.  He will me missed."

Open conflict isn't for everyone - I get it.  I rarely recommend that conflict-avoidant people bluntly state their concerns if they're worried about the backlash.  Look, direct conflict is hard for some people to handle, and I can appreciate their wish to steer clear. 

But I always call out the passive-aggressors who lob destructive verbal missiles in the form of nicely-wrapped messages.  These missiles are designed to simultaneously prop up the speaker and tear down another.  If you're going to stick it to someone, you might as well take off the pretty little wrappings and say what you've got to say.  If you don't want to deliver the harsh message, then keep it neutral and unemotional.  Trust me, Phil, you'll come off better.

About Sean O'Neil

Sean O’Neil is Principal and CEO of One to One Leadership (www.one2oneleadership.com), a sales and management training firm with clients that include the National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer, News Corporation, First Data, ADP, Xerox, the Oakland Raiders and the New York Knicks.  Sean and John Kulisek co-authored Bare Knuckle People Management:  Creating Success with the Team You Have – Winners, Losers, Misfits and All, which is due to be published in May 2011.  Sean has contributed to or been featured in, among others, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Selling Power Magazine and Incentive Magazine.

3 Reasons Perma-Smiles Might be Killing Your Team

On the surface, there’s nothing not to love about smiles.  I smile when

·         I’m happy, and when

·         I like someone, and when

·         I want to communicate that I’m genuinely pleased. 

But smiles can be deceiving.  I also smile when

·         I’m pissed off but don’t feel at liberty to say so, and when

·         I don’t want to let others know the pain I’m in, and when

·         I have already hatched a plan to get you back for all the pain you’ve caused me and I can’t conceal how excited I am to see it fully executed.

I get leery when I’m with a new client in which every employee has a smile plastered across the front of his face (perma smile) – when everyone I speak with begins our discussion with: “oh my God, what a wonderful company we have, it’s just perfect, and there’s never any conflict and everyone is just so darn nice, and it’s kind of like I always imagined living in the Midwest would be.”  Are they hiding something?  Are they afraid I’ll spill the beans?  Were they forced to drink the company Kool-Aid?  It gives me the creeps.

I don’t doubt that certain environments are more people-friendly than others, and I’m certainly not advocating the creation of openly hostile work settings.  It’s just that managers often interpret their employees’ perma smiles as signs that everything is rosy, when in fact they might be masking some very serious issues. 

If your people look so damn clown happy all the time, there just might be reasons to investigate to make sure their smiles are real and not made of plaster.  Here are three:

1.       People are Afraid to Tell You What’s Wrong.

I was involved in a productive team-building session at a historically difficult client recently when I jokingly cautioned some employees that “big brother” might be watching.  Just before my comment, the employees’ guard had lowered enough for them to finally be making concrete steps toward real (and tough) organizational improvement.  With one stupid comment, I unintentionally re-stoked their fears that the company’s notorious “big brother” – they all called him “Junior” – might actually be lurking around the corner waiting to pinkslip anyone who was complaining.  My clients’ perma smiles instantly returned and the team-building session regressed to the surfacy, unproductive discussions that I had grown weary of.  Ruling by fear can cause inhibition-driven perma smiles that stifle innovation and productivity.

2.       People are Too Proud and Insecure to Discuss Their Pain.

Don’t you want to know if your people are struggling?  If they hate their job? If they feel as if they were overlooked for a promotion?  If they can’t stand the person they’re forced to sit next to every single day?  Sure, there’s some strange American pride about those who get up every day and get right back on the hamster wheel with perma smiles affixed, even though it’s slowly killing them.  They “grin and bear it” as the saying goes.  But if you took the time to ask, perhaps you’d uncover a thing or two you could do to make the hamster wheel a bit more tolerable.  Squashing opportunity for employees to appropriately air concerns is inviting true workplace unhappiness, which will in turn, squash performance.

3.       People are Secretly Plotting Attacks Against You or Their Peers.

I observed a meeting recently in which two so-called “best friends” assaulted each other through passive-aggressive barbs aimed to lift themselves up and tear the other down.  Their rigid smiles affixed as shields across their faces, they traded punches like Frazier and Ali.  My favorite:

Psycho 1: “Oh sweetie, I just love when you where those long thin vertical stripes.  They make you look thin!”

Psycho 2: “Um, but I’m wearing wide, horizontal stripes.”

Psycho 1: “Yes, I know.”

They left the meeting arm-in-arm, and if I’m being honest, I swear I saw them each trying to twist the other’s arm from her body.  Allowing passive-aggressive behavior to go unchecked can cause irreparable harm to your team dynamics, which will irreparably harm performance.

About Sean O'Neil

Sean O’Neil is Principal and CEO of One to One Leadership (www.one2oneleadership.com), a sales and management training firm with clients that include the National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer, News Corporation, First Data, ADP, Xerox, the Oakland Raiders and the New York Knicks.  Sean and John Kulisek co-authored Bare Knuckle People Management:  Creating Success with the Team You Have – Winners, Losers, Misfits and All, which is due to be published in May 2011.  Sean has contributed to or been featured in, among others, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Selling Power Magazine and Incentive Magazine.

Football is Complicated…So is Managing People

After the Packers’ victory over the Steelers in Super Bowl XLV, Fox’s Chris Myers interviewed Steelers’ head coach, Mike Tomlin.  Those postgame interviews of the losing coach outside the locker room are often brutal, but Tomlin – if you read this blog, you know I’m a fan of his coaching style – made a noteworthy comment about broadcasters’ annoying tendency to oversimplify their postgame analysis. 

When Myers asked Tomlin, “Was it about the turnovers that dug the hole? Would you size it up that simply?” Tomlin replied, It drives me bonkers when I hear a commentator or coach boil down a thrilling game to one play or one statistic that they deem singularly responsible for the game’s outcome.  At the end of a basketball game decided by a single point, ESPN’s Digger Phelps will say something dumb like, “It all came down to  missed free throws.”  Really Digger?  What about that possession in the first half in which the losing team missed three wide open jump shots?  Or that awful offensive charge call early on that negated what appeared to be a three-point play? Tomlin’s response was refreshing for its thoughtful appreciation for the complexity of games and life events. 

“If you're trying to wrap a bow around it in 10 words or less, sure.  But there are a lot of areas that could have swung the balance the other way.  We look at every single play in all three phases when we evaluate our performances."

Like Chris Myers and Digger Phelps, so-called leadership gurus notoriously attempt to reduce great management to one simple key - “Embrace Your People” or “Have a Plan and See it Through” or “Communicate Effectively” or “Let Them Know How Much You Appreciate Them.”  Really?  No, seriously…really?!  Is that all there is to great management?  If so, why are there so many crappy managers?

You need a simple key to great management to wrap a bow around in 10 words or less just because it makes you feel better?  Here’s mine: “Don’t Oversimplify!”  Appreciate that there are a lot of factors that could swing the balance of your team’s performance one way or another.  And then get granular to look at every facet of your team, and break down the numerous factors that aid in and detract from team performance.        

I can appreciate why TV analysts and viewers like their “keys to the game”– they make for neat packaging and succinct sound bites.  But they’re not useful to those who actually need to coach or manage the team back in the trenches.  In fact, they can direct attention away from other more critical flaws in a team’s performance that should be the coach’s/manager’s focus.

About Sean O'Neil

Sean O’Neil is Principal and CEO of One to One Leadership (www.one2oneleadership.com), a sales and management training firm with clients that include the National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer, News Corporation, First Data, ADP, Xerox, the Oakland Raiders and the New York Knicks.  Sean and John Kulisek co-authored Bare Knuckle People Management:  Creating Success with the Team You Have – Winners, Losers, Misfits and All, which is due to be published in May 2011.  Sean has contributed to or been featured in, among others, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Selling Power Magazine and Incentive Magazine.

Kid Hoops Coaching: 3 Lessons that Apply to Your Team

I have 13-year-old twin sons, and I’ve been coaching their CYO basketball team for the past several years.  In the process, I found that nothing provides a better laboratory for management training than coaching newly pubescent boys squeezed into tiny church gyms with their parents waiting to pounce at even the slightest misstep.

Along my often bumpy coaching road, I’ve stumbled upon some useful management lessons that likely apply to you and your team:

1.       Tell them What You Plan to Do…and Do it.  At first I thought it worked just because they were kids, but then I realized their parents needed it too.  People like to know what your “philosophy” is, where you plan to take the team, and how you plan to take them there.  It comforts them to know that you’re not walking in the dark.  Each season I’ve laid out 3 “themes” (this year’s: play like you belong, play as a team, play without fear), which has helped orient us and keep us on track.  When I debrief games, I often bucket my comments in terms of these themes to give my feedback context.     

2.       Teach Them How to Operate on Their Own. Coaches love their set plays –  nifty little gadgets that can convey the appearance of a well-coached team.  The problem is that set plays break down for a variety of factors – the defense doesn’t behave like you anticipated, the ball bounces the wrong way, etc.  Like work, basketball is more complicated in real life than whatever you can draw up on a white board.  If your kids only know how to operate in the context of a well-scripted play, they’ll flounder when s#!t happens.  Try instituting a loose structure and letting your team figure it out for themselves.  You’ll see where you’ll need to add structure and provide more attention, and in the process your team will learn to operate independently, which will free you up to tend to other critical items.

3.       Be Yourself (unless you’re Bobby Knight).  Any one of my team parents will tell you (and they would be right) that in the beginning of my coaching career I made a habit of pacing the sidelines, working the refs, imploring my team, and scowling like Mike D’Antoni when things went awry.  But over time I learned that these things weren’t “me” and often resulted in poorer team performance.  At one point during our second season, I had the kids complete a survey about their experience on the team.  One theme came through loud and clear…they liked it better when I didn’t yell so much.  Yikes! I enlisted them to help me correct the problem by letting me know when I was behaving badly.  And they did, routinely and with vigor.  I admittedly still catch myself squatting low and pounding the floor like Rick Pitino, but I usually catch myself, stand upright, and become myself again…much to my kids’ delight.

 

 

      About Sean O'Neil

      Sean O’Neil is Principal and CEO of One to One Leadership (www.one2oneleadership.com), a sales and management training firm with clients that include the National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer, News Corporation, First Data, ADP, Xerox, the Oakland Raiders and the New York Knicks.  Sean and John Kulisek co-authored Bare Knuckle People Management:  Creating Success with the Team You Have – Winners, Losers, Misfits and All, which is due to be published in May 2011.  Sean has contributed to or been featured in, among others, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Selling Power Magazine and Incentive Magazine.