Feel the perils of leadership. The new CEO sat at his desk and found three envelopes labeled "Open in One Month," "Open in Three Months," and "Open in Six Months." After a frustrating first month he opened the first, with a card reading, "Blame your predecessor." He called a staff meeting and explained they faced a tough challenge because the previous administration hadn't dealt with the problems. Morale improved a little bit, but no turnaround. At three months, he opened the second letter, which read, "REORGANIZE." He called another meeting and laid out his plan to reshape management. Things improved briefly, but at six months problems remained. He opened the final envelope, which revealed, "PREPARE THREE ENVELOPES."
As a result of imperfect, problem-laden jobs, we live with conflicts and grievances.
- The Old Way, New Way, and Better Way.
- Does Seniority Matter?
- These Players Aren't Skilled.
- The Ricky Nelson Phenomenon.
- The Elephant Graveyard.
The Way. You remember the scene in Hoosiers when Coach Dale meets George (above). Conflict is inevitable because there is no One Way. Experienced coaches know that the Way evolves. A coach lambastes another whose philosophy is one-and-done...and then adopts it. We revise ideas because of the game, the players, and we change.
Seniority System.
Are you playing the "best players" or rewarding seniority? The girls 2-20 year growth chart (above) shows the conflict. By age fifteen, most girls are close to peak stature. We assess the triad of size, skill, and athleticism. Many freshman girls are physically ready to compete with or surpass older players. Some parents and older players question whether younger players have paid their dues. A new coach may feel pressured to yield to seniority instead of rocking the boat. That may result in sailing a leaky boat.
Conflict occurs among players. Erik Spoelstra's truth rankles some, "there is a pecking order on every team." We may hold a player in higher personal regard than her game.
Never Enough. Unless we recruit, our players will rarely be as skilled as we want. Which is why Dave Smart's "Every day is player development day" is a priority. Whatever your system, smarter, more skilled players execute it better. As a player, own your development. Kevin Eastman says, "you own your paycheck," which may be minutes, money, recognition.
Frustration with the talent won't improve it. That's unrequited grievance. Living our lives through grievances makes us pitiable not pitied.
Ricky Nelson Way.
But it's all right now
I learned my lesson well
You see ya can't please everyone
So ya got to please yourself
Coaches, not parents, own our results. We are hired to be fired. Take extreme ownership of results.
The Elephant Graveyard. You think you know about the elephant graveyard. You don't. The old elephant wanders off to die. But his friends come, bring him some branches to eat, and kick him, "get up." We get suggestions and pushes and maybe we rise up. But even the Lone Ranger runs out of silver bullets.
Lagniappe. Scout Bryan shares why the Nets won - switching, high hands, verticality, and more.
Lagniappe 2. Horns give-and-go blast.