MasterClass is an invaluable resource in my process. Legendary leaders in their craft - Bob Woodward, Herbie Hancock, Reba McIntyre, Spike Lee, Thomas Keller, Geno Auriemma and more - share their process.
All of us have been part of teams - our family, our school, sports teams, communities, and more. How our role meshes with their needs and expectation often defines us. I say about the Navy, it was easy to know any decision because it was based on the good of the organization above the needs of the individual.
Lesson six from Coach Auriemma shares "How to Attract and Keep Top Talent."
My notes (self-contained in the MasterClass app) are above.
Auriemma shares many other thoughts, especially "Coaches get too much credit...it's the players who win."
How and whom we select to have around us is critical. Hire people with complementary skill sets. Don't be afraid to have people around who are better than we are. I fall back on John Calipari's Personal Board of Directors, surround ourselves with people whose opinion we value and trust. Auriemma says his first hire was Christine Dailey, who has been with him for 37 years. Eleven National Titles and two Olympic Gold Medals later, that's a winning hire.
We don't hire the administrators we work with but we choose whether to work there. Most of the time, we have clarity on whether that will work.
Auriemma informs the qualities he wants in players in the "box" above. At the beginning, number 9, selling ourself, matters because top talent has no reason to join us. But getting "next level" talent into the cauldron with us raises us to the level where we can attract top talent.
Get "silent mentors." Use historical figures and people we admire at a distance and steal from them. I'm a huge admirer of Abraham Lincoln, Atul Gawande (Better, Being Mortal, The Checklist Manifesto), Tim Ferriss (Ego is the Enemy, Tools of Titans), Dean Smith, Sara Blakely and others.
Find qualities to copy and emulate.
If I had resources to bring on other coaches, I'd have a young woman former player on staff as a role model for players. She'd be more relatable for young girls. And I'd have a "bench coach" to help with everything from substitution to special situations.
Share credit. The lions share of individual credit players achieve belongs to them. That gets back to Auriemma's, "it's the players who win." Teach them about branding and media relations, too. Recognize key contributors who inhabit the shadows of more recognized stars.
Borrow from programs of legends. Director Ron Howard says movies evolve in three parts - development and preparation, production (the script reaching its potential or taking it beyond), and editing (the actual making of the film). Any collaborators, from coaches, to front office staff, and players, need process awareness.
There's far too much grandstanding in today's society - across the communications spectrum to social media. Capture the power of teams.
Lagniappe (something extra). Coach Hanlen shares a shot process tip.
Lagniappe 2. The process evolves. Where do we set the bar?
