Monday, September 26, 2022

Soft Skills Translate to Process and Results

Focus on the process of leadership. Leadership matters when it translates into results. I shared lessons from the local athletic Hall of Fame dinner and induction where my coach, Sonny Lane was inducted for his service as Athletic Director. 

He embodies critical elements of leadership:
  • Vision. This is what I see we can be. 
  • Management. This is how we do it. 
  • Reproducing leadership. "Leaders make leaders." 
Vision. When Coach came to Wakefield in the 1970-1971 season, one of his first actions was sprucing up the local outdoor courts. Included was a small sign, "Tech Tourney 1973" the Massachusetts version of March Madness. He inherited a weak program. I think his first year was 3-17.

Management. He knew player development is the linchpin of success. And "back in the day" that meant playing at the park. It was a different time before "Car Athletes," where kids played where parents drove. He helped me get a summer job as a Park Instructor, at the park which had the premier outdoor basketball court. 

It meant 'figuring it out' for players, before the Internet, before AAU for the masses, before trainers and sport specialization. His vision translated into refinement of pressure defenses (man, run-and-jump, 3/4 court 2-2-1 and 'diamond'), falling back into a kaleidoscope of zones or sagging man. 

Reproducing Leadership. After the induction dinner, I sent Coach and his wife Paula a brief thank you for a lifetime of friendship. Here's part of her reply:

"We are in tears again...Coach's teams won several state sectionals & Eastern Mass championships, all Class B, and 5 league titles. But he always said to the family that the 1973 team was the best, only team in school history to win a Class A sectional - stunning Andover & St John's Prep (22-0). He said you were the greatest leader the school ever had."

If there's anything the Lanes excel at, it's hyperbole. Coach churned out players and leaders - Roger Lapham (drafted by the NBA and NFL), Dr. Tom Russo, United States Senator Scott Brown, Mark Plansky (1984 Villanova National Champions). The point is that "distributed leadership" is the process. 

What is distributed leadership? "Increasingly, that agility requires a shift from reliance on command-and-control leadership to distributed leadership, which emphasizes giving people autonomy to innovate and using noncoercive means to align them around a common goal."

When teammates voted me 'captain' for the 1972-1973 season, I explained to Coach that I didn't deserve that honor. But I could fill a role as the "Team Representative." Leadership is about leading, not titles. 

Coach taught us teamwork, unselfishness, and sacrifice. And at our best during a thirteen game winning streak, he told us he was "pleased but not satisfied." 

As a coach, I'm as proud of the women who earned advanced degrees as the All-Scholastics or Division 1 talents. Vision, competence, and leadership development elevates our players. The game is about them. 

Lagniappe. 'Spain' creates variations. 

Lagniappe 2. The whole package matters. 

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