Former Secretary of State Colin Powell republishes his "Thirteen Rules" in It Worked for Me. He distills his experiences in the Army, as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the National Security Advisor, and Secretary of State.
Managing and leading people are not identical.
The first is, "It ain't as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning." Life events happen that we can't control. Control our response better...both in the short and long term.
The Other Moore's Law
General Hal Moore reminds us that "there is always something more that we can do." The Spartans remained steadfast at Thermopylae. "When told that Persian arrows would blot out the sun, Dienekes replied: “Then we will fight in the shade.” Choose better perspective as both leaders and followers.
Losses Are Lessons
"Love our losses." Unfortunately, losses often dispense our best lessons. NFL Mondays are lessons in understanding victory and defeat. Be good at what we do a lot. Be easy to play with and hard to play against. Excel at handling and asserting pressure. Win in the half-court. Don't give games away by failing to manage tempo or through bad decisions.
Find Mentors to Navigate Crises
CAPT Bill Baker told me early in my medical career, "Good judgment comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgment." He also said, "What's worse than heart disease is turning a heart problem into a brain problem." Avoid transforming one problem (e.g. a problem player) into a systemic problem (team disruption). Have a trusted voice to ask for help.
Phil Jackson's Bulls couldn't progress in the playoffs. The Triangle Offense helped Michael Jordan et al. get over the hump by 'reframing the system'. With the Lakers, post-Shaq, Jackson challenged Kobe to lead and trust. That reframed ego into a unified system and the Lakers won consecutive titles in 2009 and 2010.
Lose a Game Not Our Team
Model excellence. Some coaches earn a reputation for "my coaching helped us win" and "the players own this loss." This reminds me of a scene late in North Dallas Forty when a player yells at the coach, "Every time I call it a game you call it a business, and every time I call it a business you call it a game." (Warning: The language is expletive-filled, unforgiving, and real.) The appeal of team sport is disparate people struggling together.
Hold Fire
As above, emotion can overrule judgment after games. Abraham Lincoln was often angered by staff, subordinates, and generals. He wrote excoriating letters and then finished them at the bottom, "Never signed, never sent." Take advantage of a "cooling off" period to communicate better like Lincoln did with those "hot letters."
Summary: Self-regulation is a skill.
- Find a better way.
- Love our losses.
- Mentors help our navigation.
- Never lose our teams. "The game is about the players."
- Let the heat out slowly.
