Last week ESPN’s Rece Davis hosted a 2-hour special with two of the most committed leaders in the history of collegiate athletics: Penn State Football coach Joe Paterno and Duke Basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski. “Difference Makers: Life Lessons with Paterno and Krzyzewski,” examined the illustrious coaching careers of these two individuals, their strategies of leadership, and what got them to where they are today. To them it was the structure, the process, and the passion they had to build the indestructible clock. On numerous occasions they lost five-star recruits, blew big leads, and had by their standards, ‘unsuccessful’ seasons, but at no point lost faith in what they were trying to accomplish. They believed that overcoming these challenges was a small kink in the armor and that little had to be done, if anything at all. Joe Pa and Coach K stayed true to themselves and their mission and in doing so built a legacy of trusting and committed players who believed in the clock that never stopped ticking.
To me, a clock is built in three steps: formulate a vision, commit to that vision, and stay committed to that vision. From the beginning, a leader must construct a vision that exploits the creativity of the human mind. By this I mean, the vision should not be team specific, year specific, or aimed at a specific goal for those visions are boring and for the ‘time tellers.’ They create tunnel vision and fail to factor in human curiosity. This is why I never agreed with Rex Ryan’s strategy to adamantly publicize the Jet’s goal to win the Super Bowl year after year. When the Jet’s lost in the 2011 AFC Championship to the Steelers, one win shy of Super Bowl XLV, Rex was again found commenting in an interview about the Jets' 2012 goal. What a surprise. Their vision for the third straight season (Rex’s 3rd season in the Big Apple) was aimed at a specific goal, to win the Super Bowl. Don’t get me wrong, Rex is a committed leader, but it seems though he’s committed to time telling and not clock building. His vision makes for a mundane working environment. No room for imagination, no room for incentive, no Super Bowl (Knock on wood – I’m a diehard Pats fan). Sorry Rex.
On the other hand, Joe Pa and Coach K never focused on how their season was going to end until it was actually the end of the season. They were committed to building character in young men and believed that the success of the team would fall into place if they were able to accomplish this goal. Their equations never changed, but allowed each one of their teams to have its own identity, thus factoring in human curiosity. Both Penn State Football and Duke Basketball have winning traditions, though not simply a credit to their great leaders. Joe Pa and Coach K built an environment deemed for success, regardless of changing time and tough breaks. Good leaders are ‘time tellers.’ Great leaders are clock builders. (Built to Last: Successful Habit of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins) Rex Ryan is a time teller, while Joe Pa and Coach K are clock builders.
Now that I laid down some ideas behind creating ‘the winning way’ if you will, let’s discuss the role commitment plays in staying true to this vision. Commitment can be interpreted in various ways, but the most successful leaders are the ones who stay committed to their original mission, regardless of what is occurring around them. Joe Pa and Coach K are the epitome of leaders who continuously stayed true to their vision. They never wavered, never let outside factors influence their decisions, (I think it’s funny how much the media influences coaching decisions, but not Joe Pa or Coach K. They could care less.) and most importantly never lost sight of the bigger picture. As previously stated, the bigger picture for them was to create a winning environment by building character in their players. Coach K discusses this point in his book, Leading with the Heart: Coach K’s Successful Strategies for Basketball, Business and Life. “If our culture is properly developed, if it’s nurtured and cared for and watered every day, then in the heat of competition, in those moments when you need to slam home a message, where you need to “spike it,” the individual, or the team collectively, will respond well,” states Krzyzewski. The framework at Duke, built from the ground up by Coach K himself, has resulted in over 800 wins and 4 National Championships. Clearly Duke Basketball players believe in the system. They believe that plugging the right habits into the equation, results in an output of a National Title. If you want to build a clock, take a page out of Coach K’s book. His clock is still ticking.
A lot can be learned from studying leaders. Whether you have intentions to lead large groups of people down the road or not, everyone should understand leadership for their own personal sake. What I share is not restricted to specific settings. You can incorporate these ideas into your family, professional, or social lives. I think it is important to learn what different people, from various walks of life think makes up a great leader and how individuals influence others. Everyone is a leader at one point or another, so how should people measure success (I do not intend for success to mean anything more than personal satisfaction- how satisfied you are in your leadership?) For individuals like Joe Pa and Coach K, one could argue that success can be determined on the number of wins, championships, etc. but what the special revealed was they accepted leadership roles for a different reason: to build character in their players. Over the course of the next 6 months, I will continue to tackle the challenge behind what it takes to truly be a great leader. I hope to adopt many of what I’ve picked up along the way from Joe Pa and Coach K and apply those ideas to the class I will be teaching, Strategies of Leadership. Joey G (who taught the class this past spring) and I have and will continue to discuss this topic. We feel strongly about leadership and understand that unfortunately the world lacks great leaders because they don't take on the responsibility of it. However, we're here to prove that there are time tested ways to become a leader yourself. I hope you enjoy my thoughts and please feel free to respond.
Best,
Salah
