A Consultant's Chronicles

Learning From Failure

Here we are in a new year so recently when I heard probably one of the best quotes for this time of year I just had to share it because it immediately rings true. As we all know, the new year is all about the perennial "clean slate" which we all frequently talk about in terms of our personal & business lives. Typically this is done by making new year's resolutions... resolutions that get broken quickly. However, listening to an interview with veteran sportswriter John Feinman, he shared a quote from one of my favorite figures in sports today, Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski [better known as Coach K].

Why Failure Can Be An Important Tool For Success

According to Feinman because Coach K learned from failure, he has become the coach with the most wins in the college game surpassing some very big names. Feinman recalled sitting  in a local Denny's with the coach after a particularly bad loss early in his tenure at Duke & raised his water glass & said "here's to forgetting that game". What was Coach K's response?

"...Here's to NEVER FORGETTING that game...!!"

Why? Only by never forgetting failure can you learn from past mistakes & change the trajectory of experience in the future. Moreover, unless you pay attention to those less than stellar times, you will more likely than not, repeat the same mistakes.

 

In the interest of full disclosure, Ellen Gunty is a graduate of Duke University.

Line of the Week 8-15-2010

This week's line of the week belongs to Art Modell courtesy of  Dave Zirin, author of the new book Bad Sports: How the Owners Are Ruining The Games We Love. According to Zirin the owners are wrecking the various games that they are involved with & forcing taxpayers to pay for grander & grander sports stadiums at taxpayer expense even during hard times like now. He quotes businessman & football team owner Art Modell who said:

"...When you have a room of NFL owners you have 36 capitalists who act like socialists..."

-Art Modell

The irony of this is when the owners behave this way; they do so with the blessing of the most conservative & fiscally tight-fisted politicians. "Beer anyone...that'll be $9.00."

Line of the Week 5-30-2010

Last week's line of the week can only belong to one man, the now late Coach John Wooden who led his UCLA basketball Bruins to the most championship seasons. Like all the best coaches, he taught more than sports & helped the young men who played for him to become excellent citizens as he helped to usher them into adulthood. The fact that his funeral will contain a "who's who" list of his former players [who also enjoyed professional careers in basketball] is a testament to his teaching ability & his leadership skills. One memorable line that exemplified all that he taught these players was:

"...Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are..."

It couldn't be more "spot on." Although I'm a Duke Blue Devil through & through, today I will fly the UCLA Bruins flag out of respect and to celebrate the life of this extraordinary man. May he rest in peace.

Blue Devils Rule: Duke Wins NCAA Basketball Tournament

Hooray! The Duke Blue Devils have won the NCAA basketball tournament! Give the Butler Bulldogs lots of credit because it was a well played game with no losers.

To the surprise of no one, the Bulldogs will be back next year having earned a bucket-load of recognition & respect!

 

 

 

 

 

In the interest of full disclosure, Ellen Gunty is a graduate of Duke University.

 

Lessons In Leadership: Leave the Glass Half Empty

With the men's "final four" of the NCAA basketball tournament fast approaching, Wednesday Charlie Rose interviewed their successful coach Mike Krzyzewski [promounced Sha-shef-ski] who is better known as just "Coach K." When asked about some of the things he tells players to prepare them for a tournament game, Coach K said something about competitive people that I have always known when it comes to management & leadership but could never quite put into words. He likened a competitive mind to a glass that a leader, manager, or as in his case, a coach can only fill so far. Basically he believes that it is important to allow enough room for the individual's natural skills, abilities, & instincts to then take over in order to bring out the their best. While it's worked for him as a basketball coach, it is also true in the business world. Over-managing &/or micro-managing happens precisely when leaders fail to understand this. A common symptom of this problem is the leader who talks too much & listens too little. Aside from crystalizing  what I think is a very important concept in leadership, Coach K also provided a very useful optic for a key tool for successful managers.  

In the interest of full disclosure: Ellen Gunty is a graduate of Duke University. Go Blue Devils!

Line of the Week 2-14-2010

This week's line of the week belongs to Olympic ski competitor Lindsey Vonn.  In an interview when asked about the difference between this year & 4 years ago, she reflected on her mental & physical checklist of preparation for the games plus one critical ingredient-confidence. She said:

"...“So now I know that I’ve worked harder and prepared myself better than anyone. And I have put things in place. I have a race routine. I have a team of people helping me. I have winning habits. I believe in myself. I have balance in my life. In the end, it’s a mental maturity to let your best come out...”

Whether talking about sports, business, or life, Vonn has identified a winning package that doesn't guarantee success but puts it well within reach. It's probably also why she's also walking around sporting gold these days!

What Your Golf Game Reveals About You To Business Colleagues

In the business world, the approach of September & October means many things but one particular item always comes to my mind: it's business golf tournament time. In the interest of full disclosure, I should say right here that I am not a "gifted golfer" [understatement of the year!?] but I do know how to conduct myself to make the fairways enjoyable & profitable.  However, in the fall there always seems to be these big company wide tournaments each year. In fact, in certain industries [like insurance], golf & business are a year round affair paired together like ham & swiss [cheese].

What Does Your Golf Game Say About You 

A friend of mine, Suzanne Woo is a business golf specialist & she believes that it is often beneficial for people to play golf together before deciding whether or not to do business together. Why? Just like in any other non-work activity, there is much that can be gleaned just by playing golf together. What are some examples of the kinds of things you can learn?

• How a person handles pressure? Are they at ease or do they crumble?
• What happens when they make a bad shot? Do they make excuses, get so angry that they crack a club over their knee, or simply say "my bad" & move on?
• Do they cheat? Do they lack integrity or are they someone who has to win at any cost?

Would A Stranger Elect To Do Business With You After 18 Holes

Anyone who's ever played golf knows it is extremely difficult to master but at the end of the day, it's just a game.  How do you conduct yourself on the fairways? Could you survive a game with the boss? Would a stranger elect to do business with you after 18 holes together?

Can A Brand Go Too Far

Like everyone else, I have been watching the Olympics and hoped to find a way to write a post about the business side of things which presents no challenge. The businesses involved have a massive undertaking in terms of sheer volume and logistics alone. Add a thick overlay of cultural considerations and you have an enormous and complex undertaking. Basically, there are a lot of options when it comes to subject matter.

However a small piece in BusinessWeek caught my eye, which asks a key underlying question: "can a brand go too far?" The article was on its face, not a big deal. It addressed the fact that Nike had dipped its large toe into the equestrian waters by creating a new style of riding boot for the United States team which of course has the ubiquitous "swoosh" on it.

To understand why this is a big deal you have to know the sport and horse people. Riding is a sport rich in traditions that for the most part, haven't changed for centuries. "Horse people" worship these traditions as well as their horses. It's not just a sport but close to a way of life. 

I ride [well, to be honest, it depends on who you ask] but I'm not a "horse person." When I occasionally ride a horse it's usually one with 75 cantors left and I only ride a western saddle [think of the saddles in western movies: the big clunky ones] not an English one [which is small and delicate by comparison; it's really not designed for "sitting"]. What's the difference? It's huge, One way to explain the distinction is to use a crude nonetheless ready comparison. It's the difference between driving a car with a stick shift vs. an automatic [in this comparison, the western is the automatic and it's a car that has cruise control]. Basically, according to horse people, I don't ride. 

The change in boot style has received a mixed review. The US team members fear being penalized because of the "new Nike stamped gear." Some like the boot innovations and believe the "swoosh" gives it a popular appeal. This belief is at least partially silly. While I can't speak to the quality of the innovations, this is one sport that is far too expensive to have popular appeal. For others, the response seems closer to a tidal wave. To give you an idea of how some view the new boot, one riding devotee offered the following reaction: "it looks like the stripper boot of the horse world."

Typically I stand for innovation but in this case simply as an interested bystander who knows a bit about the sport and its participants, I am left to wonder whether Nike has pushed this particular envelope a tad too far. What's next? Will they want to add the "swoosh" to the riding helmut? Any thoughts?

Football & Business:Something To Talk About

Imagine the following scenario: there are 11 men standing on the 50 yard line of a football field and one man says, "ok according to the coach, we have to take this ball 50 yards." What do we as onlookers expect to happen? The fact is, we don't know. Are these just a bunch of guys or a real football team? Who's the quarterback? Does anyone even know "how" to hold a football let alone throw it 10 yards [forget 50 yards]? Who is going to run, block, and catch? What play are they actually supposed to use? Worse, which direction are they supposed to go? In other words, on its face, the group has been given a fairly straightforward task but suddenly it looks awfully complicated.

Unfortunately in the business world far too frequently employers also [incorrectly] assume that their "team" is clear about their job when it comes to carrying out the corporate or team mission [in addition to having a clear sense of the company's priorities]. More frequently than not, they assume there is knowledge of the short term and long term goals along with the best way to get from point A to point B. The only problem is no one has bothered to inform their people. What happens as a result is not exactly chaos but "when the right hand has no clue about what the left hand is doing or why," problems like angry managers, redundant tasks, mismatched jobs, or problems tackled in the wrong sequence are likely to occur [& these are just a few of the possible pitfalls organizations could face].

One of the solutions of course seems so simple-communication! Workgroups must have clear direction from above, Additionally, it's important to bear in mind that teams aren't built in a day and they require other things like time, preparation, trust, commitment, and of course leadership. There's a huge difference between a collection of individuals and a team. For one thing, teams are about relationships, which need to be nurtured [and therefore demand ongoing dialogue].  If there is no [or poor] communication, none of these other elements can be actualized and no task can be accomplished successfully. 

Back to our original football example, any sports enthusiast will tell you that football or most any other team sport requires the same group dynamics in order for them to even hope for success  Without all of those things and more, they are just 11 confused guys, in plastic pads, & colored cropped pants. Without good communication and clear vision, your workgroup won't look much different...well, maybe minus the plastic pads and the colored cropped pants.

Line of the Week 4-20-08

This week's "Line of the Week" provides some interesting food for thought in this most unusual primary season. It's also something I plan to incorporate in my leadership training:

"...an army of deer led by a lion will defeat an army of lions led a deer..."

Calvin Hill, Dallas Cowboys [retired] as reported by son Grant Hill, Phoenix Suns