What We Can Learn About Leadership From March Madness and Linsanity

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On the eve of March Madness, and five weeks into Linsanity, it seems a good time to reflect on some unique management lessons that basketball can teach us.

Point guards, such as Jeremy Lin, demonstrate outstanding leadership skills. (Image by Getty Images via @daylife)

First, a few quick warm-up questions…

Are you ever frustrated with our political or business leaders?   Ever sense a lack of vision, a failure to assess risk, a reluctance to make hard decisions?   Ever feel just a hint of a need for more selfless behavior?

If you plead guilty to any of the above, I only half-jokingly suggest you find leadership inspiration in an unlikely place: watch more basketball.   No, it’s not the coaches I’m thinking of – whose tendencies toward tempestuous behavior are well documented.  It’s the point guards.

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My premise is that good point guards at all levels – high school, college, the NBA… from Bob Cousy to John Stockton  to Jeremy Lin — embody the very qualities that are too often lacking among our leaders.  Specifically:

Good point guards have vision.  They understand the environment.  In basketball of course it’s called “court sense.”   They’re game managers, controlling the tempo in a fast-paced, fluid environment.   They regularly make snap decisions on whether to fast break or slow the pace down.  They have an uncanny ability to see things in a way their teammates don’t, surveying the entire court and making the right pass to find the open man, or woman.  They see the big picture and take appropriate actions as a result.

Good point guards understand risk.  While it’s the occasional behind-the-back or through-the-legs pass that brings the crowd to its feet, the fact is, good point guards make responsible, low-risk decisions the vast majority of the time.  Arguably the greatest point guard of them all, Magic Johnson, who earned his nickname for his no-look, highlight-reel passes, was fundamentally a brilliant game manager who used his size and incomparable hand-eye coordination to protect the ball, make sound decisions, and control the pace of play.   The late great coach and commentator Al McGuire used to call fancy passes “French Pastry.”   Pastry is delicious now and then.  We may love it, but can’t live on it.  Too many turnovers and you’ll quickly find yourself back on the bench.

Good point guards aren’t afraid to make tough decisions. In fact, they have to make them constantly, in a chaotic environment.   They regularly decide when to push the pace in the open court, or when to settle things down and run a set play.  They know when to pass and when to take it to the hoop.  They know who their shooters are, who their role players are, and who can be counted on to help handle the frenzy of a full court press.  They know who’s hot, who’s not, and who stays cool when the game is on the line.

Good point guards are selfless.  They’re never greedy.  They distribute the ball.   Though they can score when needed, their training – their first impulse – is to look for others.  They’re not concerned about personal statistics or glory.  They involve their teammates.   The very best make everyone on the court with them considerably better.   Ultimately, Jeremy Lin’s success with the New York Knicks will likely be determined not by how many points he scores, but by how skillfully and effectively he involves Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire in the offense.

It’s been said the essence of athletic excellence is making the very difficult look routine.  From Walt Frazier to Magic to Sue Bird to Derrick Rose to the global phenomenon that is Jeremy Lin… to the steady anonymous point guard for your local high school… good point guards are money in the bank.  They’re team players who exercise prudent judgment in challenging situations and run their operations in a responsible, controlled manner.

I ask myself, now where have we needed these qualities in recent years?

So the next time someone tells you you’re wasting time watching too much of The Madness over the next month, just tell them you’re actually not watchingbasketball – you’re studying sound management practices.  And pass the pretzels, please.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2012/03/11/what-we-can-learn-about-leadership-from-march-madness-and-linsanity/

Four Myths About Mentoring

Amy Gallo debunks the "mentoring is only for junior people" notion and other misconceptions about one-on-one advisory relationships

By Amy Gallo

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Posted on Harvard Business Review: February 1, 2011 10:21 AM

When people think of mentoring, they often think of an older executive counseling a young upstart. The senior leader advises the junior employee on his career, how to navigate the world of work, and what he needs to do to get ahead. But mentoring has changed a lot in the last few decades. Just as the notion of a 50-year linear career with a single company or in one industry is outdated, so is the idea that career advice must come from a wise old sage. The traditional mentor-mentee relationship is not necessarily a thing of the past, but it's no longer the standard. Now, there are many ways to get the information and guidance you need.

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY

While the concept of mentoring has changed, the need for career counseling has not. In fact, because most careers take numerous twists and turns in today's world, it's required more than ever. "When I first started studying mentoring in the 1970s it was a much more stable world. There is a lot of chaos in the world of work," says Kathy E. Kram, the Shipley Professor in Management at the Boston University School of Management and author of Mentoring at Work. While mentoring has morphed, our collective thinking on it has not and many held-over myths still prevail. "There are many ways to define mentoring," says Jeanne Meister, a Founding Partner of Future Workplace and co-author ofThe 2020 Workplace: How Innovative Companies Attract, Develop & Keep Tomorrow's Employees Today. If you are working with the old definition, you may be confused about how to get the advice you need. Below are four myths: knowing the truth about them can help you figure out who to turn to and how.

Myth #1: You have to find one perfect mentor

It's actually quite rare these days that people get through their career with only one mentor. In fact, many people have several advisors they turn to. "In all likelihood, you'd benefit from having more than one developer," says Kram, who prefers the term "developmental network" to mentor. "It's that handful of people who you can go to for advice and who you trust to have your best interests in mind," she explains. This network can be as large or small as you want, and it may even include your spouse or partner. Sometimes it can be helpful to get a variety of perspectives on an issue you are facing. Meister and her co-author Karie Willyerd agree with Kram. "It's not uncommon for people to have many, many mentors," says Willyerd, former CLO of Sun Microsystems and co-founder of Future Workplace.

Myth #2: Mentoring is a formal long-term relationship

Because the world moves fast and people change jobs and careers more often, a long-term advising relationship may be unrealistic and unnecessary. "Mentoring can be a one-hour mentoring session. We don't have to escalate it to a six-month or year-long event," says Willyerd. Instead of focusing on the long term, think of mentoring as something you access when you need it. "It may not be big agenda items that you're grappling with. You don't need to wait until you have some big thing in your career," says Meister. In today's world, she says, mentoring is "more like Twitter and less like having a psychotherapy session."

Of course, the advice and guidance may be richer and more relevant if it comes from someone who knows you well and understands your goals. You still need to build relationships so that when you require advice, you have the connections in place. However, there may be times when you look to people who don't know you as well or at all to get one-off counsel from an outsider's perspective. And in these cases, Willyerd suggests you may want to avoid using the word "mentor" altogether. "You can simply say, 'I'd really like to get your advice on something'," she says.  

Myth #3: Mentoring is for junior people

Many people assume that they only need a mentor when they are first starting out in their careers. "We used to think it was people at early stages of their career who needed mentoring, those just out of MBA programs. Now we understand that people at every stage benefit from this kind of assistance," says Kram. In their book, The 2020 Workplace, Meister and Willyerd talk about reverse mentoring in which a more junior person advises a senior person on things like new technology.

The reality is "There are lots of points in a corporate career when you need a mentor," says Meister. Though you shouldn't wait for them to come up, transitions are a particularly good time to seek out a mentor. Whether you are making a career change, taking on a new role, or contemplating leaving a job, advice from someone who has done it before can be helpful. "You may need a mentor when the environment around you is changing rapidly and you haven't had a chance to keep up with the changes," says Meister. "Or as you try to navigate the complexities of your organization," adds Willyerd.

Myth #4: Mentoring is something more experienced people do out of the goodness of their hearts

"It can be an honor to ask someone to be a mentor," says Willyerd. But the respect isn't the only reason people agree to help. Mentoring should be useful to both parties involved. Before seeking out a mentor, think about what you have to offer him. Can you provide a unique perspective on the organization or his role? Do you bring valuable outside information that might help him be successful in his job? Whatever it is, be sure that you are clear with your prospective advisor about what's in it for him. This does not have to be a direct barter. Even the promise of future help, if and when it's needed, can be enough to convince a mentor to give up his time and energy.

So, do you need mentoring?

Now that you have a better understanding of what mentoring can be, do you need it? "The place to start is with self-assessment and find out what are the challenges in front of you right now and why. Then ask yourself, do you have the relational resources to handle those challenges?" says Kram. If the answer is no, it may be time to seek out a mentor or several. Remember that mentoring can take many shapes and forms—the key is to find the right kind of advice from the right person at the right time.

PRINCIPLES TO REMEMBER

Do:

• Build a cadre of people you can turn to for advice when you need it
• Nurture relationships with people whose perspectives you respect
• Think of mentoring as both a long-term and short-term arrangement

Don't:

• Assume that because you are successful or experienced in your field that you don't need a mentor
• Rely on one person to help guide you in your career
• Expect to receive mentoring without providing anything in return

Case Study #1: Using multiple mentors

In January 2000, Soki Choi left Accenture Sweden to start her own company developing applications for mobile phones. A mere four years later, the company was acquired and Soki was left with a large decision about what to do next. Should she take a job with another Swedish telecom company? Should she start another business? "Suddenly I didn't have a natural "next step" in my career," she explains. Since she was a child, she had dreamed of doing medical research, but felt it was too late in life to pursue that path, especially without an MD. However, the desire nagged her. One day that spring, she read a story about Sweden's prestigious research hospital, the Karolinska Institute, merging with the university hospital in Huddinge and decided she had to explore the possibility of a medical PhD. She wanted multiple perspectives on this potential career change, so she sought the advice of three different people.

Her first thought was of Ewa Ställdal, the CEO of a major medical research foundation that she had met several years previously on a delegation trip to the US with the Swedish Ministry of Industry. "She listened and took my thoughts seriously. She then connected me to her research and medical network, and in particular to an entrepreneurial professor in medical management," she says.

Soki also contacted Bjorn Svedberg, the former CEO of Ericsson. She first met Bjorn in her role as a board member of PTS, the National Post & Telecom Agency which advises the Swedish government on telecom and infrastructure planning. Soki respected him and wanted to know what he thought of this potential career shift. "I specifically asked him if he thought it was a good idea to take on PhD studies in the midst of a critical time of my professional career," she says. Bjorn, who was in his 80s, revealed to Soki that he wished he had done what she was considering and he strongly urged her to pursue her dream.

Soki's third advisor was Martin Lorentzon. Martin is only 5 years older than Soki and had a similar career trajectory in that he also left a steady job to start his own company. He had served as a "go-to" person for Soki while she was building her business. "Martin was much more of a direct, operational, and continuous mentor," she said. He also encouraged her to do what she thought would make her most happy.

Soki is about to complete her PhD at the Karolinska Institute. Without the advice and help of her mentors, Soki thinks she would've taken one of the many job offers she had in 2004 and would still be in the telecom field, rather than pursuing her dream.

Case Study #2: When you think you don't need it

After twenty years in the search business, Stephen Wachter founded his own recruiting firm, Osprey One. Two years ago, he felt he was on top of his game: he had some of the largest clients in Silicon Valley, including Google, Yahoo, and Facebook. On a plane headed to the East Coast, he sat next to Susan Robertson, a leadership development consultant. He immediately noticed her because, as he says, they both had "devices falling out of their pockets." They started talking about what they did. Stephen proudly shared his successes, to which Susan asked him, "So, what's your next step?" The question blew Stephen away—he didn't know there was anyplace else to go. He thought he had reached the top of his career ladder and simply had to keep doing what he was doing. "She was very good at getting me to explore my own story," he says of Susan. Talking to her, he realized that there was a next level: both in how he conducted his business and how he interacted with his clients. "I thought about times when I had friction points with my clients and how I would've handled those situations differently in retrospect," he says. Besides, if he stopped developing, the industry would grow without him. "You've got to be part of the newness or the newness will pass you," he explains. Susan and he agreed to be in touch and talk about how Susan could help him stay focused on growing and learning. They continue to have a mentoring relationship today. She has helped him to reflect on who he is and how he is with others. "When you're young, you need someone to show you the ropes. The danger is when you think you've got it figured out."

Case Study #3: Getting help through a transition

As the Managing Director of People Insights, a coaching and consulting firm based in Belgium, Sunita Malhotra helps global companies design and implement mentoring programs. "The only reason I can do that is because of my experience with being mentored," she says. Midway in her career, she took a job working in HR for a fast moving consumer goods company. She had already held several positions in both consulting and sales and marketing, so she wasn't a junior upstart. However, HR was new to her and she knew she was going to need support through the transition. As she saw it, she would need help with three specific things: understanding how HR worked, figuring out how to work in a European office of a global company, and navigating being a women in a male-dominated company.

Sunita looked both inside and outside the company for potential mentors. She asked around and several people recommended a male leader who was the second in command in HR. She approached him and asked if he would support her. "I was pretty direct. I knew he was busy. I was new. I prepared the conversation well." After listening to her request, he agreed. The two met regularly discussing what Sunita was learning but he also shared his experiences, both successes and failures. "He was a very good developer of people," she says. Sunita has since had several other mentors and believes the guidance she's gotten has shaped her career. "If you want a mentor, and one hasn't been allocated to you, do your homework. Know what you want. Know what you don't want," she advises.

http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/feb2011/ca2011021_034399_page_3.htm 

Thursday Night Team Nights

An Entrepreneur's Top Leadership Challenges -- and How to Meet Them

For first-time entrepreneurs, expanding the businessand hiring those first employees is an exciting adventure. But it can also be rife with challenges and sometimes mistakes. The reason: The skills needed to successfully lead a growing enterprise are markedly different than what it takes to run a one-person business.

We spoke with three business leaders about challenges they faced as their companies grew, and how they dealt with them.

Challenge No. 1: Hiring the right people -- and keeping them
Many first-time leaders make regretful hiring decisions early on. They choose people too much like themselves when what they really need are employees with complementary skills. They also sometimes recruit people who may have the right skills but lack solid values.

Tom Sullivan, founder and chairman of Lumber Liquidators

Courtesy of the company

Tom Sullivan, founder and chairman of Lumber Liquidators, a Toano, Va.-based hardwood floor retailer, learned his lesson the hard way. When expanding operations beyond his first store in the Boston area, he needed store managers and truck drivers in other cities, but some of his earliest hires didn't pan out.

Related: What Entrepreneurs Can Learn from Costco's CEO

One store manager admitted to stealing money from the cash register, which he later repaid. Then there was the truck driver who disappeared on his first delivery, taking both the truck and the cash he had collected. "The biggest thing was getting people you could trust," says Sullivan, 52, now chairman of the 2,000-employee public company. He didn't do enough due diligence at first, but after those experiences, he quickly began conducting background checks on all new employees.

He also realized he needed to do more to motivate workers and build a more entrepreneurial culture. Instead of paying drivers by the hour, he gave them 60 percent of all delivery fees. He also began paying store managers 0.5 percent to 2 percent commissions on their sales. The new compensation policies led to higher retention rates. "Some of our sales managers made over $150,000, even $300,000, based on their sales," Sullivan says.

Challenge No. 2: Expanding prudently, not prematurely
When a company starts expanding, it's tempting to keep growing based on promising newbusiness opportunities. But it's far better to be cautious, as Jon Black painfully found out.

Jon Black

Courtesy of the company

In 2001, when Black reacquired GetProof, a physician credentialing company that he'd founded, it had about 10 to 15 employees. About five years later, a Fortune 500 health company signed a contract with the firm, and GetProof's operations manager suggested hiring 20 people to scale up before the contract took effect. Black agreed, but the contract never came to fruition.

Black says he ultimately had to lay off the people he'd hired, along with his operations manager. "The problem was I kind of abdicated my responsibility as CEO," says Black, 50. "We were so caught up in being lured by a very large company that was wielding a lot of power."

Related: 10 Secrets of Successful Leaders

Today, Black is far more careful about hiring at his new firm Terillion, an Alpine, Utah, company that has developed technology to help companies weed out fake online reviews. He waits longer after contracts are signed to increase headcount so he's sure the work will really come in. He also typically hires people on a part-time basis or as independent contractors before making them full time. That way, he can be sure they're a good fit for the position.

Challenge No. 3: Managing through big changes
Many first-time leaders struggle with maintaining the culture of their firms as they grow. That's particularly challenging in times of turmoil.

Nancy Kramer

Courtesy of the company

Nancy Kramer, for instance, wasn't prepared when her company's fortunes changed. She founded Resource Interactive, a Columbus, Ohio, marketing firm, in the early 1980s, scoring Apple Inc. as her first big client. The company grew quickly throughout the 1980s and 1990s, reaching about 150 employees by 2000.

But when the dot-com bust hit, business dropped by 90% "almost overnight," says Kramer, 56, now chairman. The company had to retrench and lay off about 50 employees.

Kramer felt terrible, giving the departing employees generous severance packages and condolences. But in hindsight, she realized she didn't do enough to console her remaining workforce. Morale in the office tanked. "The office got really bad for a while," she says. "The people who stayed were probably worried about their own futures with the company."

Kramer says she wishes she'd given less generous packages to the people she terminated and diverted more of the money to boosting the morale of those who stayed. Today, Kramer says, the company is more thoughtful about how it handles layoffs and maintains a positive culture. The company gives employees development opportunities and encourages them to have fun at work. "We put a lot of emphasis on making our office a place where people want to come every day," Kramer says.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222767?cm_mmc=Newsletters-_-BOTW-_-020312-_-AnEntrepreneursTopLeadershipChallengesandHowtoMeetThem