The college basketball season is over, and Duke stands tall with its fifth national championship. But before the season starts to fade, let’s examine some of the interesting coaches from this year’s tournament, many with strengths and attributes that could be a boost to business leaders. Here’s a look at four of those coaches and their winning ways.
Mike Krzyzewski’s ability to adapt
The Duke coach had already won four national championships before this tournament run. But the “one-and-done” trend — in which highly prized recruits take a starring role for a national powerhouse and then enter the NBA Draft a year later — has proven to be a successful one in recent years, especially for Kentucky and coach John Calipari. Krzyzewski seemed to resist the one-and-done movement earlier in his career. But times change, and so Coach K has had to adapt. As Krzyzewski told CBS This Morning after winning the title: “We have one of the great schools in the world, and when we recruit a young man, we recruit a young man because of three things: One, he has the academic potential to do well at Duke; two, he has the talent to do well; and three, he has great character. All the guys on my team fit that description 100 percent. … In today’s world you have to adapt to what’s happening. Throughout college, there are many kids who don’t go even the whole four years because of opportunities, business opportunities that are available, and they’re not just athletes. And so if the opportunity arises for a youngster to leave early from school, whether he’s an athlete or she’s an athlete or not, it’s their opportunity to pursue it.”
Business lesson: Don’t be so rigid in your thinking that it derails your strategy.
The ability to shift and pivot can lead to potential success. Rahim Charania writes about this for Forbes. “If you can keep an open mind in regards to the uses and avenues for your business to grow, you can always find a solution. You might find that a product you have developed for the commercial market is best suited for the consumer market. If you are mired down in strict structures and decision biases favoring commercial applications, you can miss the boat on a great opportunity to build a business that services a large number of consumers and provides your organization the capital and experience it needs to evolve your product.”
Edward Joyner’s sense of humor
The Hampton coach had joked that he’d need “Jesus on speed dial” if his team met mighty Kentucky in the tournament’s first round. Sure enough, Hampton beat Manhattan in the “First Four” and earned the right to play the then-undefeated No. 1 team. Before taking on the Wildcats, he reminded the press of his Heavenly contact, and pulled out his phone for a fake conversation: “‘Hey, Jesus, first of all, you can’t play so I ain’t worried about you being hot. They want to know how much of a mountain and what our odds are. Hello? Hello?’ I guess he’ll get back to me.”
Business lesson: Lighten up, as long as it’s the appropriate time and audience. Obviously avoid mean-spirited humor or anything that approaches the edge of bad taste. But a quick wit can help humanize a leader. Steve Tobak explored this in a piece for ceo.com. “Humor is disarming,” he wrote. “It lightens the mood, puts people at ease and cuts down on the intimidation factor that powerful leaders face with employees, customers, vendors, partners, everyone. It shows you don’t take yourself too seriously. That’s the humility factor.”
Tom Izzo’s resilience
Never underestimate the longtime Michigan State coach. His Spartans weren’t expected to make too much noise in this year’s tournament as a No. 7 seed, but they beat higher-seeded teams Louisville, Virginia and Oklahoma to advance to the Final Four for the seventh time in Izzo’s career (they won it all in 2000). Izzo has a knack for the postseason, and has earned the admiration of his peers. Like in this quote from Louisville coach Rick Pitino: “I’ve coached against so many great coaches that I’ve admired, and Tom Izzo is in a class with all of them because of the way they run their programs and the way they care for their players.”
Business lesson: Resilience may not be the first quality mentioned when mapping out an ideal business leader. But it’s how he or she takes on a difficult situation, learns from it and builds upon it that can help a leader excel. John McKinley writes about this in a story for Harvard Business Review, and says three characteristics are required:
- Grit: “Short-term focus on tasks at hand, a willingness to slog through broken systems with limited resources, and pragmatic problem-solving skills.”
- Courage: “Action in the face of fear and embracing the unknown.”
- Commitment: “Long-term optimism and focus on big-picture goals.”
“Too often we confuse management skills with leadership,” he writes. “We need to remain focused on building leaders who have the resilience to face stubborn problems head on for lasting social impact. The more we collectively define what it takes, the better we’ll be able to identify and train this next generation.”
Bo Ryan’s fundamentals
There’s nothing flashy about the Wisconsin coach, who led the Badgers all the way to the national championship game against Duke, knocking out the previously unbeaten Kentucky on the way. Ryan is all about the fundamentals. Here’s how ESPN’s Myron Medcalf describes him: “Ryan is a purist who preaches efficiency and versatility at all positions. His practices commence with simple passing and catching drills. He demands proper ball handling and ball rotation. … He values stingy, hands-free defense. Sometimes, his players spend entire chunks of practice, without a basketball, shadowing one another like cornerbacks in man-to-man schemes. His father coached youth football, so Ryan has always had a jones for the gritty, gridiron types: tough, smart, relentless.”
Business lesson: Have the basics down, and be clear about your goals. Brad Sugars writes about this in a piece for entrepreneur.com. “If you know where you’re going on an automobile trip and why you want to get there, it’s a lot easier to stay motivated and focused on your destination, even if you break down or get a flat. Similarly, a compelling vision will guide you when times get tough and will help rally your customers to your company. So ask yourself early and often where you want to go with your business — and more important, why?”
