Here I go again! I can’t help myself with the sports metaphors but its March Madness at the Final Four.
In Saturday’s Washington Post, Jim Larranaga the basketball coach who took George Mason to the Final Four a few years ago wrote a beautfiul article on the keys to success at Butler University. It all started years ago when Jim was a young head coach at Bowling Green and he was looking for ways to improve. He called Jim Bennett, the head coach at Wisconsin-Green Bay (now head coach at Wisconsin where he took the Badgers to the Final Four) to pick his brain how he got his players to execute AS a team.
Jim invited Barry Collier, then the head coach at Butler to join him for the trip. Instead of hearing about Xs and Os and basketball lore they got a mouth full on the philosophy of life and the responsibility of the coach to their players. Bennett shared his philosophy of “humility, passion, unity, servanthood and thankfulness. Collier built Butler’s basketball program around these principles and made them winners. He passed this philosophy down to Thad Motta who continued the winning tradition at Butler and now Ohio State, and then Motta passed it down to Brad Stevens the current head coach at Butler.
Here is what grabbed me and hope you.
First, Larranaga as a leader wanted to improve. He saw a coach who was able to get his teams to consistently overachieve and HUMBLED himself and asked for help! How many leaders do you see today humble themselves and ask for help and advice? Humility is a wonderful leadership attribute. It shows others that you don’t know it all and are willing to open yourself up to new ideas and suggestions. I have often heard others describe humility as a weaknesses. I see it as a pillar of strength.
Second, the philosophy is so simple but difficult to live by. The pressures to succeed are huge. Many take short cuts but fail to sustain momentum. This is about values and what you believe in. It’s walking the talk. Who would not want to be around a leader who honestly exhibits humbleness, passion, servanthood, unity and thankfulness. It starts at the top. It’s leaders teaching these principles to others by what they say and do everyday. It’s recruiting people who want to be a part of this culture and live it.
Finally, I am impressed with succession management of Butler University. Turnover at the top is extremely high both at Division 1 basketball and in corporate America. Pursuing a top head coach with tournament experience or a high profile CEO would be tempting. But not at Butler.
Butler has principles who are greater than any coach or player. They have a good thing going and wanted to keep it that way. That’s why they PROMOTED Stevens to be their head coach despite no head coaching experience. Was that a risk? Many would say yes. I say it was a stroke of genius and a easy call. You be the judge. But don’t judge after one game Monday night. Look for Butler to be back year after year in the tournament.
So tomorrow night, I am pulling for Butler. It is not because they are a mid-major, or playing Duke; it is because of the wonderful culture and leadership style exhibited by Coach Stevens and his Butler Bulldogs.
Do you have a formula for success?