My Generation Leader

Profits & Purpose: Soccer for Good

noreply@blogger.com (Kati Seelbach) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:55:00 +0000

This article originally appeared on Good-b and can be found here.

Profits & Purpose: Soccer for Good

As President and CEO, and driving force behind the initial investor group for Major League Soccer’s (MLS) DC United, Kevin Payne has watched his club and the MLS bloom from a seed of an idea to a product of national prominence.
The MLS started in 1996 with 10 teams, a niche market, and enough skeptics to sell out the World Cup. Once seen as a sure failure, the MLS has bowled over the critics, growing to 19 teams while recently surpassing the NBA in live fan attendance. As a league the MLS has not only endured, it’s managed to thrive, and early figures like Payne have made all the difference. With what seems to be a genuine mix of soccer passion and business interest, Payne has not only helped the league advance, has also put DC United on the map as arguably the most successful soccer team in the history of the United States. With four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supporter’s Shields (awarded to the team with the best regular season record), and a total of 12 domestic and international trophies, DC United has set the standard for stateside excellence in soccer.
With the early mantra of “The Tradition Begins,” Kevin Payne and the DC United franchise set two clear goals in 1996. First, play like a premier soccer team. Second, be a respected pillar of the community. Payne explains, “I believe that sports organizations have the ability to influence their communities and members of their communities for the good.” As with every team in every league in the world, DC United wanted to win, but less intuitive, they wanted to use their clout as professional athletes to positively impact the community. “You really have a responsibility as a sport organization,” Payne says, “to think more broadly about your place in the community than simply to win games and do well economically.”
Payne and DC United have embraced that responsibility, and proved a pacesetter in professional soccer. They were the first MLS team to incorporate a community relations department into their day-to-day operations, the first team to begin large scale charitable giving, and among the first teams in the league to create a 501c3, or a non-profit public charity. While DC United is a relatively small professional organization, Payne hasn’t let the size of his franchise or the perceived start-up status of the MLS limit his scope of the organization’s impact. Through United for DC, DC United offers a variety of charitable and service-oriented arms, including United Soccer Club, Kicks for Kids, and United Reads. Every year, the club provides a game-day experience for 7,500 DC youth, distribute over 10,000 books to schools that serve 1,500 children, and provide free afterschool soccer clinics to underprivileged children. DC United also serves its community in other ways, expanding its outreach capacity by inviting fans to participate in community efforts. Through United Builds, fans, DC United staff, and players work together in partnership with local charities, such as Habitat for Humanity and the Salvation Army to assist with various projects. United Drives is another initiative that attempts to leverage the team’s fan base.
Every month, DC United selects a charity and asks fans to donate charitable items such as books, food, and soccer equipment. Further leveraging their impact, the organization invites local DC area schools in a competition to collect the most items on a monthly basis, and winners receive a pizza party with DC United players. Kevin Payne and DC United started with two clear goals. While one was less obvious than the other, both have served to guide the franchise toward unprecedented levels of success.
Payne believed that a competitive sports organization could also make a positive impact on the local community, and he turned his beliefs into reality. Just imagine, if the most successful soccer franchise in the United States can find time to heavily impact the DC community positively, what can your organization do.

How Baylor Keeps Ballin'

noreply@blogger.com (Kati Seelbach) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:37:00 +0000

How Baylor Keeps Ballin'

This piece originally appeared at On Leadership at The Washington Post. For the original piece, click here

    Even at 5’4”, Kim Mulkey stands out at Baylor University. Since 2005, she has led the women’s basketball team to five Sweet Sixteen appearances, three Elite Eights, two Final Fours, and a NCAA championship win. This year the Lady Bears started 23-0 and have been ranked No. 1 in the country. Since taking over as coach of the Baylor program in 2000, Mulkey has built a powerhouse, and credits her success to a few key factors. In a conversation with Mulkey, we learned what those are.

    Mulkey arrived at Baylor more than a decade ago to take the reigns of a struggling basketball team that finished the previous season with a 7-20 record. The first-time head coach was committed to raising expectations on all fronts (personal, academic and athletics) and didn’t waste time. Under Mulkey, players were expected to go to class, perform well academically, be respectful and always work hard. Her standards quickly took hold, guiding a turnaround of unprecedented proportions. In the course of a single season, Baylor basketball went from laughing stock to the NCAA tournament.

    Since that remarkable first season, Mulkey’s standards have never dipped. “I want to see them play extremely hard,” Mulkey says, “and I know I’m going to coach hard.” She has an almost intuitive sense for what her players need in order to maintain their effort — whether it’s a hug, wink or a kick in the butt.

The rest of the article can be found here.

Beyond X's & O's: Stevens' Gene Peluso

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Frontiera) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 18:38:00 +0000

This article was originally published at Inside Lacrosse, and the original piece can be found here.

In only his second season as the skipper of the Stevens Tech Ducks, Gene Peluso guided the squad to its highest USILA Division III Coaches Poll ranking (as high as No. 5). Peluso has long been considered an elite Div. III coach, but with Stevens things seem to be coming together.

A physically imposing figure with matching personality, Peluso has taken to Hoboken and Stevens like pasta to clam sauce. There may not be another coach in Division III who’s better type-caste for their institution, as few would be better suited to stalk the sidelines in this historic city that boasts The Largest Slice (of pizza for those who call to mind other sliced items). He is both intense and funny, and has a gifted ability to weave between the two effortlessly. In catching up with him midseason, his passion for lacrosse and zeal for life is quickly apparent. He was both introspective and generous with time, and even suggested that the call had somehow done something for him, ending the conversation by saying thank you, and then adding, “this was a valuable exercise.”

Given his investment in our hour interview, it’s of little surprise that Peluso seems fully invested in his Ducks. He talks about his players and coaching philosophy in fluid detail, but starts with the cornerstone of his ideals, stating, “honesty goes a long way with players.” This year in particular he’s paid special attention to being candid about the obstacles that lie in the way of team goals. “I’m not tippy-toeing around what’s in front of us and where we want to go,” he says. “I put in front of them obstacles, or things that lie in our way,” he continues, “I do that to remind them what we need to do to work through and to get them fired up.” For Peluso, “Opponents are just steps for us. They’re steps for us to be successful,” and in order to succeed you need to have a clear blueprint of the steps you’re working to climb and where they’re going to take you.

In building the blueprint, communication is paramount. Peluso communicates his message by writing out challenges on the positional goal sheets that players fill out before every game. He includes carefully selected quotes on practice plans and pre-game materials to emphasize exactly what the squad needs to focus on. And perhaps most importantly, “We kind of talk it out.” As a team they sit down after practice and games and discuss what’s coming up, where the group is going, and where they’re all at. Ironically, all the talking doesn’t take away from the doing. In fact, it seems to inspire it. In noting that the team needed to be more conditioned, the staff and players talked about fitness differently: “We needed to look at conditioning in practice as opposite of punishment.” “Our guys have really bought into that,” Peluso continues, and the result is “just a real positive approach to our conditioning.” In summing up his belief in the value of communicating, being honest, and finding different ways to make a point, Peluso states, “Sometimes words, quotes, poems, stories can be really, really helpful . . .They’re motivating, I think they’re inspiring, and they can really put things in perspective.”

For Peluso, obstacles and goals and messages and the words that comprise them are simply pieces of a larger puzzle. In his words, “At the end of the day we want our guys to be happy and excited about what we’re doing.” He includes player input in decisions ranging from where the team is going out to eat to how they want to travel. Although he is explicit in stating that “the winning is important.” He also says, “We want to focus on enjoying what we’re doing.” This isn’t a contradiction for Stevens, as success and enjoyment go hand in hand. Of course there are sacrifices, but with a phrase he may have borrowed from Buddha, Peluso says, “Enjoy what you’re doing, enjoy the process, and everything else will fall into place.”

With Peluso pushing the squad to identify challenges while striving to enjoy the experience, they’re likely to stay a contender for years to come. When you ask Peluso about coaching, and his role in making a small team from Hoboken a mainstay in DIII lacrosse, he becomes philosophical in a way you might not expect from a coach. He says of coaching, “It is what I am. It is what I do, and what I enjoy doing.” He says of life, “Sometimes you have to follow your heart and I feel like I’ve done that.” In talking with him, Peluso made a point to thank us for giving him the time, and so it seems appropriate that we thank him for giving us the insights.

Joe Frontiera, PhD and Dan Leidl, PhD are the Managing Partners of Meno Consulting, a firm specializing in leadership development, organizational culture, team building and motivation. To learn more about Dan and Joe visit www.menoconsulting.com, they're blog at www.mygenerationleader.com or contact them via email at jfrontiera@menoconsulting.com and dleidl@menoconsulting.com.

Beyond X's and O's: Ohio State Women's Coach Alexis Venechanos

noreply@blogger.com (d leidl) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:46:00 +0000

This article was originally published at Inside Lacrosse, and the original piece can be found here.

In talking with Alexis Venechanos you get the sense that she simply wills success. It’s hard to explain it much better, as there aren’t any definitive keys. There are few coaches who project the “underdog” persona better than Venechanos, and it unquestionably works. She was a recruited walk on at Maryland and became national goalie of the year in her senior season while playing on a torn ACL.

After two National Championships as a player, she went on to win two more as an assistant at up-start Northwestern. In only her mid-20s she took on the overwhelming task of turning a floundering UMass program around, and brought it back to the NCAA Tournament in three seasons in spite of a 25-year hiatus. Along with revisiting the NCAA’s she guided her UMass squads to two Atlantic-10 Conference Championships in her four-year tenure. Now she’s been brought to Ohio State to work her magic, and with a year under her belt it seems to be working. After falling to University of Florida 13-16 in the American Lacrosse Conference semi-finals, the Buckeyes have tremendous momentum heading into next year.

Venechanos says of her responsibilities at Ohio State, “We look to be strong female role models,” and you have to believe that she does that. If she has one defining quality that’s led to her success, it may be grit, as it seems that she finds a unique contentment in outlasting and outworking the competition. It’s difficult for her to breakdown what she does to develop players and win games, and that could be because it’s such a part of her day to day. She says, “The biggest thing is instilling these daily practices into people’s lives”, and by practices she’s talking about all those little details that add up to success. — the ground balls, the hustle, the self confidence. She casually drops some of these themes in conversation, saying, “How you talk to yourself is really important”; “We have to get to know the energy of the team”; and, “We get them going every single day”. For Venechanos it’s a daily commitment, and she’s striving to get her players to do everything from thinking confidently to playing with a pop and feistiness that reflects her personality.

Her teams have typically echoed her, and in her own words, they’re “relentless”. They don’t stop, they keep coming at you, and they often win on the nervy premise of being the last team standing. With this formula they also serve as a bold example of how players can find success by taking on the persona of their coach. Venechanos reminisces about her early playing days in Yorktown — playing three sports, winning state championships with a mix of raw athleticism and innovative concepts, and developing an early faith in hard work over flash. Those high school teams didn’t play with a lot of polish, but they were athletic and never stopped trying. This persistence and nearly blind self-belief that they could grind out wins in spite of lacking technical savvy left a lasting impression on Venechanos and the types of players she’s attracted to. As she’s developed from high school athlete to college coach, she’s still drawn to those athletes who may be light on the luster but make up for it with freakish motors that never seem to quit.

And herein lies a particularly intriguing aspect about her body of work. While Venechanos has the distinct pedigree of playing at Maryland and assisting at Northwestern, she continues to welcome lesser known players and coaches into her ranks, seemingly preferring those who have something to prove over those who may be more proven. With that, she has developed a fierce culture that fosters a sense of “us vs. them”. “We talk about how people picked us last in the conference,” she says. And in only her first year she’s gotten the squad to buy in, finishing in the top four.

With Venechanos at the helm, it’s a safe bet that Ohio State will keep climbing, and it’s exciting to see. Her passion is visible, and now that she has the resources of a school like Ohio State behind her, the squad is going to get better fast. Keep your eye out on Venechanos and the Buckeyes because she may not be getting a lot of press, but she’s quietly building one of the most intriguing resumes of any coach out there.

Joe Frontiera, PhD and Dan Leidl, PhD are the Managing Partners of Meno Consulting, a firm specializing in leadership development, organizational culture, team building and motivation. To learn more about Dan and Joe visit www.menoconsulting.com, they're blog at www.mygenerationleader.comor contact them via email at jfrontiera@menoconsulting.com and dleidl@menoconsulting.com.

Beyond X's and O's: Player, Coach, Ambassador Dave Huntley

noreply@blogger.com (d leidl) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:41:00 +0000

This piece was originally published at Inside Lacrosse, and the original article can be found here.

Dave Huntley is soon to be inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame with the 2011 Class “as a truly great player”. Huntley’s playing career is certainly prolific, as he snagged two national championships during his All-American career at Johns Hopkins, and a gold medal with Team Canada in the 1978 World Lacrosse Championships. His on-field exploits have put him in a select class of players, but his efforts without a stick in his hands may overshadow anything he did as a player. He’s coached in the NLL and MLL, and has been a head and assistant coach for Team Canada. Huntley has won rings as a pro and international coach, but he doesn’t put a lot of focus on the successes.

In striving to win, Huntley is introspective in two distinct categories. Primarily, he’s committed to lacrosse for the long haul, and in so doing, he challenges himself to keep learning. Of his commitment, he says, “You never stop learning.” But his focus on development doesn’t stop with being up to date with the hottest man-up formations. Huntley’s commitment to learning has more to do with relationships. He puts his spin on an age-old maxim, declaring, “They won’t know how much you care unless you take the time to know them.” Everything starts with knowing your guys, understanding them as people, familiarizing yourself with their goals, their lives, their ambitions. For Huntley, coaching is learning about people, how they are as individuals and how they interact as a team.

Huntley speaks in a language of stories and analogies. He likens coaching to being a jockey. You take time to know your horse, practice with your horse, take care of your horse, but ultimately you rely on the horse to bring you home. He says, “the horse under you is going to take you to the winner’s circle. That’s a real rush: that your horse is the best out there.” In this sense the team is doing the running, the hard work to bring home the hardware, and the coach is doing his best to guide and prepare. Down the stretch, the coach can offer some encouraging words and dig in for the last push, but the team is either going to stride it out or not. For Huntley, coaches get far too much credit for winning, and far too little credit for losing, as he argues the powers that coaches exercise probably play more into the losses than any of the wins.

The second aspect of coaching where Huntley is downright philosophical is how teams are developed. He starts with knowing players as people, and then moves toward assembling them into a much larger puzzle, or in his case, cooking up a tasty soup. He’s very clear about his perspective, exclaiming that it’s “not about just selecting the best players”, and “sometimes the best team is not the best players.” He adds that a good soup needs the right amount of garlic, tomato, chicken and spice regardless of the quality of the individual ingredients. He hammers the point home by saying that even the finest chicken and spring water won’t yield a good product, concluding, “if you just had chicken and water, it’d be terrible.”

Huntley has been lingering it the elite echelons of lacrosse for a few decades. Talking with him is kind of like hopping in this cool time machine that solely focuses on lacrosse and takes you right to the heart of the historic moment you always wanted to know more about. In minutes he travels fluidly from one decade to the next, highlighting unforgettable players, coaches and teams. He reminisces about Buddy Beardmore, the iconic, white-pantsed, Maryland skipper of the Frank Urso 70’s, and his maxim that, “All Americans don’t make championship teams; championship teams make All Americans.” He marvels at the current level of play in the pros, citing the lack of practice and preparation he says, “It’s remarkable the games look as good as they do, and it’s a real credit to the athletes.” And of course there are his father-like feelings for the Canadian program. He gushes over his experiences coaching Team Canada, and his relationships with the Brodie Merrills of the program who he has watched grow into world-class players and people.

Huntley’s passion for the game is unquestionable. For someone who’s never made a full time job out of lacrosse, he’s something of an inspiration for coaches and players trying to juggle non-lacrosse careers with the game. He was a successful player and has been a successful coach, but perhaps more importantly he’s an ambassador. You hear about these "ambassadors of the game," and Huntley has to be considered when you’re building the archetype. He’s out there, working in the off-hours, trying to stay involved, sacrificing weekends of rest and family time. He’s pushing the stars of the game to get better, be more, and in the process he’s pushing the game itself forward. He’ll be honored this fall for his achievements on the field, but what might be even more important to celebrate is what he’s done on the sidelines and off the field. Lacrosse is a part of Dave Huntley, and for as much as he’s lucky to have the game — as with all the guys who never disconnect, never fully push it aside, never allow their lives to get too busy for it — the game is pretty lucky to have him.

Joe Frontiera, PhD and Dan Leidl, PhD are the Managing Partners of Meno Consulting, a firm specializing in leadership development, organizational culture, team building and motivation. To learn more about Dan and Joe visit www.menoconsulting.com, they're blog at www.mygenerationleader.comor contact them via email at jfrontiera@menoconsulting.com and dleidl@menoconsulting.com.

Six great quotes from the 2011 World Business Forum

noreply@blogger.com (d leidl) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:30:00 +0000

This piece originally appeared at On Leadership at The Washington Post. For the original piece, click here.

This week in New York City, the World Business Forum hosted several thousand execs, as well as the insights of nearly two-dozen speakers. From Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz to generational guru Tammy Erickson to President Bill Clinton and former GE CEO Jack Welch, the two-day event was a two-day MBA. Of everything that was discussed—economics, leadership, business, management and more—here are the six moments that really dropped jaws:

1. “For most people success is measured in wealth and fame and power. For me, success is measured by how many shining eyes are around me.” – Ben Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra

Experiencing Ben Zander is transformational. His optimism and energy are infectious, inspiring us to consider how we can have a positive impact on our world.

2. “Risk taking is at the core of effective leadership.” – Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink and Outliers

Malcolm Gladwell talked about the difference between operational and social risks. The greatest leaders limit operational risk while taking enormous social risks—oftentimes losing colleagues and friends when dedicated to a cause. Those leaders, he said, “identify what they believe to be the right course of action, and they follow it regardless of the social consequence.”

3. “We are all so trapped in our normal patterns of thinking that we’re not even aware of it.” – Luke Williams, Frog Design

Williams drew a small audience into his compelling ideas about innovation, offering the additional resolve, “It’s not about being able to spot and react to disruptive change. It’s about how to be the disruptive change.”

4. “Great leaders are able to see that seed that, if watered and shed light on, will flourish.” – Tal Ben-Shahar, teacher at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, in Israel

Ben-Shahar’s passion for positive psychology is palpable and pointedly expressed with questions. How can we be more optimistic? What happens when we focus on what’s right rather than what’s wrong? How can we better lead by accentuating the positive?

5. “Your job is a platform to do art, it’s a platform to lead, it’s a platform to make mistakes, it’s a platform to do something that matters.” – Seth Godin, author of Purple Cow and Linchpin

Like Gladwell, Godin is an entertaining concept guy—and most compelling is his focus on conformity. He cautions against the herd mentality, and argues that our education system has taught us to follow and fade away. For Godin, we’re better than that and should fervently believe in the substance of our value.

6. “It is a fact that societies with fewer advantages will compensate in some way.” – Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink and Outliers

Gladwell opens minds. In watching him talk to a small audience off the main stage, he dug into his upcoming book by highlighting the concept of ‘compensation learning’—that is, how we learn from compensating for our weaknesses (take dyslexia or asthma, for example). He looked at everything from parents’ paradoxical tendencies to shelter their children from the very forms of adversity that helped them grow, to how disadvantage can force profound development.

Check out @MenoConulting to see Dan Liedl’s entire live Twitter feed from the conference. And if you have an idea for what the Leadership Playlist should write about next, email Dan and Joe or find them onFacebook.

WVU’s Oliver Luck: From West Virginia to Europe and back again

noreply@blogger.com (d leidl) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 14:57:00 +0000

This Post initially appeared at The Washington Post - Posted at 01:23 PM ET, 06/01/2011
WVU’s Oliver Luck: From West Virginia to Europe and back again
By Joe Frontiera and Dan Leidl

Oliver Luck, in his days as star quarterback at WVU.College athletics has undergone a slow transformation from quaint extracurricular activity tomoneymaking behemoth. Schools now compete for market share with multi-million dollar facility upgrades, sponsorships, and intricate broadcasting strategies. To compete in today’s climate, some schools have embraced a new breed of athletic director, one who brings business acumen as well as sport savvy. West Virginia University (WVU) recently made the leap to committing to this new pedigree of hybrid athletic exec by hiring Oliver Luck, an alumnus whose prowess as athlete and businessman puts him in an elite pool.
With his salt and pepper hair, the 6’3” Luck stands slim and sinewy, a much fitter version of most men his age. Articulate and thoughtful, Luck is not afraid to offer an opinion, and he’s as comfortable talking about the Spanish Inquisition as he is college sports. As a celebrated quarterback at WVU, he was a Rhodes Scholar finalist and Academic All-American. And during his five-year stint in the NFL, he attained a law degree from the University of Texas. After his playing days were behind him, he focused on business—serving in a variety of corporate-meets-athletic roles, including the president of NFL Europe, the president and CEO of the Houston Sport Authority, and the president and GM of the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer.
Forget the Ivy League
As a prep school kid in Cleveland, Luck explains that he was encouraged to “pursue the path you want to pursue and don’t worry about the rest.” Putting this early lesson to the test, he surprised his Ohio academic community by shunning an offer to play football for Harvard in favor of West Virginia University. Wide-eyed with the challenge of quarterbacking a big-time team, Luck was also attracted to the diversity of people and spirit WVU offered. He smiles widely recalling his decision and his former teammates, a diverse group of guys who “normally would have nothing to do with one another,” yet played and achieved together on the same team.
Immigrant song
With each new path that Luck has charted, he seems to hold a single inspiration pretty close: immigrants. His mother was a German immigrant who displayed a distinct “strength of character to pack up and go” that was “pretty bold.” The spirit needed to leave everything behind in the name of starting anew is one that continues to amaze Luck. “The more I read,” he says, “what you tend to find is that they made it work.”
Luck too has played the part of immigrant throughout his career and made it work with a skilled fluidity. Not only was he asked to grow American football in Europe, where soccer is king, but he was also asked to help foster the growth of soccer in the U.S., where football, baseball and basketball rule.
Question everything
As the GM of NFL Europe’s Rhein Fire, Luck was tasked with getting 50,000 Germans to attend a game they’ve never seen. No one knew how to get Europeans in the stands for football, but once again Luck drew on those Cleveland Jesuits from his early education, saying that they “drilled into me the idea that if you’re not questioning everything, you’re not doing your job as a human being.”
And so he questioned. In five weeks, a plan formed. Catering to the European, especially German, passion for massive parties (seeOktoberfest), Luck transformed football games into Europe’s “first open-aired disco.” Famous DJs were signed on as announcers, the events were billed as a “Power Party”, the music was turned up and locals came out in droves.
A quarterback’s mentality
As the athletic director at West Virginia University, Luck entered an environment where things had been done a certain way for a long time. “We always assume that what we do is the way it should be done – that’s not always the case,” he says. As an NFL quarterback, Luck says he “had average skills, and was still able to compete against the best.” To do this he relied on his mind, his inquisitive nature and a willingness to embrace challenges. Over the years he’s trained himself to see the next play, stay ahead of the competition. “If you can’t envision where you’re going, you’ll have a hard time getting there.”
When Luck examined his own football program, he saw a team that had peaked; and he decisively hired a highly sought-after head coaching prospect, Dana Holgersen, to take the helm beginning in 2012. He now envisions a full stadium, and a football program that will continue to grow and regularly compete for national championships. Luck looks into the future of WVU athletics and sees every one of his athletic teams in the top 25, and 75 percent of his student athletes graduating.
The next generation
As Luck becomes more comfortable in his role at WVU, he’s begun to decorate his office with mementos from past teams he’s worked and played for. An Oilers cap sits on a cabinet, a WVU football photo adorns a shelf and a framed article of his son, Andrew—the star quarterback at Stanford University who shocked the nation when he turned down the opportunity to be the consensus No. 1 pick in this year’s NFL draft—sits on his floor waiting to be hung. While tens of millions of dollars would have accompanied that selection, it seems the younger Luck hasn’t fallen far from the tree. When academic experiences are on the table and when an unchartered road is ahead, you go for it. And if your path conflicts with convention, so what.
Have an idea for what Dan and Joe should write about next? Leave a comment below, be in touch at info@menoconsulting.com, connect with them on Facebook or visit them at Meno Consulting.

For the original post of this article at The Washington Post, click here.

At WIF, five innovative ideas about innovation

noreply@blogger.com (d leidl) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 14:51:00 +0000

Earlier this week at the World Innovation Forum, some of the foremost experts on innovation discussed trends in corporate and social advancements. Here’s my rundown of the five concepts that stood out above the rest.

Grassroots development

Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business School professor, talked about the grassroots model of innovation, citing that innovations are often the result of smaller organizations entering a market at a low level and committing to improving a core competency and/or product little by little. Giving the example of solar energy in Mongolia, Christensen suggests that green technologies may be coming from small regions and markets currently using this technology out of necessity, and committing to improving it incrementally. Toyota, Sony and others have adopted a similar model — introducing very simple products to underserved markets, and then slowly growing a base for them as they’re developed and perfected.

A passionate and motivating culture

Tony Hsieh, CEO at Zappos, is well known for leading his organization with an emphasis on culture and happiness. Far from your average CEO, Hsieh spends time studying the psychological elements of happiness and incorporating them into the Zappos culture. Through the Zappos structure, employees have control over their daily lives and larger career, are engaged in opportunities to progress, and are actively connected to the meaning of making other people happy. Zappos invests tremendous effort in training individuals, including a $4,000 bonus to new hires who quit after recognizing a poor fit with the company. Incidentally, Dan Pink, author of Drive, asserts that human beings are most motivated when they are involved in systems rich in autonomy, mastery and purpose.

For the rest of this piece, click here.

For our entire Twitter feed from the World Innovation Forum, click here.

Best Practice: Boise State's Chris Peterson

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Frontiera) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 21:04:00 +0000

In five seasons as the head of the Boise State Broncos, Chris Petersen has guided his teams to three undefeated regular seasons, four Western Athletic Conference championships (sharing the title in 2010), as well as national acclaim for what many consider to be a lesser-known school playing “up” with the big boys of college football. Petersen has been named the Paul "Bear" Bryant National Coach of the Year twice, and also boasts a winning percentage north of 90 with a record of 61-5. Along the way, Petersen has developed a name as an underdog coach who embraces being different as a means of besting his more mainstream and oftentimes better-equipped rivals.

And yet Petersen’s salary is middle of the pack when compared to the rest of the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision coaches, and his team operates with a budget that is dwarfed by the competition. So how does a school operating with such a significant handicap manage to contend in the major league of college football while writing one of the most fascinating little-guy stories in recent memory? “A lot of times people will associate bigger being better, “ Petersen says, “but sometimes that will slow you down and doesn’t help you make the best decisions."

For the rest of the article, click here.

Beyond X's and O's: Jeff Tambroni and a New Era at Penn State

noreply@blogger.com (d leidl) — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:24:00 +0000

The following article originally appeared at InsideLacrosse.com, and the original can be accessed by clicking here or through the following URL: http://insidelacrosse.com/news/2011/03/02/beyond-xs-and-os-jeff-tambroni-and-a-new-era-penn-state

Jeff Tambroni is one of the most promising young coaches in all of lacrosse. He’s widely respected for his ability to do more with less, and seems destined to slip on a National Championship ring during his career. He’s guided Cornell to eight consecutive Ivy League titles, three Final Four appearances, and one championship game in ten years as the head of the Big Red.

In taking the reins at Penn State, a collective gasp spread throughout D-I. Tambroni has proven himself a winner in the Ivy League, and has everyone wondering what kind of damage his teams can do at a state school that seems committed to seeing lacrosse succeed. With a new recruiting base, the resources of a vaunted athletic department, and the ambition of Tambroni, Penn State could quickly become a national contender. With all that said, what is it that’s so special about Tambroni? What does he do to develop his players, motivate his teams, and churn out one successful season after another?

When talking about his coaching style and philosophy, Tambroni speaks definitively of two events. First, he talks about the 2004 Cornell team and George Boiardi. For Tambroni, Boiardi was “the ultimate team guy”, and that year’s team was “the greatest team, genuinely investing in one another.” Boiardi was known as a selfless leader, a captain, who passed away on the field during a game in 2004. Boiardi’s untimely death set off a spark in Tambroni and that year’s squad that pushed them together. Through that experience, and the questions and concerns that naturally followed, Tambroni gave pause and looked inward. “Through his passing,” Tambroni recalls, “it put my profession in perspective.” In looking more closely at his job as a coach, Tambroni came back to the importance of relationships, heartfelt and meaningful relationships with players, assistants and parents.

Through the experience, Tambroni not only looked inward, he was keenly aware of the grief and strength those around him displayed. In particular he speaks of the “inspiration the Boiardi family has provided us.” In watching the Boiardi family, Tambroni seems to have found a bit of a guiding beacon, a depth of fortitude and compassion he not only respects, but seemingly strives to emulate. As he says, the Boiardi family was “unbelievably powerful in their message of faith and their message of life.”

At this point in the conversation it’s clear that Tambroni’s not slinging the same old coaching clichés. He’s not simply trying to build up accountability by empowering his athletes to be self-motivated achievers. It’s as if he’s trying to stay true to unwritten principles that a life-altering experience instilled in him. At different moments he seems to have stopped and truly questioned himself, his practices, and what’s important. Through those moments he’s gained a sense of clarity that, “nothing is more gratifying than those hugs and longstanding connections.” In short, he’s committed himself to investing in players as people, developing relationships that will thrive long after the last whistle blows.

Tambroni has seen the face of grief in his locker-room, and emerged with a resolve to commit himself to his players and the promise of connecting. He then explains how he works to connect, and the second experience that has shaped him as a coach.

He directs the conversation to an unlikely source: three girls. As the father of three daughters, the challenges of being a good dad guide his coaching. “For me personally, I try to treat kids here the same way I’d want someone to treat my kids.” His voice is gritty with conviction as he talks about what the ideal caretakers of his children would do, explaining that they’d “look my kids in the eye, tell them what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.” It doesn’t sound easy when he says it, and the difficulty seems to be the point.

As a coach, Tambroni seems to be continually balancing two drives: Build relationships, and push those same people to be better. It’s a delicate balance, but he doesn’t flinch. “Admittedly so, we’re really hard on our players,” he offers, but he also describes his efforts to call a player after he was particularly demanding, text guys when they take exams, have off-field meetings, and check up on guys who are sick or hurt. Spring breaks are filled with team events: movies, comedy clubs, hanging out as a group of guys.

It’s not to say that Tambroni isn’t willing to be like the players. In fact, he wants them to know he likes to enjoy himself. However, he also wants to maintain the boundaries of the coach-player relationship. He’s willing to extend himself, be there for players, but he’s not going to stop pushing them.

Tambroni’s focus on his players may not be unique, but his self-awareness and struggle to balance two goals that often radically conflict may be. He cares for his players immensely, but he also cares about seeing them succeed. He’s balancing compassion with the conviction that the people around him can be something better than they are. Perhaps that single struggle is what makes him one of the very best.

It’ll be exciting to watch Penn State emerge in the up-coming seasons. It seems predestined that they’ll become a national contender. But in the mean time, take note of the coach on the sidelines. He may look calm and controlled, but he’s likely frenetic inside – if not from the desire to see his players develop, than from the pride he has in watching the people he cares for achieve.

Beyond X's and O's: Gary Gait's Approach to Excellence

noreply@blogger.com (d leidl) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 17:06:00 +0000

The following was originally published at Inside Lacrosse, and can be accessed in its original format here.

Gary Gait is headed into his fourth season as the women's coach at Syracuse. In listening to him talk it’s hard not to confuse his tone with the laid back twang of a California surfer – maybe a guy who walks the beach in unbuttoned flannel shirts and flip-flops. There’s no rush, no worry, and even his direction seems to amble, but there’s no mistaking where he’s going. He’s on his way to the next championship in a string that is unrivaled. And here may be the most fascinating intersect in Gait’s personality, the piece that leaves you puzzled yet intrigued, the moment where you think something doesn’t add up.

He’s coached 11 championship teams from the collegiate, professional and international level, and as a player he has 14 rings from NCAA, NLL, MLL, Mann Cup and international titles. He’s won two titles with the MLL’s Baltimore Bayhawks as a player/coach, seven while assisting Maryland’s women’s team, and two indoor titles (one with the Mammoth & one with Canada’s National Indoor Team).

He’s the most decorated figure in the history of lacrosse, and arguably the most significant. He’s been the face of the game since he leapt from behind the goal in the 1988 NCAA semi-finals at the Carrier Dome, putting home a goal that is too often used as the symbol of the most comprehensive career in our sport. Yet, with all that he’s done, Gait stands as something of a paradox: a dominant and physically imposing player who has found a comfortable home as mentor to both young men and women. Of all his accomplishments, his coaching prowess is rarely profiled, yet he’s arguably one of the most accomplished coaches in lacrosse. Of all his dominance in the men’s game, he’s settled in as the head coach of the Syracuse women’s team. In a sport that draws definitive lines between indoor and outdoor, the efforts of men and women, the differences between the varying games, Gait doesn’t seem to care – he just keeps winning.

Talking with Gait about his approach, his philosophies, his efforts to build teams is an insightful exercise. It’s calculated and calm with a focus on relationships and teaching. In asking him about his coaching, you get the sense that it’s like asking someone how he breathes. For as much as he knows, so much more is simply reflexive, simply what he does. For Gait, winning seems to be part of his DNA, but he takes time to talk through his process, pausing, thinking, laboring to capture everything in his head in digestible sentences.

“To start with, we want to create an environment where players are comfortable and can learn at a high rate." He then turns to the importance of developing relationships, the one-on-one meetings, the encouragement, the welcoming of questions and creativity. He then breaks down the goal setting process, the differences between team and individual, the desire to “challenge them all the time to learn something new and get better.” As he talks he shifts gears slightly, beginning to focus a little more specifically on tactics: leadership development, mentoring, sports hypnosis, visualization . . . “It’s a constant process,” he concedes, “eventually most of them buy-in.”

For Gait the process of “creating championship caliber teams” can be distilled down to three phases. First, “got to get the team to believe in you, buy-in.” To do this, he “sits down with every player on a constant basis” to get to know them and build a relationship of trust and understanding. He works to develop a nurturing environment where players and coaches share goals and work toward achieving them together. Second, “got to get them to want to be the best, want to win championships.” Here Gait’s personality shines through: “I can say a couple words and evoke an ‘I should be working harder feeling’ rather than scream at the top of my lungs.” He talks with players, challenges them to be the best they can be, and holds them accountable. Third, “put the players in the right position and develop the right scenarios to allow them to be successful.” Circling back to the importance of relationships, Gait wants his players to succeed, but needs to know them. He puts a great deal of stock in “evaluating players, finding roles, and keeping everybody positive.” Through this formula he’s filled his sock drawer with more rings than Mr. T, and he may be adding to his collection soon.

In three seasons at Syracuse the team has a 47-15 record with Gait as the coach. They’ve won two Big East regular-season titles, a conference tournament championship, a trip to the quarterfinals and two semifinal appearances. The Orange are asserting themselves as a national contender, and with Gait at the helm, it’s likely that they’ll be wrapping their arms around a trophy soon. Gait has won at nearly every level. He could presumably do whatever he wants in the sport that has become synonymous with his name. He’s chosen to be the head coach of a woman’s team, and that decision is proof that nearly 25 years after the “Air Gait” he’s still the same guy. He’s a creative, risk-taker who will do anything to advance his team and the sport. He’s his own person, genuine and true to himself. He’s the greatest figure we have in this game, and he’s simply not done breaking down barriers and taking lacrosse to new heights.

Five Companies that will Lead in 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Frontiera) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 21:34:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, we shared our list of five companies that really surprised us in 2010. At this point, it makes sense to shift our gaze forward and explore organizations that are poised to lead their respective industries in 2011. While you've definitely heard of one, chances are that there are a few surprises among our shortlist. So without further ado:

1. Dropbox
So here's an increasingly common dilemma: you have a smartphone, iPad, home and work computer, and at various times you work on the same file with each. In the past, you would have to carry around a thumb drive or constantly email the document to yourself, but Dropbox has created a much simpler solution. The start-up has given its users a virtual 2-gigabyte hard drive, which can be used to store and access files in a secure folder housed in a Dropbox account. Any web-enabled device can connect to the info, and any time you modify the file, changes are automatically replicated through all devices connected to the Dropbox account. Dropbox is seen as a huge boon to smartphone users, whose devices lack a file storage system. An ancillary benefit to the service is that it provides a handy backup for all your important documents. Dropbox reports having more than 4 million users, and as we all become more connected to the Web with our various devices, this number is certain to grow.

2. NXP Semiconductors
There's a big buzz out there regarding mobile phone payment, and we're not referring to paying your bills using your smartphone browser. Rather, after collecting your groceries at the local supermarket, instead of pulling out your wallet and fumbling for the right credit card, you simply hold your mobile phone close to a wireless terminal and viola! Off you go. The applications are endless--think subway fares, vending machines, gas stations and more. (For a demonstration, go to the video, sixth from the top.) The technology is called "near-field communications", and US mobile payments are expected to increase from $16 billion this year to $214 billion in 2015.

To read the rest of this post, click here.

Five of the Best Profiles Published in 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Frontiera) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 21:30:00 +0000

We're fortunate that our jobs bring us into contact with a lot of good reading material, and over the course of 2010, we've happened upon a few fantastic articles. As we continue with the holiday spirit, we wanted to share five of the best profiles of leaders that we've read this year.

1. The Courage of Jill Costello, by Chris Ballard
Although this article will break your heart, you shouldn't miss it. In 2009, Jill Costello was finishing her junior year at UC Berkeley and anticipating her senior season as coxswain on the women's crew team. As a young and seemingly healthy athlete, she was floored when she was diagnosed with lung cancer shortly before heading home for the summer.

While many receive a cancer diagnosis, very few react like Jill. She stayed in school, was active in her treatment, and even managed to remain on the crew team for her final year. This is a story about how a leader can lift a team, and how the team can return the favor. It's a story about resilience, perseverance, selflessness and a positive attitude; and, ultimately, it's a story of hope. While Jillpassed away shortly after the conclusion of her senior year, she left a legacy that anyone would be proud of.

2. The Face of Facebook, by Jose Anonio Vargas
Mark Zuckerberg was recently named Time Magazine's Person of the Year, but Vargas' New Yorker profile of the Facebook CEO provides a nuanced view that is much different from other depictions. Like the opposing public images presented by various media outlets, Zuckerberg is nothing if not a contradiction. He's the billionaire CEO of Silicon Valley's hottest company, but doesn't own a TV; he's built an organization where people can (over)share personal information, but remains markedly private; he's on the cutting edge of a digital revolution, but loves classics like The Aeneid. Vargas paints a seemingly genuine portrait of Zuckerberg, a man who values transparency and honesty, and who is trying to build a business that also reflects those values. He's a young leader on a very public stage who has made his share of mistakes, but he seems to have learned from those, and his personal growth and development appear to be matching that of his fast-rising company.

For the rest of this post, click here.

Beyond X's and O's: John Danowski and the Duke Blue Devils

noreply@blogger.com (d leidl) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 14:35:00 +0000

This piece originally appeared at Inside Lacrosse.com on 12/17/10 at the following URL: http://insidelacrosse.com/news/2010/12/17/beyond-xs-and-os-john-danowski-and-duke-blue-devils

John Danowski is the future of coaching. Fresh off winning the first NCAA Championship in Duke lacrosse history, his empowering and holistic approach to working with players puts him in an elite class of leaders who see a picture far bigger than groundballs, goals and wins.

Talking with him is both enlightening and entertaining. He’s incapable of containing his enthusiasm for his work, is bubbly about learning, and gushes over how inspiring it is to share conversation and company with Coach K and the many others who are unapologetic about their dedication and subsequent successes at Duke. For Danowski, coaching seems to be a vehicle to encourage and connect with the young men he works with, as a well as a vehicle to find the best in himself. He is genuinely interested in the development of his players, and has sold the farm on the Wooden-esque philosophy that success is simply a consequence of attending to details, rigorous effort, and doing your best to be your best.

When asked about his approach to developing his players and building team unity, Danowski started by saying, “We’re not experts in this field.” He then went on to explain his relationship with Lt. Col. Mark Tribus, the head of Duke’s ROTC Program. Though Mark, Danowski has learned a lot about communication, the importance of transparency, and the unifying value of overcoming hardships as a team. Given Danowski’s master’s degree in counseling and the hardships he’s worked with players to overcome, it’s hard to believe he has much to learn, but one gets the sense that Danowski will never stop learning.

Beyond his personal conversations with Tribus, Danowki and his staff work with the Lieutenant Colonel to develop monthly experiences that condition his team to believe in each other, give all of themselves and persist through adversity. In elaborating on the most recent challenge, the final event of the year, Danowski’s personality shines. Without any mention of what the team actually did, he explains that the day ended with the entire group (staff, players, everyone) gathered in a circle. Each individual held dog tags inscribed with a player’s name, Duke Lacrosse 2011, and the year’s motto, Looking for Work. Everyone held someone else’s tags, and one by one, they went to the center of the circle, exchanged tags and hugged. That’s right, they hugged. As a sign of appreciation for the effort everyone gave, as a sign of relief that the challenge was complete, as a sign of solidarity, a symbol of camaraderie, they shared a brotherly embrace.

Later that night the team reconvened to discuss the day, what they learned, who impressed, and who didn’t. As with all of the conversations that Danowski leads, honesty is paramount and confrontation in the name of team growth is essential. Danowski says that these days have “nothing to do with lacrosse but everything to do with team work”, and that’s OK.

In his time at Duke the team has gone to the final four every year, amassed a 66-13 overall record, won three ACC Championships, and nabbed the national title in 2010. With 25 All-Americans, two Tewaaraton Award Winners, and three positional players of the year to boot, who can argue with Danowski’s approach? Haters will say the players were there before him, but common sense will remind you that those players still needed a coach — a coach who could win on game day and care all the days between.

“We do a lot of team building,” Danowski assures. In addition to the military workouts, team circles and hugs, the squad gets together the night before every game and talks. Every game brings out a different focus, but prior to each contest Danowski asks players to talk with each other openly and candidly in the name of developing camaraderie. He recalls the night before last year’s championship game when C. J. Costabile shared his thoughts about who had to do something special for the team to be successful. Costabile stood up and called out Steve Schoeffel, explaining that Steve had to be selfish. Schoeffel scored two of the team’s six goals in the win, and if his selfishness had increased only a fraction, the comment served the team well.

Other efforts have focused on celebrating the second team or asking seniors to share what they’ll do to ensure victory. Regardless of the topics, all the conversations are intended to remind the group that they’re a family, bonded through their commitment to each other and stronger because of it. “My belief is it’s their team, not my team,” says Danowski, and encouraging players to deepen their relationships through conversation is just one of the many ways he emphasizes his commitment to this point.

The mission statement for the Duke coaching staff is "Provide an extraordinary experience for your team." It has nothing to do with championships or W’s, and there’s no mention of All American plaques or conference awards. Danowski and his staff simply want their players to value the time they spent together. In thinking about his approach, his philosophies, Danowski explains, “I wasn’t as good as I think I could have been. Here’s my chance to not let that happen to someone else.”

He talks about how one season builds on the last, and how this past year’s success is as much a win for previous players as it was for the current team. He then goes on to explain that after winning the championship, the program is only looking to get better. Expectations are higher for 2011 than in 2010, but there’s no talk of record or man down stops. Instead, Danowski rattles through his “Carpe Diem” culture, of doing the best you can in everything you do. In the weight room, in practice, in the classroom, and off the field, players have more expected of them than ever before, and if it results in more wins, great. If not, so be it. Regardless, Danowski’s goals don’t seem like they’re going to change.

And with all of his efforts, approaches that many would cast aside as quirky, maybe even weird, what’s Danowski’s ultimate goal? Put succinctly, he just wants to see his players cry. For the coach of the future, success is determined in the locker room after the last game of the season. If the players are crying when it’s all over, mourn the passing of an unforgettable experience, then the season was a success. So for all the team’s preparing for the Blue Devil’s, tell them jokes, keep them smiling, keep them happy because if they continue to shed tears at the season’s end, it’s probably safe to assume that they ripped through their schedule and beat nearly everyone on it. As odd as the formula may be, Danowski’s efforts are setting a precedent for new priorities, new approaches, and a new way to teach players. He’s the coach of the future, and more will follow, but for now, there seems to be only one John Danowski.

For the original article at Inside Lacrosse, click here.

Five Standout Companies of 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Frontiera) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 18:34:00 +0000

While many assume that American businesses are struggling based on the high unemployment rate, the 18-month long Great Recession officially ended in June. The third quarter of 2010 brought higher profits for American businesses than any other quarter in recorded history. In this perplexing year that was good for business but bad for the American worker, we wanted to highlight five business organizations that have not only had good years financially, but have also made efforts to either take care of their employees, the environment or their local communities.

1. Honest Tea
While HonestTea hit a marketing bonanza in 2009 when President Obama revealed that he was stocking the White House with the brew, it was also going through an internal identity struggle. Coca-Cola had purchased a 40 percent stake in HonestTea early in 2008, and many felt it was a mismatch. After all, HonestTea had positioned itself as the healthy alternative to Coke's high-fructosy offerings. But despite major pressure from the world's No. 1 beverage company, HonestTea has remained true to its roots and rebuffed many of Coke's suggestions. They continue to produce a healthy and tasty drink--but, more importantly, they continue to do it their way, focusing on quality, their people and minimizing their impact on the planet.

Their efforts have been rewarded, as they've recently been named a finalist in Inc.'s top small workplaces, and have raked in niche awards like Men's Health Best Bottled Tea. While they have an aversion to traditional marketing methods, Honest Tea continues to grow through unique efforts that represent who they are as an organization. (Co-founder Seth Goldman is a panelist for On Leadership, and wrote about rethinking corporate philanthropy here.)

For the rest of this article, click here.

Leadership wish list: Five sites to check this season

noreply@blogger.com (d leidl) — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 14:00:00 +0000

1. Christine Henseler - Select Papers & JenX67.comAs the year unwinds, we thought it would be fun to spend the next couple of weeks reviewing some 2010 highlights. The Leadership Playlist has brought us down a winding and intriguing path, and who better to celebrate our experiences with than all of you. To kick things off, this week we put together a list of the top sites our writing and research has introduced us to. Enjoy and, as always, sling over your thoughts, comments and additions.

With all the work we've put in to exploring generations, the essays at Christine Henseler's personal site have managed to stand out. While there are certainly other tidbits worth poking around at (such as The Hybrid Story Spaces Project), Henseler's focus on Gen X is a "must explore." Raw and experimental, her efforts speak to the generational challenges that Xers continue to face. Her multimedia approach is laudable and suitable for the sentiments she strives to capture, and her uplifting overtones will prove warm and fuzzy for any Xer out in the cold. Academic in tone, Henseler raises a number of captivating concepts and ideas, and will take you down a critical road of nostalgia and sentimentality.

Like Henseler, Jennifer James, aka JenX67, also focuses on issues pertinent to those classified as Gen Xers. While the technical name for Jennifer James's blog is "are you there God? It's me, generation X," her posts range from personal to career, cultural to religious. James's recent topics included her dismay about the current crop of Gen Xer congressman who will shortly storm D.C. to herstruggles to find a church that's best for her daughter. More than anything, James consistently displays arefreshing optimism for the potential of Generation X, a knack for looking beyond some of the larger challenges that our generation will be faced with, and a hope for the role we might play in leading the country to a better place.

2. USGovernmentSpending.com
This site deserves a shout out for its ability to capture complexity with simplicity. Focused on how the government spends the country's cash, the charts and search options make federal finance look easy. This is a must-have resource for writers, scholars and government enthusiasts alike, as information about federal and state spending is simply accessed in user-friendly fashion. You could spend hours here. Whether you're checking out government spending through the decades or comparing education with defense budgets, USGovernmentSpending.com has an overwhelming amount of information and is a great starting point for anyone researching how leaders are doling out tax dollars throughout the country.

Click here to read on.

Beyond X's and O's: Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes — Kelly Amonte Hiller and the Northwestern Wildcats

noreply@blogger.com (d leidl) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 19:45:00 +0000

This piece first appeared at InsisdeLacrosse.com on November 21, 2010, and can be accessed at the following URL:

http://insidelacrosse.com/news/2010/11/21/beyond-xs-and-os-ch-ch-ch-changes-—-kelly-amonte-hiller-and-northwestern-wildcats

From Chicago comes change. Jazz, the mafia, pizza – they all went to Chicago as one thing, and came out another. Whipped around and reinvented, they grew, evolved, historically altered. While many may snicker, dismiss or sneer, like those before it, women’s lacrosse migrated to Chicago and emerged something different. Whatever your thoughts of Kelly Amonte Hiller – aggressive or aloof, inventive or disruptive – she’s changed the game of lacrosse and there’s no going back. The dynamic individual and team styles of defense, the coordinated and inventive looks on offense, the less-than traditional players who rose to the ranks of superstardom all exemplify the many tweaks Amonte Hiller and company have been making on the banks of Lake Michigan.

The Difference

At first pass, Kelly Amonte Hiller could be confused for a coaching cliché, dropping lines like “there are consequences for cutting corners”, “we need to stay true to our roots”, and “it’s the little things that we do on a daily basis”. Even suggesting that what goes on at Northwestern isn’t any different than anywhere else, that they’re just another team. But as we know, they’re not just another team and she’s not just another coach. Northwestern has won five consecutive NCAA championships, six-straight conference championships, produced tons of individual award winners (Tewaaraton Awards, All American plaques, you name it), claims the best NCAA tournament winning percentage (78.1%) in history, and it’s easy to go on. The Wildcats of Northwestern have dominated the last decade, and they may be just warming up.

Problem Solving

In looking deeper at Amonte Hiller and her staff, the distance they’ve gained from other programs may be a result of how they’ve approached the game. Like all the top tier teams, the Wildcats work hard, but it’s where they work hard that makes Northwestern somewhat unique. They’re tireless in assessing themselves, their squad, and the best way to be competitive. In talking with her about this, Amonte Hiller shows a glimmer of the plotting tactician she’s come to be known as. “Coming up with new ideas is the key for us,” she says, lending insight into the brainstorming sessions that must regularly take place in her offices. They look to other sports, other success stories, mining from boxing, ultimate fighting, hockey, football and basketball, and then adapting it to work for them. This fall the players have been boxing once a week because Amonte Hiller believes that “it’s so much about the mental game”, and when you’re stronger as an individual, you’re stronger as a team.

“I have a great staff in place . . . good idea people,” she assures. And they have to be to keep up with the signature of Northwestern teams. They’re out of the box, creative, and they’ve looked at lacrosse the way strategists look at broader issues, large-scale problems. They’re not solely focused on what others have done to succeed, they’re also concentrating on what has to be done to achieve moving forward. It may seem like a slight, even insignificant difference, but it’s the difference between winning and losing, leading and following. Northwestern finds new ways to win, drawing on history and convention just as liberally as they pull from football or ice hockey. They’re not just coaching and playing, they’re solving problems that need different perspectives, varying streams of information in order to be solved.

Legacy

In looking at Northwestern’s resume of recent success, 2010 is an outlier. In the five previous years, Amonte Hiller’s squads ended their seasons with NCAA trophies. In 2010, they lost in the championship game. For Amonte Hiller, there seems to be a definitive moment when changes had to be made, a low that the team has been working to climb from ever since. In the week leading up to last season’s loss to UNC, it became clear that the squad was missing the pop of previous years. “It’s very hard to sustain success,” Kelly explains, riffing on how easy it is to lose perspective, grow complacent, expect achievement rather than fight with every bit of energy and focus one has.

The day before that UNC loss, the Northwestern staff began to react to concerns they were having for much of the season. “We brought it back to our roots and practiced on Long Field where it first started,” Amonte Hiller remembers. They practiced on the first field the women’s lacrosse team had access to at Northwestern, a humble track of grass and dirt that symbolized a very basic beginning. The day before that UNC game, the 2010 squad connected with the grim conditions and gritty efforts that now makeup the legacy of those first Northwestern teams, the ones that lent their blood and backs for today’s players to stand tall on. They reflected on history and thought about where they wanted to go in the future, what their legacy as a program had been and what their legacy as players should be.

The Wildcats continue to move forward, but Amonte Hiller stays true to the approach of connecting with the past. She invites players of bygone years to talk about their experiences, their efforts, their struggles. And challenges current players to dream of a legacy they’ll be proud of, and then go out and sweat for it. And why does she do this? Because the past isn’t simply trophies in a case – it’s a collection of stories and struggles about persistence and failures, friendships and fights, dreams and achievements – and gaining perspective of how much goes into the act of winning fuels the effort it takes to do it.

What’s Next

Today the Northwestern squad is working, preparing to reclaim the trophy that they’ve come to identify as theirs. While other teams around the country might be just as dogged in their work ethic, stay just as focused on achieving, Amonte Hiller has one reason to think that her Wildcats are going to be triumphant. Even if other teams work as hard, have as much gusto and determination, Northwestern is going to do it differently. Sure, Northwestern may not win the championship in 2011, but they’re going to bring something new to the field, their going to bring their tradition and swagger, and if you’re not prepared you’re going to be thrown off by a dizzying combo of skill, passion and invention. They’ve made a game of being game changers and their legacy of evolution is a powerful force. Just how far it will drive them remains to be seen, but we’ll keep watching to study how they get to wherever they’re going because after all, lacrosse went to Chicago and will never be the same.

The Disillusionment of Generation X

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Frontiera) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 16:05:00 +0000

While individual views of leadership are shaped by deeply personal experiences, the events common to a generation also subtly contribute. In thinking more recently about the themes common to Generation X, we've started examining the ideals and values of our youth that have yielded to a harsher reality as we aged. We've "creatively" labeled this the Gen-X Disillusionment, and to follow are four examples of unrealized social campaigns that have played out through our lifetime, leaving us to wonder about their impact on leadership decisions, desires and methods.

1. Give peace a chance
Although we came of age during the vague but ever-present threat of nuclear fallout brought on by the Cold War, we were raised in a remarkably peaceful time. We learned from the echoes of the baby boomer's call for peace, understanding their collective recoil from Vietnam. We grew up in a world that avoided confrontation, recognizing the Cold War as an effort by two super powers to avoid conflict. But then, shortly after we entered adulthood, Iraq invaded Kuwait City in the summer of 1990 and our generation experienced its first war, one that could easily be justified because we were protecting tiny Kuwait from its neighboring bully, Iraq. Ten years later, the September 11 attacks occurred, and we rightfully sent our military into Afghanistan.

But a subtle shift soon followed--one where a main tenet of Just War Theory, where military action is a last resort, was rationalized away. We invaded Iraq in 2003 and have been mired in conflict ever since, even redoubling our efforts in Afghanistan in 2009.

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Gen X in the workplace: Stuck in the middle

noreply@blogger.com (d leidl) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 18:17:00 +0000

The latest from The Washington Post:

As we all know, Generation X is stuck in the middle of the two largest generations in history (the baby boomers and the millennials). At the "Rally to Restore Sanity" this past weekend, Jon Stewart used the example of cars merging into the Lincoln Tunnel as proof that people make compromises every day in order to get things done. He highlighted a "you go, and then I go" philosophy that enables us to navigate through our lives. Just as with Stewart's congested tunnel, the modern workplace is jammed with three generations cramming to move forward, but sometimes it feels like there's simply too much in the way of our meager little Xer generation to merge.

1. X Sandwich
A few weeks ago a column out of Richmond, VA,captured the generational debate: youngsters want the ol' fogeys out of the way, while the boomers want to keep on working, taking offense at the mention of yielding to their children. Between these perspectives are Gen-Xers. Boomers are staying put--either exercising their own sense of entitlement by indifferently coasting in tenured and senior positions without fears of being fired, or legitimately hustling through the onset of their golden years to squirrel away enough cash to retire. While the Government Accountability Office reported in 2006 the expectation that many boomers would work beyond the retirement age, few could have anticipated that scores of boomers would face the end of their careers without enough money to exit.

On the flip side, millennials seem impatient to advance up the corporate ladder, occasionally being slammed for their own sense of entitlement. As both groups jockey for position, Gen-Xers are left to alternately fend off overeager newbies and patiently wait to earn a rare opening at the top. Either way it's a battlefield, and no-man's land is an uncomfortable place to be.

2. Latchkey managers
Many Gen-Xers grew up as latchkey kids, having to care for themselves and in some cases their parents and siblings. Similarly, some Gen-Xers have surpassed their boomer counterparts in the corporate hierarchy, finding themselves in an equally awkward position and asking: "How can I manage someone who is ten to twenty years older than I am?"

In Managing the Older Worker, authors Cappelli and Novelli rightly point out that Gen-Xers' perceptions of older workers are part of the problem, as we might wrongly assume that they are less than adequate workers simply because we have advanced past them. But boomers play a part too, sometimes resisting the direction of a junior boss solely because of age or shutting down to become retired-on-the-job, collecting a paycheck by doing the bare minimum. At the same time, Gen-X managers are showing millennials the ropes, while often finding that this younger set values the end product more than they value the time they spend at the office and that they may not expect to sacrifice their highly prized work/home-life balance in order to advance their career.

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Back atcha Boomers: The tribute list

noreply@blogger.com (d leidl) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 13:32:00 +0000

Okay, okay. So last week's piece got us a lot of flak for railing on the Baby Boomers and some of their breaches in trust. But it's a new week and, well let's face it, we really aren't here to demonize an entire generation. As Gen Xers we do have an interest, though, in exploring the challenges that we (and Gens Y and Z, for that matter) will inherit as the Baby Boomers begin to exit the workforce. And we're looking forward to further exploring how generations can come together to find solutions to today's concerns.

But first: time to make amends. Here are some of the most well known, most successful, most predictable Baby Boomers (and one movie) to ever grace a five-point list. We're kicking this homage off with the big-name icons, and we'll give you our take on why they're trusted by younger generations. Then you can take over in the comments section with your shout-outs to all the other, more surprising Boomers you grew up respecting--and whose honest and energetic ways you value.

1. Oprah Winfrey, the American Woman

That's right, we're starting with Oprah.

Forbes named Winfrey the most powerful celebrity four times, most recently in 2010, and she is the only person to be included in all eight issues of the Time 100, a yearly catalogue of the world's 100 most influential people. A star-powered symbol of the Baby Boomer's early efforts to advance civil rights and gender equity, Oprah is...Oh let's just say it: she's the contemporary personification of the American Dream.

Born to unwed teenage parents in rural Mississippi, she was so poor throughout her childhood that she occasionally substituted potato sacks for clothing. Through the years, her daytime show has continuallyevolved, first highlighting the dysfunctional and then shifting to a more solution-focused approach with an emphasis on spirituality, uplifting stories and solving modern day issues. Oprah has reached millions of people through television, film, publications and more, and the billionaire has continually provided an honest glimpse of herself by publicly discussing her struggles with weight and romance. While Oprah's 24-year run as the queen of daytime talk will end this year (she decided to call it quitslate in 2009), we can't help admitting that we'll be following her next move.

2. Bruce Springsteen, the Lyricist; and Bono, the Activist

We grouped Springsteen and Bono together because, in different ways, they both illustrate the power of music. While Springsteen speaks through his art, Bono has transcended the concert hall, making his voice heard in the worlds of politics and social activism. Springsteen is gritty and real, capturing the common concerns of our everyday lives. Bono is electric and effervescent, proving that pop can have substance. From Live Aid to Band Aid, reflecting the anguish of contemporary catastrophe or speaking out against social ills, Springsteen and Bono have led the way in using their celebrity influence and talent to make a difference. Throughout their careers they have inspired creativity and awareness with innovation and passion, and for that we'll tune in.

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Don't get fooled again: The Baby Boomer's leadership failure

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Frontiera) — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 19:03:00 +0000

In 1971, Pete Townshend of The Who pleaded, I'll get on my knees and pray; We don't get fooled again, singing against the "jaded and compliant" leaders of the day. Now, Townshend's Baby Boomers are the generation that's taken over, and they seem to be doing some fooling of their own.

In the words of David Gergen, CNN analyst and former White House adviser, "The Baby Boomer generation is not working out very well, or as well as we hoped." Gergen made this proclamation two weeks ago at the World Business Forum, and also suggested that of paramount importance to any leader/follower relationship is trust. With that said, where's the trust between Baby Boom leaders and the generations they've been tasked to lead? Let's take a look at how Boomer leaders have butchered trust in four key areas...

1. Environment
Despite the overwhelming scientific evidence supporting the pending fall-out of climate change, influential baby boomers like the billionaire Koch brothers have stated that man-made climate change is a farce. Also part of this anti-science crusade, the Republican Party is the only major political party in the developed world that is dismissive of climate science. In fact, of the 20 GOP Senate challengers that have taken a position on climate change, 19 believe that the climate science is inconclusive or just plain wrong. Their stance is reminiscent of when the Church found Galileo "suspect of heresy" after he asserted, and proved, that our planet was round and orbited the sun.

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Inside the World Business Forum - Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (d leidl) — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 14:29:00 +0000

Day two of HSM's World Business Forum offered an exciting lineup. Highlighted by Al Gore and James Cameron, the event certainly lived up to the first day's billing. Broken down into topics and major speakers, here's the recap:

Economics

Steve Levitt and Joseph Stiglitz started off the day by focusing on economic trends and insights. Steve Levitt, co-author of Freakonomics, stood on the stage and spoke to the audience in his midwestern, folksy way. More Garrison Keillor than corporate and economics visionary, Levitt spun personal stories about failure, striving for success and the importance of originality in a competitive market. Candidly, he shared his experiences of tremendous failings and how they pushed him to deviate from his more successful economist colleagues to focus on novel topics and studies. A truly talented storyteller, Levitt highlighted the value of inquiry and open-mindedness. In contrast, Stiglitz took the stage with a message and presentation that was much more traditional than Levitt. Referencing economic history, theory and esteemed colleagues, Stiglitz suggests that the United States is in a critical time, and efforts need to be made to stimulate the economy, provide jobs and partner academics with business experts to generate new ideas for progress.

Al Gore
Al Gore announced early that, "I'm going to talk today about sustainable capitalism and the climate crisis." His discussion was pointed and flowing, and focused on critical issues related to climate concerns. Specifically, Gore centered much of his attention on the successes that we've had in stabilizing the population, worries related to the use of outdated technologies, and our dated thinking about capitalism and democracy. Beyond the argument that has come to define Gore's current work, he appealed to the audience to lead courageously through the climate crisis. He cautioned against "short-termism," stating that, "We assign importance to short-term results, and it is hurting the U.S. economy." Gore gets excited and draws you into this idea that we are at a historical crossroads and the United States is in need of leaders who will stand up and strive to positively impact the challenge facing our environment, climate and future. As Gore passionately states, "Make no mistake, this is the overriding challenge of our time."

Curiosity and creativity
A. G. Lafley, former CEO and chairman of the board at P&G, started off the afternoon with a challenge that he first accepted for himself, "I'm going to get curious about an area that I haven't been curious about," he began, "and I'm going to start exploring that area." In encouraging everyone to get curious, he set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. Renée Mauborgne flooded the audience with insights and models that spoke to the importance of creativity in envisioning and capturing a market space, and Vijay Govindarajan continued by encouraging everyone to selectively forget the past while working to create the future. Govindarajan handed the baton to Brian Goldner, CEO of Hasbro, to discuss Hasbro's efforts to creatively advance. Goldner outlined the evolution of Hasbro, the trajectory from Mr. Potato Head to their "2 to 82" marketing effort. He spoke about Hasbro's efforts to re-imagine, re-invent and re-ignite, and showed a promotional video for Hasbro's new multimedia network, the hub, confirming that the organization has come a long way from potato accessories. In all cases, creativity and curiosity were paramount to success.

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A Tradition of Winning Restored — Mike Pressler

noreply@blogger.com (d leidl) — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 14:06:00 +0000

Photo by John Strohsacker/Laxphotos.com

In listening to Mike Pressler you hear poise, consistency, intensity and precision. In some ways he sounds more like a chemistry professor than a lacrosse coach, intent on getting particular points across, focused on specific details. In listening to Mike Pressler you also hear a collection of coaching minds, an echo of how great achievements are won. In reflecting on Pressler, his team’s success, and bringing gold back to the United States, we put him in the company of his peers – U.S. coaching greats.
“You're looking for players whose name on the front of the sweater is more important than the one on the back. I look for these players to play hard, to play smart and to represent their country.”
- Herb Brooks, US Hockey Coach, 1980 Olympics
As the head coach of the U. S. Team, Mike Pressler had one goal in establishing the 2010 squad: Assemble a team of talented and selfless players who would embrace different but complimentary roles in bringing back gold. He achieved his goal, but to do it the entire tryout process was revamped. Rather than an application and single weekend of tryouts, only a handful of players were invited to a weekend at Bryant University. Several weekends of exhibition games followed, and players were winnowed down from nearly 100 to 23 over the course of months. In staying focused on assembling the best “TEAM”, Pressler and his staff set out to evaluate character. It was never in question whether players trying out had the chops to compete internationally. In many ways Pressler and his staff put lacrosse aside, choosing to focus on body language, reactions to adversity and success, strength of character, leadership, and unselfishness. By getting to know the players as people, watching their reactions, and listening to their interactions, the coaches began to put together a group of men who would win the gold with character and heart, not simply skill and ability.
"The essence of this whole thing is trying to become a good team. And becoming a good team is hard work... It requires the ability to have tough conversations, real communication. It requires an honest sense of roles and the ability for a team to come together, grow and see what's important."
- Bob Bradley, US Soccer Coach, 2010 World Cup
“I firmly believe that great players want to be communicated with,” said Presler “they want to know what you expect, want structure, want goals.” Put succinctly, “You must spend time with your people.” In the hotel, texting, emails, at lunch, on the plane, in the bus, Pressler set out to understand and know his players. He asked them to “evaluate themselves in between events. Max Seibald, how did you play? Ryan Powell, what do you need to do and what do we need to do to move this thing forward?” As the head coach, as the leader, Pressler made it his job to know his personnel, build trust, and walk together toward shared achievement. “When you know them, and you spend all that time with them, and they know you have their best interest at heart . . .”, Pressler continued, “. . . you’ve earned their trust.” The staff was brutally honest throughout, immediately addressing points tactfully with individuals and up-front with the team. There were hard times, and difficult moments. The loss to Canada in round-robin play forced the team to think about where it was going. But in the end, “there was great respect and great trust”, and as Pressler says, “with mutual respect and mutual trust you can accomplish anything.”
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The World Business Forum - Day 1 (Second Half)

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Frontiera) — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 18:27:00 +0000

Between the morning and afternoon sessions at the World Business Forum, I hustled across the street from Radio City Music Hall and listened to a panel discussion presented by MWW Group. The panel consisted of David Gergen, former White House Advisor, Jim Quigley, chief executive officer of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, and Arkadi Kuhlmann, chairman and president of ING DIRECT USA. Entitled, Sustainable Leadership, one of the most intriguing takeaways from the panel was the shared perspective that trust is paramount to leadership, and that this reality has never seemed so ironic. With business and political leaders regularly losing the trust of the larger public, the panel agreed that one of the more fascinating leadership questions of the day is how to reconcile the general lack of trust in modern leaders? Building from that, this afternoon's presenters offered insights into how to handle this question.

Charlene Li

Li's experience and expertise in social media is fascinating. It sheds light on the world we're beginning to enter, and suggests that the game is shifting. Social media outlets are tools to connect with customers transparently, offering leaders the opportunity to engage people in a more personal capacity. From Facebook to Twitter, Li suggests that corporations can showcase their best selves through interacting and communicating openly online. Whether organizations encourage front-line employees to reach out to customers through question and answer platforms or CEOs communicate to customers about future products, concerns, ideas, etc., these channels are facilitating dialogue, partnerships, and sharing. Finally, Li touched on the importance of failure and inventiveness in further engaging in our uber-connected world. She suggests that social media should drive strategy, encourage shifts in a leader's approach, and motivate organizations to prepare for how social media can be adopted to support the vision of the organization, but mistakes are inevitable. It's a new frontier, but a powerful tool to honestly connect with employees, customers, and clients alike.

Continue reading here.

The World Business Forum - Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Frontiera) — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 18:24:00 +0000

The 2010 HSM World Business Forum kicked off promptly at 9 AM. Patricia Meier, HSM CEO, took the stage of Radio City Music Hall, welcoming the 4000 attendees with a friendly introduction. She laid out the agenda for the next two days, and reminded everyone of just how impressive the speaker list is. Kicking off the event was Jim Collins and he didn't waste time diving in.

Jim Collins

Collins speaks passionately, a preacher of business case studies and stats, gesticulating around the pulpit delivering his sermon of success. He outlines a belief that greatness and defeat are data driven constructs formed of concrete stages. Decline is a function of hubris and denial, while success is a hard-won product of compassion and effort. Collins focused his talk on the collapse of business, breaking the process of corporate failure into five stages, but he continually flipped back into what makes success happen, the flip side of why failure occurs. The five stages were punctuated with various anecdotes and models, and tracked decline from over confidence and denial to fighting for survival and succumbing to defeat. In his reverent way, Collins concluded with ten to-dos for the many executives in the crowd, asking everyone to engage in their organization in ways that varied from analyzing challenges to reserving time during the week to quietly reflect. Before wrapping up, Collins ended with a sentiment from his mentor, Peter Drucker, "Spend more time asking how you can be useful, and if you do that you'll never want to give up."

Continue reading here.

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A Tradition of Winning Restored — Mike Pressler

“You're looking for players whose name on the front of the sweater is more important than the one on the back. I look for these players to play hard, to play smart and to represent their country.”- Herb Brooks, US Hockey Coach, 1980 Olympics

The World Business Forum - Day 1 (Second Half)

The World Business Forum - Day 1

“You're looking for players whose name on the front of the sweater is more important than the one on the back. I look for these players to play hard, to play smart and to represent their country.”
- Herb Brooks, US Hockey Coach, 1980 Olympics