“You’re the guy, but you got to give a lot. You can’t go in there pounding your fist. You’ll never make it.”
This line from Michael Rosenberg’s recent SI.com story about Penny Hardaway coaching at his alma mater, The University of Memphis gave some great insight into adaptive leadership, and how much brand value coaches who are both teachers and adaptive thinkers and listeners have today.
This thought process is not necessarily new, and there are a few examples of adaptive teaching and learning that have led to coaches storytelling success that I recently thought about, several of which I have gotten to witness firsthand or at least learn about from those around me.
The first example was from over a decade ago when we were prepping for our play “Lombardi.” We got to spend an evening with two legends, Sam Huff and Sonny Jurgensen, who got to play for Vince Lombardi when they were part of his short-lived tenure with the Washington redskins before his untimely passing from colon cancer. Both men, as well as others who we met who played for him with the Green Bay Packers, talked about how he was more willing to adapt and change than most ever thought possible, with his gruff exterior and all. Huff and Jurgensen marveled, and teared up when they talked about how on his deathbed, Lombardi was designing plays that Jurgensen would use to great success, formations that later became known as The West Coast offense. Both men readily admitted that the Lombardi of today…would have changed and adapted because he was such a good listener, and a driven learner and teacher, before adaptive learning has morphed into what it is today.
From there we thought about the goings on this past week at Notre Dame and LSU, where Brian Kelly picked up a southern accent and took his leadership lessons from South Bend to Baton Rouge (and kudos to Notre Dame for a quick answer with a diverse hiring replacement in Marcus Freeman). In recent weeks we got to listen, and read, a book by Notre Dame assistant coach Brian Polian that he had done about recruitment of an athlete today, and how listening and understanding the habits and needs of young people makes for success in any field. In a time when the NCAA has an open transfer portal where students can move to another school much more freely than before, and where Name Image and Likeness (NIL) has just started to be a key factor with elite athletes, that ability to adapt, to quickly frame and storytell and position oneself for success with young people, is critical for success. Kelly at Notre Dame had become an adaptive learner, a multimedia storyteller, and he was able to use his position and the work his staff had done, to attract and help grow a culture which was, and will be successful. Reading the room, and taking skills and lessons in a narrative that rings true with a team, an audience, a workforce, even a family, is even more valuable today, and its why coaches with those traits can attract top dollar and key jobs, just like elite CEO’s do. In a world of quick decisions and value add for athletes in the decision making process for schools, Brian Kelly’s leadership team understood it, and that’s what helped make him such a valuable get for LSU.
Example three in the mix is both Hardaway, and now it seems Deon Sanders, who was featured this week in a piece in the New York Times on his new found success at Jackson State University. While there is the flash and dash of “Neon Deon” of years past, the piece talks about Sanders listening and being relatable (he has two sons on the team) to what is relevant to a young person today. How he needs to mix in discipline and leadership with storytelling, and that in turn has been a boon in interest not just to the Jackson State football program, but to the entire region economically. Now that’s not to say grabbing a bold face name as coach always works…there are scores of examples of failure on the college level…but finding an individual with a high profile who will put the time in to listen, build and evolve with his her or their players…is a very valuable mix, one that we may be seeing more of, especially as HBCU schools or mid major programs look to find that edge in the aforementioned transfer window and NIL valued world of NCAA today.
Lastly we take a look back to link to now…into not as much sports, but music. The Disney + special “Get Back,” on the last days of the Beatles, is a marvel on so many levels, both for fans of “The Fab Four” and for anyone who wants to have a window unto greatness in storytelling and relationships. How does it tie to the value proposition of coaching? Brian Epstein. The Beatles legendary manager, who passed away tragically at age 32 while the group was at its collective best, was the sometimes forgotten synapse that kept the four talented musicians and personalities thriving. As Paul McCartney said numerous times during the footage, he was the steadying voice, the listener, the consensus builder, who kept the Beatles grounded and on course. Without him, the free spirits reigned, and the cohesiveness failed. No one ever replaced his influence and his ability to get them to adapt. Anyone else who tried came about it without success because they couldn’t figure out a way to give, to listen and then to take and extract with respect for the bigger good. It seems that during the nine hours, that Epstein influence is what was missing, and perhaps, is why The Beatles broke up more than anything.
An adaptive storyteller from music greatness, linked to a coaching timeline. All showing great value not just in the 60’s and 70’s but through to the leaders of today.
And that adaptive greatness is why coaches as brands are still so undervalued, and should be looked at even more so when formulating a storytelling plan. They are the CEO’s, they bring the value, and y listening and growing, they lead the next gen…by choice and example.
