The past few weeks, through events, cups of coffee, pregame conversations, post event scrums, and most importantly listening and watching people ply their communications trade from a distance, we have been reminded of the challenges and opportunities of communication in sports, media and entertainment big and small.
With all the pressure we certainly have our cringe-worthy moments. Lord knows I have had many, and probably still do. I remember a time when we were in Philly where I screamed at a colleague in a very public setting, and I remember his face to this day. It was enough that someone who was in the room, a scout for an NBA team, came over to me and asked why I was so uptight about things, it’s just a game. To this day I can’t count the amount of times I have apologized to that person who I yelled at, for a nonsensical thing.
Lesson learned.
I needed to learn a heck of a lot. Still do. I learned in the quiet moments being around great coaches and great mentors. I was always trying to figure out how I could not get in the way. It was listening to everything that was going on, figuring out how we could create a really cool narrative and get through the challenges by building relationships.
Then there is the hammer.
We often mention when talking with young people about “having the hammer,” and how when we have that hammer, how we use it. Often times people in positions of influence think that they are popular or in demand because of their position on an issue vs. WHERE they are in their personal or professional career. Heady jobs or positions of influence can lead people to lose perspective, and often times they can wield that hammer recklessly. They think that it is because of THEM that they are popular or in demand, when in reality it is often their current position that people are looking to amplify. I have had numerous conversations with people who were in very highly influential positions who, when they leave a position, can’t understand why many who were always calling or texting them for input suddenly were not returning calls or favors. They let the position define them, vs. they define the position by who they are.
They swing it with care, or recklessly, sometimes without caring about the consequences because they are in charge, and sometimes, maybe not right away but down the line, those consequences come back to bite them.
It is even more difficult today because everyone has both an opinion and a mobile device. Things get shared without context, people lean in without being in the room or understanding the circumstances. They just see the hammer swing without taking the time to listen, learn and see how things play out. Judge first, and then maybe, sometimes learn a little later.
I raise all this because of an incident that happened last week which became very public. Without rehashing in detail, it involved a media member who captured and shared, in a public place following a difficult loss, comments made by a coach as he exited the court. The comments were shared, as the media person had the right to do, and a school official who dealt with media was caught in the heat of the moment allegedly threatening the media member if the comments were not removed.
Almost immediately it became a social thing, to the point where several senior communications people, who just saw the back and forth, started commenting privately about how this school official did not understand his job and how to build relationships.
Lots of finger pointing and head shaking. More examples of not building bridges. It’s ironic because the people complaining about this are actually people who, in an era before cell phones, would be calling or finding media members and getting into arguments, loud arguments, which were not dissimilar from this. The difference, most of the time since it wasn’t a public event, the makeup was a lot easier and almost always out of earshot of a finger wagging public.
That was made the response to this more impressive. It was reported later in the week that the individual who was accused reached out, owned the situation, and moved on. Private conversation solving an issue and building a bridge.
It got a lot less public play than the original incident, but it should be noted. Bridge built; mistake acknowledged lesson learned.
Call it old school but call it a teachable moment for all.
Onward communicator, keep working hard.
