Three Types of People

Maddock Douglass describes his Three Types of People to Fire for Businessweek.com.  I agree and anyone that works closely with any team knows that those three types of people crush innovation.

Cocoon's Bernie Lefkowitz

However, I feel like these people Douglass describes can all be lumped together into one category as the victims, the nonbelievers, and the know-it-alls are all in the same part of the pool (or not even in the pool)--like Bernie Lefkowitz from Ron Howard's Cocoon.  Bernie embodies qualities of all three.

South Park's Stan Marsh and Kyle Broflovski

There are two other groups of people on a team, though, that can contribute to or counteract innovation.  The second group are opportunists.  They enjoy status quo.  They enjoy routines.  They enjoy predictability.  They do their jobs and they do them well.  At times, they may fall into a funk and at others, they can be creative and innovative.  They are the contemporary everyman--they can be dynamic and altruistic, yet struggle with self-fulfillment.  Really, they are Stan Marsh and Kyle Broflovski.

Chris Chambers from Stand by Me

The last type is less common and not every team will have one every year--the Chris Chambers of the world.  This person has an uncanny ability to form goals and achieve goals while motivating those around them.  They fluctuate between confidence and over-confidence.  This person is driven, yet  discontented; they often accomplish the seemingly impossible, but also charge into problems without considering casualties.  They will inspire Bernie Lefkowicz, but they will also abandon him.   They will earn Stan's and Kyle's allegiance, but they will also isolate them for their hesitancy.



Most teams seem to have a lot of Bernies, a handful of Stans and Kyles, and find a Chris Chambers every now and then.  As their leader and manager, you need to identify all three types and evaluate what each type brings to your team.  What is each type of person doing for the current climate and what can they do for the future?  Know the personalities of the people around you and keep building a culture for success.

Next Play

Basketball taught me to quickly move on from making  mistakes.  Within the game, there is always the emphasis on the next play. 

Don't dwell.

Don't over think.

Don't let it get to you.

Be confident. 

Be ready to make the next play.

As coaches, we always yell, "next play! Next Play!  NEXT PLAY!"  to shake our players out of their funk and get them moving onto the next moment.  

In high school and college basketball,  I felt like this was easy.  I'm starting to grow unsure of myself, however, when I try to make the real world application.

Today I met with an English department colleague about an action my co-chair and I felt was unprofessional and detrimental to the team's morale.  This conversation did not go well.  My colleague quickly became defensive and argumentative thus preventing any chance of me learning about their perspective or this person listening to our perspective.

The only thing I could do was sift through the tone in search of the root of the behavior and leave her with a brief recap of our observation--that we felt her actions compromised the integrity of our team and we felt her decision was unprofessional. 

I know she heard me based on her reaction.  But did she listen to what was said? 

The script I rehearsed about other ways to handle the issue and to open myself up to be receptive of her perspective went right out the door.

As I debriefed with my co-chair, I could not stop myself from dwelling on the poor outcome.  What did I do wrong?  What could I have done to create a conversation rather than trigger the tirade?    I was ineffective and as a result, I contributed to the negativity beginning to swirl in our department by upsetting my colleague. 

I made a mistake.  But why can't I disengage and move on like I was always able to do in the game of basketball? 

I started watching the Syracuse/Cincinnati game and remembered how fast the game moved.  For every missed shot, foul, turnover, or blown assignment, that player was immediately thrust into another situation.  Another opportunity to be successful came within the next second.  Literally.

The school day ended  and now I have all this time to dwell on the day and my mistakes.   My next play my not come for another day, week, or month.  I don't have practice to go to tomorrow to work out the decision.  I don't have a coach breaking down film with me.  I just have me and my reflection. 

How will I know if I will be ready next time? 

Locker Room Culture

Most would agree a locker room becomes the team's pious place for  revitalization, focus, clarity, and accountability.

This locker room is clean.

 The locker room is also haunted and we've all experienced the spirit of a place.


Sometimes we walk down into our basement and need to sprint back up the stairs because we feel like something malevolent is about to swallow us.  We've also sat on a beach with the sun massaging our melanin, calming our minds, and swaddling us with unconditional love. 




What is the spirit of your locker room?  I found a great resource from Chris Edmonds here.  I plan to post his 12 indicators in our English department work room.

But, what is the spirit of your locker room?  The effective leader needs to know if the locker room is the dark basement, the warm tropical beach, or somewhere in between.  Is their a Beast lurking, waiting, and timing its attack or is your house clean?

Look for sects within your team.  People will naturally group themselves based on similar backgrounds and familiar experiences. 

Then, spend time with each of these sects away from the locker room and find out what each sect believes.  Make sure they are forming a collective psyche that can be a positive force in your locker room.  Coach them.  Lead them to other sects and be ready to exorcise any Beasts that are absorbing power.

The effective leader is vigilant.

The effective leader knows the dark corners.

The effective leader is prepared to make quick decisions.

Be ready to exorcise any demon.

5 Keys to Victory

My favorite passage from The Art of War begins, Thus there are five factors from which victory can be known:




1.  One who knows when he can fight, and when he cannot fight will be victorious. 

This first thought is the essence to successful leadership and  drives the individual to truly explore their own strengths and weaknesses.  After doing that, one must be able to detect the strengths, weaknesses, and most importantly, the commitment level of the opponent.

Any person that is challenging a line or rocking the boat is doing so for a reason.  Is it worth engaging this challenge, or letting it pass and not risking a loss?  Can you actually affect change and victory or is this a brick wall of resistance that needs to be revisited another day?

2.  One who recognizes how to employ large and small numbers will be victorious.

Is this something you need the entire team to execute or is this something a small group can accomplish?  Does the entire team even need to know about this initiative? 

If you march through the door with your guns blazing, you are asking for a fight--and maybe this is the only way to achieve victory.  Or, maybe a series of diplomatic conversations to foster  a trust and an alliance is the best strategy.

3.  One whose upper and lower ranks have the same desires will be victorious.

This element is elusive and may take time for the leadership to build and establish a culture.  Recruiting the right people, embracing energy and initiative, and letting people walk away are crucial to establishing a common set of goals and desires.   

4.  One who, fully prepared, awaits the unprepared will be victorious.

This recalls the John Wooden quote, "Failure to prepare is preparing to fail."  However,  Sun Tzu pushes deeper.  To be fully prepared, one has to experience failure.  A person has to know what failure feels like, what the road to failure looks like, and needs to develop early recognition skills to avoid such paths. 

5.  One whose general is capable and not interfered with by the ruler will be victorious.

Mark Brumley addresses the problems with public school reform in his blog.   But what about athletic programs?  At any level, does a coach truly have freedom to work with his team?  Do parents, alumni, sponsors, AAU coaches, and other forces have an interfering influence?

The chain of command needs to be transparent.  To whomever is entrusted with responsibility and leadership, get out of their way and let them execute.  Otherwise, trust someone else. 



The passage is from Ralph D. Sawyer's "The Complete Art of War."

5 Things You Need to Know About Your Job

Dear Coach O'Brien,

Teachers and coaches everywhere wish you the best.  As we have all taken new jobs, first jobs, difficult jobs, we came up with a few things to get you started as you finish your time with New England.

1.  People that do not know you are already evaluating based on what they've heard.  Where did you grow up?  Where did you play?  What did you do last?

These are all questions they are grinding down over coffee while you get ready for the Broncos. Penn State fans and your new colleagues think they know you.



2.  People will talk about you every time you leave the room. 

People will re-evaluate you every time they speak with you, see you on campus, or see you on T.V.  Be mindful.  Control your emotions.  Treat everyone the way you would want your grandparents to be treated by the mechanic.  Honesty, patience, and understanding are crucial.

Most people generally advise the same things about a new job.   But, teachers and coaches our here want you to know how important it is going to be for you to build early relationships.  We've all found that secretaries and grounds crews are the best people to befriend.  They are the magic mirrors that will tell you all you need to know while everyone else is scrambling and playing their own games behind smiles and hand shakes that may linger just a bit too long.

3.  Upper management and administration always have other options.

Your are replaceable; we are all replaceable.  The guy's over at ESPN all seem to be writing that you may not have even been the best candidate.  You got the job, so forget that nonsense.  Just be careful--I'm not sure you can aggressively coach up  Matt McGloin like Tom Brady.

4.  People depend on you.

Yes, people in Red Sox Nation and Patriot Nation depend on you...but really Belichik and Brady will be the faces of this post season.

Though at University Park, students at the bars, alumni, youth football teams across towns, moms, dads, parents of your student athletes...the list goes on forever.  Be a role model and be open to all of the people that are watching.  As the St. Andrew's School (RI) basketball coach Michael A. Hart always says, "Be a helper."

5.  Culture is uncanny.

You will need to give up some of Bill O'Brien and become part of Penn State before Penn State gives up some of itself to allow the Bill O'Brien era to begin.  Pick one or two things a year to work on making your own.  Building and changing culture is uncanny. 

Best of luck Coach,
Coaches and Teachers world wide

Seek Perfection or Go Home

Over the years I've taught and coached for a diverse range of schools and teams.  Two things that remain constant, though, are staff meeting agenda items about a desire to build a culture of success and a mix of effective leaders.


Coach Walsh introduces an idea in his blog that "someone who leads by example doesn't lead."  I don't necessarily agree with this statement that, admittedly, is out of context.  So to re-contextualize the statement, I believe the first step of leadership is modeling a behavior of growth.  Leading by example is the first step over the line the separates a leader from the rest of the team.  I would say a good teammate, in athletics or in the workforce, shows up on time, displays a positive attitude, and displays a willingness to exert energy towards the goals of the team.  If a person doesn't do these things or cannot do these things, then their time with that team has come to an end and they need to leave, or be asked to leave.

A leader, though, needs to lead by example because they have transcended those basic attributes of a good teammate and are now becoming agents of change.  A good leader seeks out innovations that can improve the team.  A good leader spends time every day reflecting on the performance of their team and tries something new to spark improvement.  A good leader is never satisfied--even with success.

     I am inspired every time I watch Coach Boone give this speech.  "We will be PERFECT in every aspect of the game."

A good teacher leader will look at test scores, for example, and acknowledge scores that meet No Child Left Behind benchmark goals are great, but will then look for ways to EXCEED those benchmarks. 

A good leader in athletics doesn't just prepare for the best opponent on the schedule, but seeks to move their team to perfect execution in all aspects of the game.

The overlooked second step of a strong leader is the development of a common, success-driven vocabulary for their team.  Some words I loath and feel are detrimental forces to the quest for perfection are meeting, tutoring, remediate, accommodations, modifications, extended time, practice, and role. 

Don't say meeting when an effective leader means collaboration.
Don't say tutoring or remediating when an effective leader means accelerating.
Don't say test-accommodations or test-modifications when an effective leader means test-scaffolding. 
Don't say extended time when an effective leader means flexible scheduling. 
Don't say practice when an effective leader, like Coach Boone, says, "let's go to work."

And coaches, please don't tell your team that everyone has a role when an effective leader means everyone is vital to the quest for perfection.