Perry Rettig
Last month I shared with you former NFL star Darryl Sims and I are writing a book, “Battles in the Trenches,” to be published later this year. Darryl was raised in North Carolina and received a football scholarship to play for the Wisconsin Badgers.
I grew up and graduated high school in Wisconsin. Dave McClain was the coach for the Badgers. While he gave a scholarship to Darryl, McClain said I could walk-on as a linebacker. McClain stipulated, however, that I would need to gain 45 pounds.
I did, but it didn’t work out. To be fair, I think Coach should have told me the weight needed to be put on through the weight room. In any case, Darryl went on to play in the NFL, and I became an educator.
Battles in the Trenches is built on the premise that educators and business leaders can learn invaluable lessons from elite coaches and athletes. More particularly, our focus is on attributes for leadership, motivation, and organization.
We immediately dive into the topic of leadership. These premier competitors were asked what attributes do the best leaders share? What kind of power do they have? How do they measure successful leadership? And the Machiavellian question – is it best to be feared or loved?
We found the best leaders are adaptable, organized, self-disciplined, and intelligent. They approach their work and those around them with a sense of integrity, and reliability. Without fail, they have a strong work-ethic and are honest.
Even more, they create a culture of teamwork and professionalism. They build community, shared goals and responsibility, and they do this by building relationships. They are empathetic, and they listen. These leaders are excellent communicators. Most of all, they let their professional peers do their jobs—they don’t need “yes men.”
Clearly, coaches have formal authority, but what kind of power do they have? The answer is “very little,” according to Larry Owens a former NFL Europe coach. “The kids have the power; they’re the ones who are getting it done on the field. They have the power to decide their effort, how much time they will give in the weight room and film study, and ultimately determine how successful they will be.”
Former women’s tennis professional Ann Lebedeff explained that power originates from your reputation and character. “Especially for a female coach, once you have established a positive and respected reputation in coaching, your team will listen.”
U.S. Olympic boxing coach Gordon Marino went further. “There are lots of bad ones – they don’t listen, and they are intensely bureaucratic. It starts from the top down. They don’t get to know people. You need to relate to people and to appropriate the best from them,” Former CFL coach Marcel Bellefeuille stated, “Power and control are an illusion. It’s about creating a culture.”
Without fail, the human dimension was the driving measure of success to these athletes. Former college player Mike Owensby explained, “At DI, the university looks at wins and losses. But the coaches look at success as the development of the players. However, you can’t develop the players if you don’t get enough wins – you won’t be around long enough to make that impact.”
“Leaders need to adapt to the situation, not make the situation adapt to them,” according to Olympic cyclist Jame Carney. College football coach John O’Grady continued, “There is the obvious wins and losses, but you measure the coach by who he surrounds himself with, and did he create a cohesive group that worked together toward a common goal?”
Our coaches and athletes disagreed with Machiavelli. University of Texas softball player Gabby Smith Roethlisberger emphasized, “Fear is only for ego-maniacs! They don’t build relationships.” When these elite coaches and athletes did use the term ‘fear,’ however, it was in a different context.
Larry Owens was fearful that he would let his parents down; they had worked so hard for him. Jame Carney explained, “You want to be loved by your teammates, but feared by your competitors.”
Former West Point baseball star and military commander during Desert Storm Jon Reinebold expressed, “People will do anything for someone they love. In the military they will put their lives on the line for the ones they love.”
Dick Stockton recalled competing against the Australian tennis players who were the best in the world. “We competed heavily against one another, but we loved each other off the court. I would use the term, ‘respect.’ We respected but did not fear them.”
These servant leaders have the highest integrity and build an esprit de corps with those around them. They help develop those in their charge become better at their craft and better people. A great deal of this comes from the focus of our next chapter – how they view motivation.