A controversy erupted in March of 2019 when hall of fame college basketball coach, Tom Izzo, screamed at a player and teammates stepped in between coach and player. The reaction on social media was one of outrage. Izzo appeared to be out of control and a team of 18-22 year old's seemed to be keeping things under control. Reactions to Izzo apparent insanity were, well, insane. Meanwhile, his players came out to the media, defended their coach, and reaffirmed their loyalty to him.
People have a hard time understanding high performing groups and cultures. They are uncomfortable places on the inside, and seem downright insane from the outside. Another coaching legend, Alabama Football Coach Nick Saban, says, 'Passion always looks like insanity to the unmotivated'. I played college basketball for a very intense coach. The scene with Coach Izzo was familiar, even nostalgic for me. During my college basketball career there was passion, frustration, boiling emotions, and exuberant celebrations all the time...daily...some times hourly. It was uncomfortable, but before it was uncomfortable, it was safe. And after it was uncomfortable, it was safe. It was intense, chaotic, nerve-wracking, and humbling; but always safe. It flared insecurities about performance but you were made to feel secure as a person.
As a leader, I am working on recapturing those days. Not the screaming part, but certainly the intensity part. Why would I want that back? Why would I want to subject the people I lead to that tumultuous experience? Because in that atmosphere, I was inspired. I was always engaged and always growing. Growing to new standards is chaotic and uncomfortable. I want big things for the people I lead so I guess I want chaos and discomfort. The chaos always involved taking extreme action to meet a standard. The discomfort almost always surrounded constant, honest feedback about our actions. The painful paradox was that we almost always wanted more. Why would we keep subjecting ourselves to uncomfortable chaos? The answer is found in the leader.
If you want to be a leader that creates the chaos of a high performing culture that people want more of - here are three suggestions.
Close proximity and attention from the leader - The people you lead have to feel you know them. Do you have a famous friend? Maybe a movie star, politician, or professional athlete that really knows you? It's a great feeling to me known by someone that you feel matters. We want to be known. We perform at a higher level when we know that the leader knows us. When we feel we are known by the leader, we feel like we matter; and then we feel like what we do matters. The chaos and discomfort are endured and growth is realized when we feel known by our leader. Leaders that stay close to their people and pay attention to what is happening in their lives are preparing people to perform at a high level.
Fast, frequent feedback on the performance - There is a growing body of literature that annual reviews are a thing of the past. I'm not suggesting that you throw out annual reviews, but projects, programs, and objectives just move too fast for high performing groups to wait for feedback. Think about the analogy of my college basketball team. On a practice day, we received feedback dozens of times in a 2-hour practice. We received crystal-clear feedback every game night when the buzzer rang and we looked at the scoreboard. Fast, frequent feedback is uncomfortable, but keeps high performers focused.
Proper perspective on the most important things - High performing groups often lose big picture perspective. They work too hard, take losses too hard, and sometimes celebrate too hard. They are intense! A leader of a high performing group should be intentional about helping their groups lift their heads up from their intense focus and look at the things that matter even more than what they are doing. Gregg Popovich has won 5 basketball world championships with the San Antonio Spurs. He spends large chunks of every practice talking politics, religion, family, and relationships with his players. He ends most conversations with 'Love you, brother.' He tells his coaching staff to 'fill their cups', a reminder to fill up the hearts and minds of the players first, the skills will come second. Coach Popovich is one of the great coaches of all time, and he constantly reminds his high performing group that there's more important things in life than basketball.
High performance requires wading out into dangerous, chaotic waters. Savvy leaders wade out into those waters in a way that make people want to jump in with them.
Keep on, keepin' on, friends!
‘Bite Down and Don’t Let Go’ is a collection of writings on being intentional about life in a way that produces great persistence. Read about it more here.
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