Leadership lessons from pop culture
The BIG Takeaway™
newsletter
April 4, 2022

​What leaders can learn from TV, sports and movies this week

Hello current and aspiring leaders!

The Grammys. The men's and women's college basketball Final Fours. SNL. New streaming shows. This week was nonstop!
  • Congrats to South Carolina and their win over UCONN for the women's college hoops title. Loved coach Dawn Staley's cool look on the sidelines.
  • Get ready for UNC and Kansas. I am expecting a battle tonight.
  • Thank you to Coach K for all the great memories.

​This week I am going to focus on why every leader needs someone like Coach K's wife, Mickie Krzyzewski. 
  • Sometimes being supportive is telling someone the hard truth they don't want to hear.
  • NOTE: To be clear I am not saying leaders need the stereotypical "good wife/good husband." I'll explain the difference below.

Amazing stat: Duke and UNC's ​head-to-head record during the Coach K era was 50 wins for UNC, 50 wins for Duke. What are the odds?
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​Let's learn!

Rich Trombetta
@trombettarich
April 4, 2022
Section No. 1: This week's assignment
Find the person who tells you the hard truth
Image: Getty Images
The real genius of Coach K
Having someone who told him what he didn't want to hear

The context: In 1994 Coach K was in severe pain, so much so he actually thought he was going to die.
  • A ruptured disc in his back was destroying his life; the pain was so bad he could barely walk.

  • He continued to try and coach AND kept taking on more and more responsibilities; after 12 games of the 1994-95 season it became too much.

  • His wife, Mickie, told him he had to choose - his family or basketball; he chose rehab, took the rest of the season off, and saved his career, marriage and family (not necessarily in that order).

Watch this clip: Coach K announces his retirement; count the number of times Mickie is mentioned

What we can learn: It is critical to have someone who will tell you things we might not want to hear.
  • In his recent book, "Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski," writer Ian O'Connor recounts an interaction between Coach K and Mickie after she made a doctor's appointment for him and gave him the "hoop or us" ultimatum. 

    "The people in Mike [Krzyzewski]'s professional life, and his doctors, had failed to stop him from damaging himself. It was almost like everyone in his support system collapsed," [Mickie] said.

  • While people might have been encouraging him to slow down, make adjustments and relinquish some of his responsibilities, no one was saying what he truly needed to hear: STOP.

  • He had, in some ways, surrounded himself with "yes people" or, another possibility, had created an environment where he was the boss and he called all the shots.

My take: Find and ENCOURAGE that someone who will tell you what others aren't willing to say.
  • While for Coach K it was his spouse, I would argue that his work and professional environments are not typical for most people.

  • Regardless of who the person is, you need someone like the concierge at a hotel; they know the surroundings and will, in the most polite way, offer dining alternatives if the restaurant you chose is a known for their salmonella special.

  • NOTE, NOTE, NOTE! The key is transitioning from you asking "what do you think" to the person feeling confident and safe to come to you first. 

    Please read more about the "concierge approach" in a new approach to my deep-dive section this week, "Lessons People Have Taught Me" where I share a story about something a boss or someone else has taught me during my 30-year career.

What you can do on your own:
  • ONE: Identify your Mickie Krzyzewski. Ideally everyone in this world would be open, honest and provide biting feedback when needed but it is probably not a realistic expectation.

  • TWO: Talk with this person and tell them what you want to hear from them. NOTE: You are not asking someone to snitch on people! This is about YOU. (Refer to the classic "But not a snitch!" scene starring Al Pacino in "Scent of a Woman")

  • THREE: Start with something small - an email you are about to send, a presentation you are going to do - and get feedback from your "Mickie." Slowly build more and more trust.

    Bonus item: Listen. Listen. Listen.

NEW: What you can do with others:
  • Use our discussion guides with your team or other colleagues to dig deeper into this topic. (Instead of a book club I like to think of this as our 'movie-or-TV-clip club)
​What they are saying:
  • “Duke was run like a mom-and-pop shop with all the plugs plugged into Coach K,” said [former] Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski, a member of that 1994-95 team who later served as an assistant. “When he came back it was run much more like a Fortune 500 company where Coach was the CEO.”
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THE BIG TAKEAWAY:  ​
  • Don't surround yourself with "yes people." Create an environment where people can and will tell you the hard truth.
Did you know we can design a custom leadership program based on topics like the one above? Click the button to learn more.
Section No. 2: Commercialized learning
Amazing lessons in about 30 seconds
 Video: AT&T
The great resignation Coach K style
  • Watch the video above. Soooo much here to unpack. 

  • Ignoring Coach K's bling (as hard as that is), let's go back to the NFL Combine edition I wrote about Tom Brady and hiring for attitude and training for skills.

  • I get that this is a commercial; it just seems the "you managed teams, what about a store" question brings us back to the focus on skills instead of attitude (although maybe in this case the attitude isn't there either)

  • Here's a scenario: Imagine you needed someone to be the Sr. VP of Data Systems. Are you telling me you wouldn't hire Coach K - arguably the most successful college basketball coach and former military officer - because he doesn't have an IT background? Sadly some would say "pass."
​
THE BIG TAKEAWAY: 
  • Stop it with the inordinate focus on hiring for skills!
Section No. 3: Tune in
What to watch this week through a leadership lens
Here's what I will be watching this week:​
Section No. 4: Social distortion
The amazing world of the web
Here are some quick links to follow and view:
  • Learn: Watch this video featuring possibly the best women's college basketball coach ever, Pat Summitt. "I will help you but I won't start your engine."
  • A business life hack: The amazing Back Tap on the iPhone.
  • Inspiration: This hoop video will get you pumped. "Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard."
  • Smile: Our weekly dog video - There are good people in this world. ENJOY! 
Section No. 5: Our deep dive
This week: How much do you tip the concierge?
 Image: Pexels
This week I am going to introduce something new. I have been fortunate over the years to have worked for some great people and have been part of some great learning experiences. 
  • Someone said to me "you should write and share some of those stories" so that is what I am going to do.
  • This week focuses on concierges and valets. 

​THE BIG TAKEAWAY FROM THE STORY:
  • Whatever you tip the concierge or valet - double it.​
That's all for now

Kansas versus UNC tonight. It should be a good one!

​Please remember:
  • We archive our stories and put them here for the world to read so feel free to have a look.
  • If you have any ideas or feedback Contact me with your thoughts.
  • We can create a custom newsletters​ and training on the topics we write about.
Opening day is Thursday!
​
Rich Trombetta
​@trombettarich

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