Leadership lessons from pop culture
The BIG Takeaway™
newsletter
March 28, 2022

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

Hello current and aspiring leaders!

What a week! Duke moves on, St. Peter's stole our hearts and Hollywood keeps pumping out the entertainment. 

Congratulations to "CODA" last night and its win for best picture; you may recall I used the movie as the foundation for last week's email.
  • Also, what an open by Beyonce and the crew in Compton. 
  • I wish someday someone would yell and ask me "Rich, who are you wearing!" They would be disappointed to hear TJ Maxx.​
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This week I am going to focus on overcoming obstacles.
  • To do this I am going to feature an interview I did with New York Times best-selling author Jeff Pearlman, the author of the book "Showtime" which is the inspiration for HBO's "Winning Time" about the LA Lakers in the 1980s.

  • This seems timely since basketball, the Academy Awards (the epitome of LA) and "Winning Time" are all getting a lot of buzz today.

Amazing stat: Zero.
  • The amount of times I have ever rooted for the Lakers. 
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​Let's learn!

Rich Trombetta
@trombettarich
March 28, 2022
Section No. 1: The skill to try this week
Image: HBO
No access. No problem.
Turning an "obstacle" into an advantage

The context: HBO's "Winning Time" depicts the LA Lakers in 1980s, starting with the team selecting Magic Johnson with the No. 1 pick in the 1979 NBA draft

  • Best-selling author Jeff ​Pearlman wrote the book "Showtime" (the inspiration for "Winning Time") WITHOUT being able to interview arguably the three most central figures to the story: Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and former Laker coach, Pat Riley

  • This seems like trying t0 write about what it was like to be part of the first team to land on the moon without being able to talk to Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin or, the third leg of the stool and lesser known, Michael Collins

  • Rather than view this lack of access as an obstacle, Pearlman instead reframed the situation and used it to his advantage; I'll explain how

Watch this clip:
What we can learn from Pearlman: Don't let "obstacles" get in your way 

  • Pearlman told me he didn't view the inability to be able to interview Magic, Riley or Kareem as a problem; this is a situation he faces constantly.

  • He finds that the people who were "participants" in the story are usually more accurate and provide more original material than the people who have talked about the subject "8,000 times."

  • Therefore, by focusing on the people he could talk to versus the people he couldn't speak with, he is able to discover new angles and tell a story from a fresh perspective.

    You can read my deep-dive story from my conversation with Jeff Pearlman that contains additional insights.

My take: Challenge all of your assumptions

  • Phrases like "it will cost too much," "it will take too long," and, my favorite, "the problem with that is..." all focus on the negative and are often based on an absence of information and personal bias. 

  • Try to look past perceived obstacles and instead focus on your goal and how to make it happen.

  • And, as Pearlman shared, what might be viewed as an obstacle can actually result in a better outcome.

What to do:
  • ONE: Watch this TED Talk with Malcom Gladwell, author of "David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants."

  • TWO: Practice using the 5-whys technique to look for the root cause of an issue. This is also a powerful way to help you challenge assumptions.

  • THREE: Read this article on challenging assumptions from Duke Corporate Education.

What they are saying:
  • "Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.​"
    - Hall of Fame and legendary UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden
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THE BIG TAKEAWAY:  ​
  • Your "obstacles" could lead to your biggest areas of opportunity.
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
Image: Nike
It's got to be the shoes

Watch this Converse commercial from the 1980s featuring Larry Bird and Magic Johnson who, along with Julius Irving (also a Converse spokesperson), were arguably the most popular NBA players at the time.

Converse was the No. 1 basketball shoe - until it very quickly wasn't; enter Nike, and, more importantly, Michael Jordan.

Nike put all it's chips in on Jordan in 1984 (free subscription needed to access)
  • Converse had almost all of the NBA's stars, Nike went after one- Michael Jordan; the company took it's entire budget for rookie endorsements and gave it to MJ; every dime.

What was a "perceived" obstacle was actually a strategic advantage.
  • Instead of having multiple campaigns with multiple stars, Nike was able to build a focused campaign around one star who just happened to be the most exciting thing to hit the NBA since the Slick Watts headband.

A little luck, some wise moves and the rest is history. ​
THE BIG TAKEAWAY: 
  • Rethink everything. Your biggest strength could be your biggest weakness and vice versa.
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
Section No. 5: Our deep dive
For those who have a little more time
Images: Amazon
This week I share a recap of a conversation with best-selling author, Jeff Pearlman.
  • The title of the story is "Watch while I pull a story out of my hat - How best-selling author Jeff Pearlman keeps wowing his audience."

​THE BIG TAKEAWAY FROM THE STORY:
  • ​"The faces and names on the cover of “Showtime” are merely an illusion, with the real story coming from those who have often been forgotten, have taken a backseat in readers’ memories or were invisible to those in the spotlight at the time."
That's all for now

What a week! Duke moves on, St. Peter's stole our hearts and Hollywood keeps pumping out the entertainment. I can't wait to see the UNC versus Duke game on Saturday; the only thing better would have been if they were playing for the championship.
  • Maybe Hollywood will run with that for an idea for a show and put up a disclaimer to cover themselves.
​
​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.
​Sincerely,
Rich "I will always believe in my heart that Larry was better than Magic" Trombetta
​@trombettarich

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