Leadership is Leadership

It’s that time of year when football coaches start losing and changing jobs, getting raises and buyouts (or paying them). Having worked in the industry, I can appreciate what a stressful time it is for them, their families and their players, as well as for others in the organization who are impacted. (Related: Relationships matter, even when picking my favorite teams.)

Ever since I was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and we conducted a coaching search after, ironically, Tony Dungy (who I would later collaborate on numerous books) was fired, I’ve been fascinated by both how people search for their next head coach, as well as what qualities they look for. After leaving the Bucs, I have represented both college and professional football coaches over the last fifteen years as an attorney/agent, and continue to marvel at the approach some hiring parties take.

It seems that they forget the position for which they are hiring. It’s understandable when you look at fan message boards or even media lists of "Potential Candidates," who seem to want to replicate the success of another team. They'll see a team with a high-scoring offense and look to hire that offensive coordinator as their head coach.

But they need to make sure they are asking the right questions. It's different, being a head coach. The CEO isn't the same as the top sales manager. The entrepreneur bears additional responsibility than the hobbyist.

I heard Eric Spoelstra, head coach of the Miami Heat, say at a coaches clinic that he was shocked by the difference that merely changing his seat location on gameday by eighteen inches (when he went from being the first assistant to the head coach). The pressures and considerations were different.

Ultimately, the athletic director or general manager or head of HR needs to ask fewer questions about specific skills or strategies ("will you call the plays on gameday") and more of leadership. How will you deal with adversity? What is your approach to having differing viewpoints in the room (or do you already know everything?) How will you teach? Encourage? Can you learn? Can you take input from trusted advisors? Can you figure out which advisors to trust?

I don't think the challenges of a CEO or head coach are necessarily greater, but they are objectively different. A couple of years back, an NFL owner asked Tony Dungy to consult with him through the hiring process. Tony replied, "You've got a number of businesses that generate billions of dollars. You're hiring a leader, just like in your other businesses. This one just happens to be a head coach."

"No," the owner replied. "Football is different."

He's right...and wrong. Certainly, every industry has its own unique challenges. But at the end of the day, I think the similarities far outweigh the differences. Can they cast a vision? Can they instruct? Direct when necessary? Improve as they go?

Leadership is leadership. Whatever the setting.

Photo credit: Keith Allison