Digital Dealer - September 2017 - 6

LEADERSHIP

Continued from pg. 4

...A STRONG AND EFFECTIVE LEADER
COULD HAVE MADE A POSITIVE AND UNIFYING
STATEMENT FOR THE FANS TO STICK TOGETHER
AND RALLY BEHIND THE TEAM AS IT FOUGHT
THROUGH INJURIES..."
made a Sweet 16 appearance in the National
Tournament, and Tom
Crean was voted Big Ten
Coach of the Year. The
following season, after
losing seven of his 15
players to graduation,
the National Basketball
Association (NBA) draft,
and a season-ending
injury (as well as suffering
several key injuries to
star players during the
year), the Hoosiers still
managed to be ranked as
high nationally as number
three, finish with a winning record, and beat two
of the top-ranked teams
in the country. However,
at the end of the season
the Indiana University
athletic director abruptly
fired Crean.
Interestingly, three
months earlier Indiana
University's head football
coach had resigned
under pressure from this
same athletic director.
There is a well-known axiom in organizations that
when you have problems
in an enterprise, you do
not fix it at the bottom or
in the middle; that a fish
rots at the head-it starts
to stink at the top first. In
this case, the evidence
would point to the athletic
director. In organizations
where weak leadership
presides at the top,
mental toughness among
those working there is
more essential than ever,
so they stay focused on
6

SEPTEMBER 2017

what they can control.
You can also bet that
any success within that
organization comes in
spite of the rotting fish,
not because of it. The
people surrounding him
or her are to be highly
acclaimed.
On five occasions
between late 2015 and
early 2017 I engaged at
Indiana University in a
series of sessions to train
the players, staff, and

share here. There was
consensus that he was
unsupportive and did not
have the backs of his
people but was a puppet
whose strings were pulled
by wealthy donors and
Varsity Club members.
Accurate or not, this was
the common perception
shared by those working
for him, and a prevailing
culture of disgust and
distrust was palpable.
Surprisingly, this same

...WHERE WEAK
LEADERSHIP PRESIDES
AT THE TOP, MENTAL
TOUGHNESS AMONG
THOSE WORKING THERE
IS MORE ESSENTIAL
THAN EVER..."
members of the athletic
department in mental
toughness strategies
and devising a personal
unstoppable philosophy,
as well as to teach culture
and values. While dozens
of personnel attended
those sessions, I did not
meet the athletic director,
because he was absent from the meetings;
thus I have no personal
impressions to share. The
comments, however, from
beleaguered attendees
that were shared with
me after my sessions
were unsettling, as they
used adjectives relating
to character and competence that I will not

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

athletic director, who
should be the most vocal
champion of his staff,
coaches, culture, and
players, was negligently
and noticeably silent
when the notoriously
fickle Indiana University
fans booed their team at
home games in Crean's
final season. At that point,
a strong and effective
leader could have made
a positive and unifying
statement for the fans
to stick together and
rally behind the team as
it fought through injuries
and developed the new
players. In fact, an action
like this would have
helped build morale and

trust, and demonstrate
support for the players,
coaches, and staff.
But by his silence, he
implicitly invited more of
the same. The players,
coaches, and staff deserved better.
While there isn't space
to discuss all the potential lessons we can learn
from this scenario, here
are a handful:
"LOOK IN THE
MIRROR" LESSONS

1. Do you show support for your team publicly and privately when
they hit a rough patch,
or are you only affirming
when business is going
well? Do they know
you're with them through
thick and thin, or do you
bail on them when things
get tough?
2. Have you become
aloof, less visible, and
less engaged, creating a
perception you're out-oftouch or indifferent?
3. Do you attend
training with your other
leaders to demonstrate
personal humility that
you still have room to
grow, to get on the same
page with them, and
so that you are able to
collaborate with them
afterwards to prioritize
and enact what was
learned?
4. Are you insecure and do you feel
threatened by strong
team members working for you who have
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