Coach K Interview PDF

Developing Team Leadership: An Interview With Coach Mike Krzyzewski Author(s): SIM B. SITKIN, J. RICHARD HACKMAN and Coach Mike Krzyzewski Source: Academy of Management Learning & Education, Vol. 10, No. 3, TEACHING LEADERSHIP (September 2011), pp. 494-501 Published by: Academy of Management Stable...

Developing Team Leadership: An Interview With Coach Mike Krzyzewski Author(s): SIM B. SITKIN, J. RICHARD HACKMAN and Coach Mike Krzyzewski Source: Academy of Management Learning & Education, Vol. 10, No. 3, TEACHING LEADERSHIP (September 2011), pp. 494-501 Published by: Academy of Management Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41318069 Accessed: 14-05-2020 18:28 UTC JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms Academy of Management is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Academy of Management Learning & Education This content downloaded from 132.239.212.131 on Thu, 14 May 2020 18:28:08 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms ® Academy of Management Learning & Education, 2011, Vol. 10, No. 3, 494-501. http://dx.doi.org/10.5465/amle.2011.0005 Developing Team Leadership: An Interview With Coach Mike Krzyzewski SIM B. SITKIN Duke University I. RICHARD HACKMAN Harvard University Teams increasingly are being relied upon to ac- how you adjust your system and strategy to the complish work both in corporations and a wide composition of your team each year. How do you variety of other kinds of organizations. The quality go about that? of team leadership, whether from formal leaders or Let me illustrate with an example. In our most from other team members, is becoming increas- recent team, we had senior co-captains who were ingly important. Thus, the question, "What does it supposed to be our leaders. They had two different take to foster and develop superb team leader- personalities. One, Kyle Singler, was not a verbal ship?" is a critically important one. leader; he led through example, and I never asked To explore this question, we interviewed Duke him to do much more than that. I said, "You play University's renowned basketball coach, Mike hard and you practice hard all the time. But every Krzyzewski, to obtain his insights, experiences, once in a while, just say something to a teammate and advice for those of us whose day jobs centrally like 'That's good' or in a huddle, say 'Let's go.'" If I involve the study or development of individual and asked him to do too much more verbally, I think it shared team leadership. Krzyzewski has coached would have messed him up. In contrast, Nolan the Duke Men's Basketball team for 31 years, and Smith was effervescent. He led us well on the road also has been head coach of the United States or in the locker room and on the court. But it was National Men's Basketball Team. He is one of only really difficult for him to confront somebody. So I three coaches in NCAA history to have won four or also turned to the point guard and said, "During more National Men's Division 1 Basketball titles, the game, you are okay to confront somebody." And and in one remarkable year, his Duke and United then, as a staff, we had to do more confrontation States teams won the NCAA title, the Olympic because the two guys we had, it didn't fit their Gold Medal, and the World Basketball Champion- wheelhouse. I try to adjust my leadership based on ship. He is the author of five books, a much-in- who I have to help me lead the team. demand speaker, and the host of a popular radio show, "Beyond Basketball," in which he discusses leadership issues with a wide variety of guests You've said that each team leader should be from all sectors of society. asked to do different things depending on what To draw on his extraordinary record of success- their capabilities are. And you may be able to ful team leadership and leader development, we develop them , but you are not going to change structured our interview around three general who they are. How do you walk the fine line questions: How do you recruit and develop team between encouraging them to develop new leaders? How do you create a context for team capabilities as leaders and accepting their success? And how do you develop and sustain your liabilities? own team leadership capacity? I tried to meet twice a month with Kyle and Nolan, RECRUITING AND DEVELOPING TEAM LEADERS just empathizing with them, not trying to get them to be anybody different. I was concerned about You have had players who are quite differentinsisting "You need to be this leader or that from each other, and one of your trademarks leader." is I wanted them to be a player too, and I 494 Copyright of the Academy of Management, all rights reserved. Contents may not be copied, emailed, posted to a listserv, or otherwise transmitted without the copyright holder's express written permission. Users may print, download, or email articles for individual use only. This content downloaded from 132.239.212.131 on Thu, 14 May 2020 18:28:08 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms  2011 Sitkin and Hackman 495 didn't How doleading want you help them see what theyto have to c playing offer? abilities. I think t business, when somebod One of my best leaders by far of all time is Shane position, you say, "I no Battier, who now plays for Memphis. In the first the reason they are up t practice of his senior year, the team had finished certain abilities, whether they're with sales, or stretching, and I'm getting ready to talk to them to whatever it is they do. We want to keep their give them a bit of motivation - just a little 1 -minute strengths while working on their leadership. I have talk. Before I start, Shane gets them together and had other guys who just led the whole team, and he says some things to the team. I said, "That's being a leader helped them become better players. pretty good. I don't think I can top that." I told But that is not always the case. I will tell you, it's Shane after the workout, "That was good. If you tough to find a lot of leaders. want to do that every day, you can." He said, "I'll do it every day." I never again spoke to the team Helping Budding Leaders Realize Their Potential before practice for the rest of that year. Here is another example. One of our standards is Sometimes the best leaders are the youngest or to show strong face. When we watch tape, it's not newest team members. How do you encourage just watching how you shoot or defend. If I see a them to step forward while still showing respect for the more seasoned members of the team? sequence where a player shows this magnificent face that's strong, I'll stop and say something Leadership is plural, not singular, so there can about be it. This past summer in Madrid, I stopped the a number of leaders. You want to make sure that as tape as Kevin Durant, a great young player who I you are developing your senior leaders, you don't wanted to emerge, was coming down the court. He stifle a freshman who has great leadership quali- looks magnificent; he's just so strong. So I asked ties. You give them opportunities to help the olderhis teammate, Russell Westbrook, "When Kevin leader and then by the time they do get to be looks that like that, how do you feel?" And he says, "Coach, when he looks like that, I feel like we're older person, they are even better at what they do. going to win." So I turned to Kevin and said, "Kevin, I want you to understand the power you Sometimes the best leaders are the have. Even before you shoot or defend, you can create an atmosphere where the people around youngest or newest team members. How you feel like they can win. How good is that, man?" do you encourage them to step forward As you become more secure as a leader, it gets while still showing respect for the more easier to share leadership, to empower others. seasoned members of the team? - Sitkin Thank goodness I have had great leaders on the and Hackman court for me. One of them is coaching at Harvard now, Tommy Amaker, a point guard who was a natural leader right from his freshman year, and then we had Quinn Snyder who also was a great I think it's important, before they ever join leader. the The more I got guys like that, the more I team, that I have seen them on their high school realized that I needed to give them more opportu- teams. So I already know this kid has leadership nities. It comes with experience. ability, he has good communication skills, he is somebody who could lead by example or verbally. Finding Leadership in Unexpected Places And then I try to encourage those who I think would be potential leaders to help out even as Among your players , you have uneven talent freshmen. What I try to do is not assume that justmotivation , and need for glory. Yet you need to because the oldest person is the oldest that he is ensure that the team functions effectively as a the leader. You hope that they are because they team. How do you draw on the full range of have the most experience, but not everybody on a talent in your team given the wide variety of team is a leader or wants to be a leader. players' skills and motivations? In some organizations you only listen to talent. Individuals do not always realize how othersYou've are got to be talented before you can give ad- looking to them for leadership. They don't vice or be recognized. We've tried not to have that always realize how much power and influence theyculture. If you have a guy go from freshman to senior, have, or that they have the ability to lead others. sometimes the freshman that you bring in This content downloaded from 132.239.212.131 on Thu, 14 May 2020 18:28:08 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 496 Academy of Management Learning & Education September junk pile.always is better than the senior. It wasn't Because that thatbestway; player is going to have it used to be that if you're ana lotupper classman, of influence, yousure before he you want to make should always beat out the younger comes in that you can guy. have a you Now, good relationship can bring in three freshmen with him. they would start. and So how is that senior going to All be the players who arrive a leader whenat Dukeheare immedi- is not the best player? ately humbled in some ways because of the level We had a walk-on who became a scholarship of the work, the speed at which they have to play, player and was a 5-year player, Jordan Davidson. and the fact that they are not always the best Guys listened to him more than anybody because player on the court. A lot of them never had to work he had established himself. So I think some of it is that hard before because they always had been the credibility. If I'm having a team meeting, I might best player. You come in here and you're not - you say, "Jordan, what do you think?" before asking are potentially the best player but initially you're anybody else, to accentuate my respect for himnot. as Someone else is working harder than you are a leader. and someone is running the sprints faster than you can. You become fragile during that time. Aligning the Stars It is a common human tendency, at least in All the players who arrive at Duke are Western cultures , to give the credit or blame lor immediately humbled in some ways team performance to the designated team leader. because of the level of the work , the Research on proiessional symphony orchestras, speed at which they have to play , and lor example, suggests that both audiences and critics tend to hold the conductor accountable for the fact that they are not always the best how the orchestra plays. Moreover, guest player on the court. A lot of them never soloists - the wonderful violinist or the had to work that hard before because extraordinary vocalist - sometimes come in and they always had been the best player. expect everyone to cater to their needs. - Coach K Players in top-ranked basketball teams, whether Duke or the Olympic teams you have coached, also are composed of high-level stars, people who are used to having the planets rotate I liken it to the experience I had when I went to around them. How do you deal with this? How do West Point. I thought I was really a hot ticket. But you help your players accept your own coaching once I got there I got killed, and I needed somebody and, ideally, the leadership that other players to help me out. So if you're the guy who provides may be able to provide? And what do you do if that help, then you develop your relationship even it's an 18-year-old kid, someone not yet fully more - you protect them and you keep them from formed, who was all-state and recruited by five completely falling apart. On the day they get colleges, who also expects to start out as a star at Duke? kicked, you want to be there or you ask someone on the team to go to them, and that helps them de- You actually do some things socially rather than velop. You ask the senior who is not as good as on the basketball court. In fact, we wouldn't con- him - but who on that particular day is better - to tinue to recruit a kid who we felt would not even- go to him and say, "Don't worry man, you're going to become our best player." tually "get it," because his great talent could turn out to be destructive rather than constructive. So character is a significant part of our recruiting. What do players who are true stars need from Grades too, of course, but character is probably the their coach? main thing. I want to see that the kid is someone who will listen to his coach, that he has shown I've found that when I am coaching my Duke team, respect to his parents and other authorities he I need has to be the best player's best friend. Being the dealt with, and that he is willing to learn. best player is a lonely position. Even though you It's important to look for things like that when get accolades, no matter how good of a team you you are recruiting someone for your team, even have,if there is always some level of jealousy. Al- ways. Because you're competitive. A little bit of it he is a ridiculously good athlete. It is true that your best player can lead you to the Promised Land, is not butbad. But I want to make sure that I'm con- your most talented player can also lead you to nected the with that guy because in a tense moment he This content downloaded from 132.239.212.131 on Thu, 14 May 2020 18:28:08 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms  2011 Sitkin and Hackman 497 also mightwas produce doing that, but he did it, and I respect bett him out there alone. forever for it - and it had a big impact on my own With the Olympic team# Kobe Bryant told coachingmy back at Duke. youngest daughter an interesting thing: "Since I was in high school, nobody has tried to motivate me, they just pay me." But, he said, "Your dad Clearly and , a great deal of your coaching focuses on his staff try to motivate us every day, and that'syour so individual players - helping them excel, but also helping them learn how to help their refreshing." Leadership is not just to let the star teammates. What does it take to get everybody produce, but to be a friend of the star, to motivate the star. Your team is going to go a lot further onifa team to help provide leadership? your stars push ahead, and everybody else has to One thing I tried to do in every practice with the work to catch up. Olympic team was to have my assistants do a lot of the technical things. I made it a point to talk to four How about with well-established , highly to six guys every day, and about things other than experienced players? Is coaching them and basketball - "When is your family coming over?" developing them as leaders the same kind of or "I heard this is happening, what do you think? thing as coaching college players , or does it That kind of thing. I got to know them as people, require a whole different approach? which helped me understand the dynamics that I had to work with on the team. I remember when I was an assistant coach on the On the Olympic team I had this alpha dog in Olympics Dream Team that won the gold medal in Kobe Bryant and I had another alpha dog in LeBron Barcelona 1992. We had Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, James. One had accomplished a lot, and the other Magic Johnson, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, wanted to accomplish what that other guy had Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen. I'm accomplished already. I tried to have them inter- at my first practice, and Jordan is the best player. He also is from North Carolina and I'm from Duke. act. So I said to Kobe, "You need to be good with LeBron," and I said to LeBron, "You need to be good So, in the totem pole there you have Michael Jor- with Kobe." Well, LeBron has a really good sense of dan at the top and well down the pole is Mike humor, he's an entertainer. So, when we would be Krzyzewski. in a team meeting, LeBron would imitate Kobe - he So I was a little bit nervous, I didn't want to make would take his warm-up pants and pull them up to a mistake. After the first practice, I'm having a here and go through a whole routine. And the team drink of soda and Jordan walks toward me. I knew is laughing and Kobe is laughing because one of he was going to bust my chops, you know, do some the best things about imitating you is that it means Duke/Carolina stuff. But he comes up to me and he I accept you, I like you. Those two stars became, at says, "Coach, I'd like to work on some individual least during that time, not competitors but just real moves for about a half hour. Would you please work with me?" And so we worked for a half hour good teammates. It set the tone for everyone else. Another example is from the Olympic Dream and at the end he said, "Coach, thanks a lot." Of all Team. Arguably, Jordan was the best player, but the things that I learned on that trip, that meeting we had two older great players on the team in was the most important. I still get chills thinking Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Head Coach Chuck about it. Those kinds of events are force multipliers Daly was running a staff meeting with Lenny Wilk- for any team. ens, P. J. Carlesimo, and me. Jordan came in and Jordan could have been the biggest prima donna we talked about who should be captain and he in the world, but he wasn't. He understood that on says, "I do not want to be captain, Larry and Magic that team there wasn't any totem pole, that every- should be captain. You make sure." Unbelievable, body was important. He could have called out right? He did a great thing. "Hey, Mike, get over here," and I would have run over there. And I would have felt like an idiot, but I would have done that job, and I would have lost Dealing With Derailers respect for myself. He didn't want that, so he said, How do you handle " derailers people who "Coach," and then he said, "Please," and at the end he said, "Thank you." How good is that? I think cause it problems no matter what team they're was masterful on his part. It's a powerful thing on - be it in business or athletics or music or when a person who is in Jordan's position does wherever. When they're there , bad things things like that to create an environment that's happen. Such people exhibit a lack of integrity , conducive to success. I don't know if he knew he or they are unable to see what the world looks This content downloaded from 132.239.212.131 on Thu, 14 May 2020 18:28:08 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 498 like throughMaintaining any Stability eyes oth they bring out the worst In today's college basketball , there is rapid imagine that somebody p turnover among the star players, just as many screen and corporations now you've face personnel churn among the g junior whomost is a talented, derailer and MBA programs also confront Do we try to save the problem him of trying to forge or a community when You save students are in the him. program for only a short With the never select period ofthemtime. How do you create a "cocoon" becau time to help that allows member them. leadership to develop It's on a you're coaching your teams? And how much a of a problem college is it that every year it's a new team with a different tracked, and he might be a derailer because of mix of players? insecurity or for any of a number of reasons. Sav- ing a kid is important, because it might just be that The culture of college basketball has changed. he lost his starting job, or he's discovered that he's With the "one and dones," you don't know who not good enough no matter how hard he works. you're going to have from year to year. There are a Part of it can be redefining what success is for that lot of different dynamics right now in our sport. The kid. Before, his idea of success was, "I'm going to thing that we do know is that we're going to make sure our own culture is the same. be a pro, I'm going to be a top draft pick," and then all of a sudden, "I'm not even starting on my team. Holy mackerel, my whole life is horrible and I'm going to make it horrible for everyone else." The culture of college basketball has So I would try to counsel him, individually and changed. With the "one and dones/' you doing things face to face, not yelling but just say- don't know who you're going to have ing, "Look, you're not on the team right now. I from year to year. There are a lot of mean, it's not that you're kicked off, but you're not different dynamics right now in our sport. part of us. Why would you do these things? Tell me. I'm going to try to understand. Or do you not know The thing that we do know is that we're you're doing them?" You deal with it on a one-on- going to make sure our own culture is one basis. the same. - Coach K TEAM LEADERSHIP AS CREATING A CONTEXT The question is how do you perpetuate that cul- FOR SUCCESS ture, the environment that this new group is going to come into? Where is the stability? Well, one When you started at Duke over 30 years ago thing , youis me: I've been at Duke for 31 years, and my didn't already have a successful program or staff a also has been stable. And a huge thing is culture that fostered both winning and mutual having my former players on the staff. They end up respect How did you get the right conditions in like the seniors on the team - they know being place , and how have you sustained them ? Duke, they know me, they know college basketball. We could not have succeeded if I were not on a Another source of stability is our managers. We have about 12 managers on our team and they are great team myself. By that I mean that Duke Uni- terrific kids. They do all the logistics to set up versity was a great team under the leadership of everything for us and they have equal footing with Terry Sanford as president and Tom Butters as our players. They are here from freshman to senior athletic director. I always felt that I was on their year. We've tried to adjust to the new dynamics in team, and that has been true with every president college basketball, and it's worked out fairly well. and athletic director since then. I worked hard to But I'd still much rather have the continuity of develop a good relationship with them. Not that having ita kid from freshman through senior year, has not been the other way around, expecting them with the seniors teaching the young guys. to develop a good relationship with me. I knew It is also important for our national Olympic how much I depended on them and needed their team to have stability. There is stability in leader- commitment while I was learning how to do this. I ship from Jerry Colangelo, who runs United States learned a great deal from them and the people basketball. Colangelo said in 2006 we were going around them. to start building a program where we get to know This content downloaded from 132.239.212.131 on Thu, 14 May 2020 18:28:08 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms  2011 our guys have to tell me now, but I wouldand like for you to thought that selecting 12 people and a coach contribute to the meeting and say at least one meant that you had a team, which is absurd. It has thing tonight. And whatever you say will become, been a huge help for our Olympic team to have if everyone agrees, one of our standards." some stability in membership and leadership. I've We had a great meeting in which we came up signed up to coach our team again in 2012 for the with 15 standards. Each of those guys put their London Olympics. Even though I am not with thesehand up; they took ownership. It was no longer just guys during their seasons, I'll call or write them totheir talent; now it was also the things they said. maintain a relationship with them along the way. LeBron said, "No excuses. You know we have the best talent. We're playing for the best country. So, no excuses." And that was our first standard. Jason How about timing? Are there particular times Kidd said, "We shouldn't be late and we should when you focus on different leadership activities? respect one another." I said, "We should respect Some things can be done quickly; others take a lot our opponents because they've been beating us for of time to establish. And once you are in the game the last few years. So we should prepare and we phase, when you actually start your season, there should never have a bad practice." And it went on is a faster rhythm. That is when you see the results from there. We never had a guy late and we never of whatever you've done in the off season to de- had a bad practice. I really felt it bonded us be- velop your team. During practices you are not cause it wasn't just me putting on them something judged by whether you win or lose, so I can take a that I believed in. It was me asking them, "What do little more time. For example, I might say to a you guys believe in?" player, "Look, today at practice, I'd like for you to say a couple things. I don't care when you say them You said nobody was ever late , but what if or how you say them, but we need to address this." somebody was? Would people have looked at you Hopefully some of that will be used later, in the to deal with it or would the team have taken on game phase. But it really is a different rhythm. responsibility for enforcing the standard? If someone was late for the first time I probably Setting Standards and Clearing would have taken the initiative. I would have said Away Distractions to a couple of the most respected players some- thing like, "You know, Dwayne was late, do you You are dealing with fast-changing , fishbowl want me to take care of that?" They would have team environments. What do you do to keep all said that they would take care of it. And then if it team members on the same page? happened again, I would have brought it to the We try to not have any rules on my teams. I have whole group. I would not have been hesitant to do what I call "standards." When I went to West Point that if the players did not take care of it them- selves. we had a bunch of rules, all of which I didn't agree with. Usually when you're ruled, you never agree with all the rules, you just abide by them. But if you What do you do to ensure that problems get have standards and if everyone contributes to the resolved and minor issues do not become big way you're going to do things, you end up owning ones that distract from team goals? how you do things. In my experience, the best teams have standards everyone owns. I continue to pay close attention to the team's con- With the Olympic team, I met with the individual text. Sometimes I'll meet with my team or my staff stars. I met with Jason Kidd individually and then and I'll say, "I want you to think about irritants. LeBron, Kobe, and Dwayne Wade before we hadWe'll a have a meeting on irritants and let's try to get collective meeting. I told them, "I'm going to have rid a of as many irritants as possible. In other words, meeting tonight, not about offense and defense,let's not let Duke beat Duke because every day we but about how we're going to live for the nextcan't 6 stand something." I try to make sure, even weeks. I am going to tell you two of the standards with the Olympic team, "Ok, let's have a meeting. that I want. When we talk to each other, we look What's bugging us right now... food, whatever? each other in the eye. That's one. The second one is Nothing? Good, let's go." You can lead better if we always tell each other the truth. If we can do everybody is not distracted. those two things, trust will be developed, which Asking people how they feel or if there is some- will be the single most important thing for our thing that is bothering them demonstrates your foundation as a group." And then I said, "You don't concern. It affirms that they are an important part This content downloaded from 132.239.212.131 on Thu, 14 May 2020 18:28:08 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 500 Academy of Management Learning & Education September of the team. And it also recognizes That's visible to that they the players have even though you eyes, that they can see things probably that don't you,advertise the it It's a kind of leader, may have missed or be blind leadership to. You around want issues ofevery- character and health one's eyes on the team and and how general things well-being are thatwork- they can see. No ing. If there's something that doubt at least someone is keeping of yourofplayers my are saying to assistants from doing the best themselves, job "Gee, I'd kind of like to possible, have that then we need to change that. kind of resilience, too." That has to be helpful to There are two things in any thembureaucracy as they are learning that how to grow up. block good ideas. One is to think, we've never done You still can fly off the handle occasionally. But that before, so why should we do it now? The other is that it would cost too much, we don't have the when you do, I think it has more impact than if you're flying off the handle all the time. I've money. So we're not going to talk about the good learned over time that to lead you have to be able idea any more. I've tried to address those two to listen and see and feel. And if you create obsta- blocks over the last 15 or 20 years of my career by cles for yourself - whether you don't allow yourself raising money on our own so we can put in place what we need to succeed. to see other people's vision, or you don't ever talk to anybody, or you're not keeping in good health - eventually you're going to have more bad situa- tions than you would if you keep those avenues There are two things in any bureaucracy open. that block good ideas. One is to think , we've never done that before , so why Learning Continuously should we do it now? The other is that it would cost too much , we don't have the You have been coaching for a long time. What do you do to make sure you keep on developing as a money. So we're not going to talk about leader? the good idea any more. - Coach K I've learned so much from getting outside of my area. I think you need to get involved - whether it CULTIVATING AND SUSTAINING YOUR OWN be a charity, a hospital, or working with a kid's TEAM LEADERSHIP CAPACITY group - to keep actively learning. If you look, you'll see natural leadership happening around you all Taking Care of Yourself the time. I'm used to leading, going against other college basketball coaches. Now, internationally, Coaches also have emotions and get angry. "Did I'm going against the best coaches internation- you come to play today or did you just come to ally. They think differently. One's not right and stop by?" Now that's a really cutting thing to say, one's not wrong. They think differently and it but the coach is angry and shows it How do you forces you to think differently. I believe that you keep yourself in balance , not faking your own have to do that if you want to constantly get emotions , but also not going too far in expressing them? better in leadership. You can learn about being a better leader from On a day-to-day basis you do have to have balance everybody. You can go and study an orchestra. You and be clear headed. So you need to make sure can go study a basketball team, a business, or you have your personal stuff together so that whenwhatever. you That's why I love talking about leader- encounter these obstacles you don't fly off the ship. han- There is so much you can do to develop it. dle. I like to deal with everything face to face, And right that's why I've loved my association with the away. It is a big thing for me to stay fresh and Fuqua School of Business. It gets me out of my area balanced. I try not to have irritants in my ownand lifeI say, "You know what, that was really a better so that when I come to my business life, I'm way notof putting it" or "I never thought of it that bringing my life into the business. I've found way." thatI think people who want to understand lead- maintaining a fairly active health life, faith ership life, have to have that approach. It's exciting. and family life are pillars that help me to become In developing leadership, you're not just helping a better leader. I don't know how it works for ev- a young kid on your team become a better leader. eryone else. But I start every day fairly fresh Byandattempting to teach that person, you're develop- with a pretty clear conscience. That creates my ing your own leadership. I learn from every speech own atmosphere conducive for success, and then I give.I We have our own radio show where instead try to bring that atmosphere to the team. of being interviewed, I interview and I take notes This content downloaded from 132.239.212.131 on Thu, 14 May 2020 18:28:08 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms  2011 Sitkin and Hackman 501 all the time. I tell the That's guys who work for me: "don't how ever try to happen all be like at once. me." I tell players the same thing.It's "I don't leader," because then want you to be this guy. I want you to be you. Let's y to be one. figure out who you are, what kind of a leader you are, and what we can do to keep making you bet- Being Yourself ter." That's why I'm not someone who will read an autobiography and say I want to be exactly like One of the things that you see sometimes among that person. Come on, you can'f be exactly like that students who anticipate a career in managementperson, that's ridiculous. What you can do is learn or aspire to leadership positions is that they will about the experiences of other leaders and then read a book or hear a speech and they'll say. take some of the lessons that they have learned "Oh, I want to be like that" You frequently refer and incorporate them into your own mix of skills. to others from whom you have learned. Do you That's what I try to do with my players, and I think have any advice for the rest of us who see in you or in some other leader a model for ourselves? the same approach would work just as well in other kinds of teams and organizations. I was lucky that I got coached by one of the great coaches of all time, Bob Knight. Through him I met two other great coaches, Henry Iba and Pete New- ell. And I'd just listen to them. A couple times when Coach Knight went away, both Iba and Newell said, "I know you've learned a lot from coach and he's great. But you have to be yourself. If there's something that you want to talk about with your teams, figure out what you want to teach and then I Mike use your own personality and your values to do it. Don't ever try to be like one of us." They were three of the great coaches of all time, right there in one setting. And what they said made a lot of sense to me. versity) is profes or of manage- Pierce Professor of Social and Or- ment and Founding Faculty Di- ganizational Psychology at Har- rector of the Fuqua/Coach K vard University. He received his Center on Leadership and Ethics, bachelor's degree in mathemat- Fuqua School of Business, Duke ics from MacMurray College and University. His research concerns his doctorate in social psychol- the influence of leadership and ogy from the University of Illi- control systems on organiza- nois. He taught at Yale for 20 tional and individual change, in- years before moving to his pres- novation, trust, learning, risk tak- ent position at Harvard. Hack- ing, and accountability. man teaches and conducts re- search on a variety of topics in Fuqua control versity) rector Center the University. novation, tional ing, ment Sim influence and B. and and Sitkin on Scho l of is ystems ac ountabil ty. trust, Leadership indiv dual Founding the profes or His (PhD, of of res arch learning, Fuqua/Coach leadership Busines , on Stanford of Faculty change, and organiza- concerns manage- risk Ethics, Duke Uni- tak- and Di- in- K J. years vard ganizational ent his Pierce bachelor's ogy ics man nois. social search Richard from doctorate posit on from University. teaches He before Profes or and on MacMur ay taught he a degre Hackman organizsocial ational variety moving Psychol gy at in and Uand niversity of He Harvard. social atorganizational Social in conducts rec ived Col ege Yale of to mathemat- is topics his psychol- and at of Edgar for Hack- pres- Hpsy- ar- psy- and Il i- Or- his re- 20 in chology, including team performance, leadership effectiveness, and the design of self-managing teams and organizations. His most recent books are Collaborative Intelligence: Using Teams to Solve Hazd Problems # and Senior Leadership Teams: What It Takes to Make Them Great (with Ruth Wageman, Debra Nunes, and James Burruss). This content downloaded from 132.239.212.131 on Thu, 14 May 2020 18:28:08 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms