Great leaders know you can accomplish more with a team of talented individuals than you can simply by yourself. Therefore, a leader’s ultimate success is directly tied to his/her ability to build a great team.
Led by head coach John Calipari, the 2011-2012 Kentucky Wildcats were one of the greatest college basketball teams in recent memory. Shortly after winning the national championship earlier this month, Sports Illustrated’s Kelli Anderson examined the ingredients that were integral to the team’s success in their April 9th issue.
The following are 15 common threads of this and all championship teams that leaders can learn from.
- Great Leadership – “This guy is one of the best coaches in college basketball. He gets talent to play very hard, and he makes talent better” says Indiana head coach Tom Crean of Calipari.
- Leaders Model Hard Work – “You don’t jog this court! If you need a break, come out!” – Calipari to star player Anthony Davis.
- The Leaders Lead Other Leaders – “He (Calipari) is so good at dealing with high-level athletes, I don’t think high-maintenance affects him.” – Crean
- Core Values – Calipari lays a proper foundation for talented players during the recruiting process. The following three points are his core values of player acquisition.
- Expectations – Calipari expects hard-work and unselfishness from players even during recruiting.
- Effective Communication - Calipari does not make unrealistic promises about playing time or number of touches.
- Respect Authority - If a potential recruit shows disrespect to his (grand)parents or coaches, he stops the recruiting process because they will not listen to him either in the future.
- Generosity – The unselfishness and cohesiveness of those on the Wildcat roster matched their talent. Prior to the SEC tournament, star player Michael Kidd-Gilchrist advised Calipari, “Coach, we need Darius (Miller) in the NCAA tournament, and he’s not playing well right now. Let me come off the bench.”
- Chemistry – “These guys really like each other” noted Coach Calipari.
- Experience Matters – Miller has been at the program four years. Because of the type of players Calipari recruits, Calipari says, “No college player has played with more NBA players than him.” Miller has had 40 teammates during his time on the Wildcats.
- Learn From The Best – During the NBA lockout, the Wildcats played a number of games against NBA players such as Kevin Duran and LeBron James. Guard Marquis Teague said, “Playing against guys on that level, you’ve got to learn to share the ball and move it around because you can’t beat them off the dribble as easy as you can with players on your level. That’s when we learned how to play together.” Leaders, who are you and your team learning from?
- Effectively Leverage Marginal Time – Inspired by Michael Jordan’s habit as a player, Kidd-Gilchrist started early morning drills and weightlifting for the entire team during the Christmas break.
- Develop A Leadership Culture – “I like it to be like geese fly. So Michael will lead, then sometimes Darius will, then Anthony and so on. I’m trying to teach every one of them to lead. Leadership is about everybody else, not yourself.” – Calipari
- Humility – “As I’ve gotten older, life has become easier, and we’ve won a whole lot more games when it has been about everybody else and not about me. When it’s about the players first, they play for you.” – Calipari
- Purpose To Leave A Proper Legacy – “I want my legacy to be that families’ lives have been changed though our relationship. Senator Mitch McConnell said to me, ‘How many guys leave off of this team, do you think?’ I said, seven – five starters and two seniors. If we play well, they’ll all have opportunities. He said, ‘You’re creating more millionaires than a Wall Street firm!’ What if that number is 70 by the time I retire? How would you say I did? Because the cycle on those families, that cycle of poverty or whatever it may be, has just changed.” – Calipari
Does your team have these 15 common threads? If so, you may have a championship team as well. If not, in what areas do you need to improve?
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