Peter Drucker famously said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Since making that statement, his thoughts on culture have been universally accepted as fact. A healthy culture is a requirement for any successful organization. So how do you take an organization with an unhealthy and unsuccessful culture and turn it around.
On March 21, 2023, St. John’s Red Storm announced Rick Pitino as its new head men’s basketball coach. What Coach Pitino would do over the next fifty-six days, as chronicled in this NYPost.com story written by Zach Braziller, gives us a template for how to change the culture in your organization.
11 Steps For Changing A Losing Culture Into A Winning Culture
The following are eleven steps for changing a losing culture into a winning culture.
To Change A Culture Hire The Right Leader
Everything rises and falls on leadership. Therefore, if you want to change your culture, you are likely going to have to change the leader.
Coach Pitino is a two-time national champion with 711 wins at the collegiate level over thirty-five seasons. He is a proven winner who previously changed the cultures at Providence, Kentucky, Louisville, and Iona. He has the credentials to do the same at St. John’s.
To Change A Culture You Must Give People Hope
Leaders are dealers in hope. You must point to a brighter tomorrow. Otherwise, why would anyone follow you? If things are going to stay bleak, people will just stay with the current leadership.
During his first press conference, Coach Pitino said, “It’s not going to be difficult. There is no difference between St. John’s to Connecticut, St. John’s to Marquette, St. John’s to Xavier. St. John’s is one of the legendary names in college basketball. Has it fallen on tough times? Yes, it has, but now we’re ready to fall on great times… Raise this roof up, because St. John’s is going to be back, I guarantee that.”
To Change A Culture It Takes A Team Of Leaders
Changing a culture happens a lot easier when you have the right of team of leaders around you. They will accelerate your vision for the program.
Coach Pitino went 64-22 during his three seasons at Iona and went to two NCAA championship tournaments. He brought his entire staff to St. John’s with him. This organizational alignment will aid in changing the St. John culture.
To Change A Culture You Must Be Willing To Work Long And Hard Hours
Average or sub-par effort will not change a culture. Coach Pitino referred to his first fifty-six days as “chaos.” Everyone’s schedule was filled with early mornings (5:00 AM), late nights (1:00 AM), multiple conference calls and countless phone calls each day.
This would not be a time in which Coach Pitino or his staff’ would experience any downtime. All hands would be needed on deck for the foreseeable future.
To Change A Culture You Must See Stress As A Positive
While many do not see stress as a positive, successful leaders know its advantages.
Assistant coach Van Macon is the one staff member Coach Pitino retained from the previous regime. He described the time as, “Stressful and exciting at the same time. Stressful because you’re trying to fill out a roster. It’s exciting because we were involved with some really, really good players and we got some of them.”
He added, “I always say pressure is a good thing, pressure helps you work your *)# off. Helps you get up early, stay up late, be innovative and get creative. The pressure on us was enormous.”
For Coach Macon and the rest of the Red Storm coaching staff, stress elevated their capacity, sense of urgency, and creativity. Healthy stress will do the same for you.
To Change A Culture You Must Clearly Define What Type Of Person Fits Best Into Your Program
Too often, organizations just want to get people on the bus. This is not enough as you must get the right people on the bus and in the right seats. When building your team, it is vital you know the type of person you want. It is equally vital to know what type of person you don’t want.
Successful organizations have an “ideal employee profile.” This is a detailed description of the type of person, with the right sets of skills, experience, and temperament, to fulfill a needed task or assignment.
Coach Pitino is clear about the type of leaders he wants to coach. He only wants high-character players with athleticism and versatility. But there is one non-negotiable skill each player must possess. He said, “If they can’t shoot. I don’t want them.”
To Change A Culture You Must Hire The Right People
Culture is who you hire. In collegiate athletics this would be the players you add to the team. Every person you bring into the organization changes the culture for good or bad.
Because of graduations and transfers, Coach Pitino would need to bring in at least eight new players. He and his staff actually brought in eleven new team members over the fifty-six days. Once again, there was downtime on player acquisition.
Things started well as he retained the team’s best player, center Joel Soriano. He also added ten transfers including the following:
- Ivy League Player of the Year and the nation’s No. 2 scorer Jordan Dingle from Penn
- UConn reserve and three-year Virginia Tech starter Nahiem Alleyene
- Iona point guard Daniss Jenkins
- Oregon State wing-player Glenn Taylor Jr.
- Massachusetts wing-player RJ Luis
- Not a transfer but he also added top 150 high school player Brady Dunlap
So how does Coach Pitino feel about this class of players? He acknowledged, “All these guys can play. I’m really happy with the talent. I know the potential.”
To Change A Culture You Must Give Each Person A Picture For How They Will Help Change Your Culture
I mentioned earlier about an ideal employee profile. When you add talented people to your roster, you should have a detailed development plan for that individual. You must paint a picture of the team’s culture and put them in it.
While recruiting Dunlap, Coach Pitino broke down his game in great detail. He then gave Dunlap a detailed plan of how he would be used in his system.
To Change A Culture You Must Build Productive Relationships With Key Influencers
Leaders who change cultures generally possess an expansive network.
When recruiting Dingle, Coach Pitino leveraged his relationship with Dingle’s father Dana. Dana Dingle happened to be the director of the New York Lightning AAU squad which had previously sent two players to Iona to play for Coach Pitino.
To Change A Culture Leverage Your Strengths
The St. John’s Red Storm has two primary recruiting advantages. One is Coach Pitino and the second is the opportunity to play at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Coach Pitino said, “The further you get away from New York City, the more appealing it is to a recruit. New York is the greatest city in the world. Who doesn’t know that?”
To Change A Culture You Must Deal With Disappointment
Coach Pitino did not get all the players he recruited. No coach ever does. MAAC Player of the Year Walter Clayton Jr., his best player at Iona, decided to take his talents to Florida. Harvard’s Chris Ledlum chose Tennessee and Notre Dame’s Cormac Ryan decided to play for North Carolina.
How did Coach Pitino respond to these disappointments? Undaunted, he said, “OK, who’s next? Who do we have to get?.. What’s our next priority? Who do we have coming in, who do we have to go see?”
Leaders who change cultures know “NO” means “Next Opportunity.”
Conclusion
If you have a losing or unhealthy culture at your organization, implement these eleven steps and begin reversing your negative momentum. Coach Pitino has changed the culture for many teams. He knows what he is doing. Learn from him.
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