I thought some of Michael Lombardi’s most important insights in Gridiron Genius were about a leader’s responsibility to teach, train, and coach within an organization. He makes his point about the importance of this function with a thought from Herb Brooks, coach of 1980 US Olympic hockey team – in essence, Brooks felt that teams of open-minded and coachable individuals could overcome any gap between them and their competitors.
I agree with Lombardi that at the core any strong leader must be a teacher and a communicator. But what forms the foundation for such a person? I think one obvious answer is a lifetime of learning and sharing. A student who voraciously consumes knowledge and consistently passes information along to others is well prepared to leverage the critical teaching and communication skills required of strong leaders.
Lombardi demonstrates one way a great leader applied this emphasis on learning and sharing by providing a brief example about Bill Belichick’s off-season planning sessions. During these sessions, Belichick would review how his coaching staff should tweak and adjust their teaching methods in the upcoming season. The process undoubtedly meant a combination of considering new teaching methods while also discarding old or outdated techniques. This example demonstrates that simply acquiring and sharing new information isn’t enough – a leader must also know how to discourage bad habits in the team.
The above example highlights an underrated aspect of growth, improvement, and innovation – the importance of discarding what isn’t working. I suspect most teams stagnate or regress not for a lack of good ideas but rather due to a stubborn resistance about abandoning existing processes, norms, or systems. It's impossible for me to say, of course, but I suspect from experience that I’ve gained a lot more from abandoning a bad idea than I ever did from applying a new concept.
Perhaps the most challenging part of the leader’s role is to determine the differences in how each person in a team retains information. As Lombardi points out, some players learn the playbook through film study while others absorb the information by practicing the movements on the field. A leader can also leverage knowledge about a learning style to tailor his or her teaching efforts – for example, if a given team member is particularly detail oriented, the teaching focus should be on the macro-level philosophies or concepts because the team member is very likely to figure out the detailed portions without outside help.
Finally, Lombardi mentions the importance of communication for preparing a team to perform in dynamic environments. Although the very nature of dynamism suggests that unexpected problems or challenges come up all the time, Lombardi notes that the key is to ensure the communication level is high enough so that everyone continues to understand their assigned job. His simple suggestion echoes one of my favorite lessons from Atul Gawande’s Checklist Manifesto – make sure each team member knows everyone else’s name.
