George Mason’s journey in this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament offered more than the last-second drama and heroics that dominated March Madness. It gave anyone gathered around the television a bird’s-eye view of what it takes to create a winning environment, to inspire a group of team members to abandon individual agendas and to play as a team. Capitol Hill leaders, upper corporate management and anyone who participates on a team where diverse points of view must be leveraged to achieve the best results may want to take note of the lessons from the sidelines that can produce bottom-line results on the court, board room or climbing this mountain called life.
What does it take to spur teamwork in a group and propel them to outplay more talented opponents?
George Mason coach Jim Larranaga displayed leadership on the sidelines, wonderfully illustrating how to get more with less. Larranaga showed us all how to push players to compete against often-stronger opponents, how to turn strategic plans into strategic action, how to play to win and how to compete with confidence and joy. “Playing against taller guys,” Larranaga said, “you have to play with heart.”
Larranaga’s leadership style and skills were tested in the early games of the tournament. But, he not only managed to compete with the big boys, he beat them by getting more from his team than was expected.
Like the greatest of leaders, Larranaga assigned clear roles and delegated what needed to be done on and off the court. He told his team what to do, not what to not do. Research suggests that the brain may not even process the word ‘don’t’ — instead we picture the words that follow. Great coaches use words to generate vivid visions of what to do and what can be done.
Successful leaders genuinely believe in their team’s ability to execute the plan, and that belief is contagious. Team members believe they can do it, too. You could hear it in Larranaga’s talk and you could see it in his nonverbal communication. He was focused on the sidelines and in interviews on what his team could do, on his belief in them. His words, actions and nonverbals always exuded confidence. That kind of belief is catching. It was apparent in the posturing, and in the level of game play of the George Mason players.
Coaches and leaders whose words and body language consistently support their belief in the ability of their teams to succeed are the leaders who build winning team cultures.
You have to make it fun; great leaders instill a sense of play into hard work. “Enjoying every moment of it has been the reason we’ve been so successful,” George Mason senior guard Tony Skinn said. Larranaga’s consistent rallying cry to his team was for them to go out on the court and to have fun. You could see it in their faces as each of the starting players heard their names, they entered the competition with smiles that reflected their joy and their love of the game. Whether it’s an intense workout or the Final Four, great teams, and their coaches, see it as play.
There is a clear distinction between playing to win versus playing not to lose. In the first instance, you go for it, giving it your all, playing with courage and heart. Playing not to lose is a reactive stance in which courage is supplanted with fear. When teams and organizations play to win, we believe each shot is going to go in. There is no doubt that Larranaga and his team played to win while beating the University of Connecticut to enter the Final Four.
Effective leaders stay cool in the heat of the fray. When leaders keep their cool, they can communicate at the top of their game even when the heat is on. And that’s when clear communication and clear thinking are critical. Even better, maintaining your cool as a leader is catching; it enables team members to stay cool and to play their best in the heat of pressure.
In sports science, this is called activation. Research from sports confirms what we know: too much energy, too much tension, keeps us from hitting our marks. When people are overactivated or not adequately activated for the challenge at hand, performance plummets, and we often take others down. Whether you’re pitching a deal in the free market or shooting from the free-throw line, when people or the market get jittery, they play tight, uptight. And they play not to lose.
The desired outcome is rarely achieved. Simple free throws miss the mark. In the workplace, an uptight environment leads to other types of errors that have bottom-line effects.
Coaches who coach “in the zone” surpass the advantages of the size of an organization, financial resources and big-money shoe and apparel deals. They have a lot to teach us about leadership and winning on and off the court.
Larranaga and his Patriots have inspired leaders and team members worldwide to say, “We can do this!”
Pamela Brill is the author of “The Winner’s Way: A Proven Method for Achieving Your Personal Best in Any Situation” and president of In the Zone Inc. Shay Berry is an assistant basketball coach at Dartmouth College.
