Leadership Lessons From An Improbable Leader

Question: Before the Men’s NCAA tournament started, could you told me where St. Peter’s University is? At this point everyone knows it’s in Jersey City, NJ and that they were the first 15th seed in the tournament to make to the Elite 8. Their coach, Shaheen Holloway, has already moved on to his alma mater Seton Hall. With success, comes attention and the coach received a lot of it as had his team, but they’d been unwavering through the tournament and that starts at the top.

Let’s examine the qualities of leadership we’ve seen from the coach during this run:

COURAGE – Coach Holloway has never been intimidated or overwhelmed by the tournament experience and this transferred to the team as they beat a #2, #7 and #3 seed in succession as double-digit underdogs in all three.

Remember that your competitors are the in the same business. No better or no worse!! Once YOU recognize that so will your staff!! Get down to business and control your emotions.

HUMILITY – Coach Holloway repeatedly deflected to his players even declining opening comments at postgame press conferences. He let the players take the stage and the credit.

Ratings success is a team effort. As much as our industry singles out the PD, you must recognize that your staff did the work, and they deserve the accolades. Make it a point to recognize them as a team.

VISION – The coach tailored a specific on-court persona for the team. A “never say die” attitude game in and game out. The team never strayed from it and the results speak for themselves.

Know what your station stands for and be hyper focused on communicating that to your staff and on to the listeners. The consistency of your brand will separate you from the rest!

COMMITMENT – No star players. No singular moments. Just 10 players and a coach who would not be rattled by the magnitude of three big tournament wins. One player’s quote after advancing to the Elite 8 – “We look forward to making more history.”

Definitely savor every ratings success your station has but always keep your staff focused on the bigger picture – not one month but the lasting legacy your station can create with maximum creativity and effort.

INTEGRITY – Coach Holloway did, of course, jump to a much bigger job but, when asked about it after his team’s elimination from the tournament, this is what he said – "I'm not worried about that right now," he said. "I'm worried about those 15 young men whose hearts are broken and really down. It's my job as their leader to cheer them up, make sure they understand what they did the last two weeks. We're going to walk out of here the same way we walked in here, with our head up."

In those down times (ratings months), keep your staff just as focused as they were when you were winning. Be proud of them every day.

As much as you may want to say that luck had a hand in St. Peter’s success, any leader knows that they earned every bit of this. It always starts with the leader – the coach and the time he/she takes to transform a group of athletes into a winning team.

You may get a lucky meter or two or an extra diary entry occasionally, but you know when you and your staff have put the work in to create a winning radio station!