Coach K, The Bear, and Lessons for Leaders

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I almost stopped watching The Bear, an Emmy award-winning series on Hulu, after the first two episodes. The acrimony, profanity, and chaos in that dingy kitchen was too much for me.

Fortunately, I kept hearing people rave about this show, which is focused on a talented young chef who returns to run his family’s sandwich shop in Chicago after the death of his brother. So I kept going – and was richly rewarded. There are no spoilers here except to say that this series, created by Christopher Storer, is a rich study of personal discovery, leadership, and team dynamics.

As I watched Season 2, I was intrigued to see that Sydney, initially a sous chef in the sandwich shop, often carried around a book by Coach K, Leading with the Heart: Successful Strategies for Basketball, Business, and Life. It was a gift from her father, and she seemed to be reading it as a guide for how to move forward as she took on an increasingly demanding role as a leader of change in this struggling restaurant.

I’m not a sports fan, but Coach K, the legendary coach of Duke University’s Blue Devils, was at least in my consciousness. I am, however, a student of leadership (and a huge fan of Chef Syndey); and as I watched The Bear, I thought I should learn more about what she was gleaning from her reading.

I found a dog-eared copy of the book, published 23 years ago, at my local library. It is loaded with folksy, sensible advice for anyone trying to build a winning team. And in case you miss the messages from reading the text, each chapter has a list of “Coach K tips.”

I’m sure many readers would be starry-eyed by the multiple references to fabled basketball players whom Coach K coached over the years. Alas. Those references were lost on me. But many of Coach K’s tips seemed important and actionable.

Here are three that resonated with me, especially in this time of year which feels like a fresh start after the summer – as children return to school, employees return to the office after summer breaks, and arts venues offer up fresh programming for a new season.

·???????? Rethink roles at the beginning of each season. Coach K viewed every new basketball season as an occasion to start fresh. His tip: “Go through an appraisal and reevaluation process every year. Rotate some responsibilities.” He did it with players and with staff members. His approach seemed to be to confer with his team at the start of a season or when a new person is hired, figure out what has to get done, and assign individuals to tasks “according to their skills, abilities and personal interests.” For leaders to do this job well, they have to have a deep understanding of what each person is capable of accomplishing and what they need to work at their best.? “Never let a person’s weaknesses get in the way of his strengths,” Coach K admonishes.

·???????? Be leery of job descriptions. Consistent with the point above, it’s not surprising to read that in hiring assistant coaches, Coach K didn’t rely much on job descriptions. Defined roles, he believes, can “put people in boxes and hold them back from realizing their full potential.”?

·???????? Design teams that leverage individual talent and are built on trust. Coach K puts a high premium on talent but notes that sustained success comes only when leaders are able to motivate each person to perform at their best within the team. Among other things, that requires a culture of trust, fostered by the leader. “The level of cooperation on any team increases tremendously as the level of trust rises.”

Reading Leading with the Heart and reflecting on it in the context of The Bear made me think that building strong teams is like doing a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle without looking at the picture on the cover. You have to study each piece very carefully in order to put it together.

Leadership is a time- consuming endeavor, and it’s easy for leaders of teams of any size to rely on solutions and organizational structures that have worked in the past to accomplish tough goals when deadlines are tight and the pressure to perform is intense.

Reading Coach K’s insights made me wonder what ideas for change would emerge if more leaders actually took time in this new fall season to step back and rethink how to use teammates most effectively to perform at their best.

And I’m hoping for season 3 of The Bear not only because it’s great entertainment but also because I expect it would offer up additional insights on how to lead in ways that either undermine or create collective success.