The Last Dance: Three Lessons I Picked when the Song Stopped

Basketball, as we know it today, was shaped by the key players of yesterday – and the many sacrifices that they made.

One of the exciting players from that era is Michael Jordan – the man and legend. Even though I did not get the chance to watch him play when I was younger, I do remember several years later when we would gather around to play basketball, watching as an inspiration the generation of players that came right after: Kobe Bryant and Tony Parker (first French player to leave a mark in the NBA).

These memories came back when I got around to seeing The Last Dance – the 10-part ESPN documentary, which follows the growth of the Chicago Bulls dynasty from what it was to what we now know today.

This show did more than bring back memories, though. It also introduced us into the role of the other major players and coaches - Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Steve Kerr, Toni Kukoc, Phil Jackson, and Tex Winter - who overcame intense adversity to make this team win and create a legacy.

While the GM of that team – Jerry Klause – was not displayed in favourable terms, I could not stop thinking about how hard it must have been to build this team and to manage the egos of all of its All-Stars players. 

In the middle of looking out for all that, though, three things stood out to me the most. By extension, these are three things that I can also apply to my personal life – as I believe you can do to yours too.

1 - Organizations win championships

One of the quotes that I love the most from the show went something on the lines of players and coaches not winning champions alone, but an organization is doing so.

When we go to see the games, it is the players that we are looking out for. These players are also highly likely to go into every game to execute the coaches' plays. So, why should they not be the ones to take the credit for all the championship wins?

The fact remains that there is a more extensive system that must work together for the players and coaches even to function effectively. This shows us that these players and coaches are just a part of the system – not the system itself.

Among the players themselves, a star is only as good as the weakest player in the team. After all, this is a game of outscoring the opponent. Even if Michal Jordan were playing his best game and scoring the most points, his team wouldn't be winning if they conceded too many points too.

Thus, everyone has a role to play, not just the people that we see.

2 - Leadership isn’t always pretty

Leadership has never been, and should never be a popularity contest. We had two persuasive examples of this in the documentary.

The first one is that the real leader is the person who can define a vision, identify what needs to be done, plan towards it and get it executed.

This is how Jerry Krause (Bulls General Manager) contributed to building one of the greatest teams assembled in NBA history and worked to re-built it when MJ came back to win the second three-peat. The same decision-making process was there when he started dismantling what many would have regarded as the most fabulous basketball team in history.

He had his reasons for doing so – even though it made him less popular with the players, board and fans then. This was – in his and the Bulls owner’s eyes – the only way to bring the team and fans back to earth so that they can start preparing for the future.

On the other side, MJ's leadership role within the team was also not an easy one. He had to push his teammates continually. You could argue that he could have done so differently (in some case, MJ was displayed as a bully to some), risking his reputation to push other players to their limits. But also believing in them in key moments while they did not themselves.

Here is one of the quote that stood with me the most from Michael Jordan on work ethics and commitment: "You ask all my teammates, the one thing about MJ was, he never asks me to do something that he wouldn't do," Jordan said.

While they both are different styles, Jerry Klause and MJ were great examples of how leaders can inspire others with their pursuit of excellence and strategic thinking. The goal should drive them, not the applause from any gallery they are playing to.

Having said that, you have to be thoughtful about not creating a toxic environment that would make people not want to be part of your project anymore.

3 - Your Ego can be Dangerous – don’t let it get in the way

More than twenty years after Jerry Klause dismantled the all-star team, people still think that he did this to prove a point.

In retrospect, he did have solid reasons to do so. The players were ageing, and injury concerns were mounting all around the team. The salary cap was also limiting the chances of having a competitive team. However, none of these points has killed all the sentiments around Jerry's moves.

He believed that taking a proactive decision to stop the dynasty instead of allowing it to expire would avoid years of troubles. He, unfortunately, doesn’t get a chance to defend himself in the series (died a couple of years ago).

Following from the point above, this shows that, in sports as in real life, you need to involve people around you in your thought process and create awareness around your conclusions. That way, they can better understand your vision and help work towards it.

You may not be able to avoid conflicts doing so, but that beats being resented for being the only one seeing the big picture and acting on it. Such a situation could even be counterproductive to the success of your project.

Closing Thoughts

This 10-part documentary was extraordinarily entertaining and opened the backstage of the Chicago Bulls dynasty.

On my side, the show has given me a lot to think about, especially in regards to my leadership style. In the show, like in real life, assembling a team, inspire each of the members to thrive and succeed is what should drive us. People do remember how you made them feel as much as what you achieved.

Of course, it is almost impossible to tell the whole story to the letter in such a documentary. How those decisions were made and carried out could have been done differently. However, that does not undermine the fact that some tough decisions were made to get the team to the kind of success it has enjoyed in recent times.