The Price of Leadership

“Winning Has a Price; Leadership Has a Price”

In one short segment pulled from The Last Dance, Michael Jordan shares these powerful statements:

• “Winning has a price, and leadership has a price. I pulled people along when they didn’t want to be pulled. I challenged people when they didn’t want to be challenged. And I earned that right…”
• “Once you joined the team, you lived at a certain standard that I played the game and I wasn’t going to take anything less.”
• “People see this (high expectation) and say ‘he’s a tyrant!’ That’s because they never won anything. I wanted to win, but I wanted my teammates to win and be a part of that as well.”
• “It’s who I am, it’s how I played the game. That was my mentality. If you don’t want to play that way, don’t play that way.”

The clip ends with Jordan in tears, calling for a break…

Is Michael Jordan the best to have ever played the game? I sure think so! Is he the self-centered ego-maniac that so many others with even remotely similar fame have become? Not that I’ve ever seen… Was he a tyrant to play with or just driven to win? I believe that particular segment paints the picture of a guy who wanted to win but also cared about helping the people around him win… Was he the best example of leadership that I’ve seen? Not even close, but if I’m going to make a statement like that I need to explain why!

To this point, we’ve looked at how he combined extreme talent with an unsurpassed worth ethic to earn a level of fame and influence that few have ever seen. Then we dug into how that influence contributed to teams he played on, the Chicago Bulls organization, the teams he played against, and the entire NBA. But with that type of presence, there’s bound to be a rough patch here or there…

There were certainly folks looking to poke holes in his image, be that through calling attention to his gambling or making claims about how terrible he was to his teammates. I’ll be doing no such thing here. But as I’ve tried to do up until now, I am going to pull some leadership lessons from even the less than glamorous examples he provided. Again, I’m not making a case for whether or not he was a great leader - only that we can pull some great leadership lessons from the influence he earned as the greatest basketball player of all time!

Winning does indeed have a price. Jordan paid that price time and time again. Leadership also has a price. And anyone with leadership responsibility needs to understand that someone will always pay that price; we’ll either choose to pay it ourselves or choose to pass that price on to our teams…

As we bring this to a close, we’ll look at the high expectations that come with a high level of influence, the importance of always having strong mentors to follow, and how critical it is to have someone to be accountable to regardless of how strong our influence becomes…

No Off Days…

Having just referenced a few of the less than positive things about Jordan that were given some media attention; gambling and how he was accused of treating teammates at times, let’s consider those… But let’s do it with a clear perspective…

It truly doesn’t matter to me whether or not you agree that Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player of all time. Either way, there’s no denying that he has been one of the most prominent figures on the planet for the last 40 years. For those relatively benign accusations to be essentially the only stones thrown at him in that time is nothing short of amazing. The only person with an even similar profile that I can think of who’s had less negative press was Derek Jeter. And while Jeter may be one of my favorite baseball players ever, even though I’ve always loathed the New York Yankees, his fame was far more limited to the game of baseball and he was nowhere close to the greatest player ever. All said, for either to have lived under their respective microscopes for so long and to have so little dirty laundry was amazing!

The reality of fame and fortune is that someone will always be looking to throw a stone with hopes of shattering a good image. While on a significantly different level, being in a leadership role is eerily similar. The expectations on our superstar star athletes, especially given their age and new found wealth, are very high and often unfair. The expectations we place on those we look to for leadership aren’t all that different. Leaders can rarely afford to have off days; they have to deliver at a higher level than anyone around them indefinitely.?

The difference between those athletes and someone who has accepted the responsibility of leadership is that the leader has almost always had more time to mature… With that in mind, we can’t lose sight of something I’ve heard John Maxwell say dozens of times, “Maturity usually comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone!” Anyone in a position that has high visibility and significant influence will have far greater expectations placed on them than the majority of folks will ever truly comprehend. To earn genuine influence with the teams we lead, and to continue earning that influence over time, we have to exceed those expectations and we have to do so on an ongoing basis.?

That’s never an easy task! It will require discipline, consistency, and determination - all of which contributed to Jordan becoming the greatest basketball player of all time. But we can’t possibly expect to do it alone, and neither did he! Strong leaders need strong mentors in their lives because they’re not usually willing to follow anyone weak…

Everyone is Influenced by Someone…

There’s not a day that goes by where I’m not incredibly thankful for the people who have mentored me over the last two decades. Quite a few of those have been very close, one-on-one relationships where I’ve been given direct input on areas I can grow in but even more have been with individuals I’ve studied from a distance to learn whatever I could from how they lead their teams. Through all that, I’ve had opportunities to meet and develop friendships with folks I would have never dreamed of interacting with when I started the process. Regardless of where we’re at in life, there’s tremendous value in mentorship from someone farther down the path!?

As we progress on our individual path, or we change paths altogether, the specific guidance we need from a mentor changes. While I still count on a select few of the same people that I did 25 years ago for input, I’ve had to continue searching for different types of mentorship in some areas. And I’ll be very open in saying that I’m far less willing to accept input from just anyone at this stage in my life. I don’t share that to be arrogant, but I feel that I’ve got to be very careful about which voices I allow to impact me because more people count on me now than ever have before.?

In the first chapter of The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, The Law of the Lid, John Maxwell gives an analogy explaining our leadership “lids” on a scale of one to ten. He says someone whose lid is a five won’t likely look to a four for leadership. Someone else with a lid at seven will need leadership and mentorship from someone at eight or higher in order to continue growing themselves. He says, “The higher you want to climb, the more you need leadership. The greater the impact you want to make, the greater your influence needs to be.”

Let’s think about how this ties back to what we’ve been working through regarding Michael Jordan… His athletic ability and work ethic got the ball rolling for him to have a tremendous amount of visibility. That also earned him a lot of influence. In many cases, his influence as only a player exceeded the influence of the coaches, managers, and executives that he played for. When that goes unchecked, things can get ugly very quickly. We’ll wrap all this up with that shortly. For now, I want to circle back to something I referenced earlier and look at how selective Jordan was about who he allowed to have a prominent voice in his life…

I’m only aware of three individuals that Jordan was willing to count on for the highest levels of mentorship throughout his career: his father, Dean Smith at UNC, and Phil Jackson. There were certainly others who coached him and impacted decisions he made, but these three were his most trusted resources. When his father was murdered, Jordan was devastated - resulting in him stepping away from basketball just after winning his third championship. He went back to his college coach for advice throughout his professional career; not advice on playing the game, but on life decisions… And his refusal to play for anyone other than Phil Jackson late in his career speaks volumes for that relationship.

Each of those men were extremely positive influences in his life. Quite frankly, they each likely played a huge part in Jordan having so little negative publicity over the course of his career. We sure don’t have to look too far in the sports world to see how different things can be for a young athlete with tons of cash who doesn’t have positive voices that are close to them!

The more responsibility we carry as a leader, the more important it becomes to have mentors we can trust who will help guide us through the more significant issues we face. While we may never have the TV cameras chasing our every move, our decisions may impact ever more lives. We’re all influenced by someone, and who we allow that someone to be matters!

House Cats or Barn Cats…

While the strong mentors Jordan had helped him maintain a good public image, there were still areas where he led teammates in a less than positive direction… I’ve referenced the difference between the influence Michael Jordan earned and the positional authority Jerry Krause relied on several times to this point. Early in The Last Dance, someone mentioned Jerry being the short, fat kid growing up and related that to his “little man syndrome.” As Jordan’s fame and influence grew, especially as that influence grew within the Bulls organization, there’s no doubt Krause felt at least some pressure or even animosity. After all, he was the General Manager of the franchise and Michael was just a player…

While likely not to that same degree, I’d guess we’ve all experienced situations similar to that. The supervisor, manager, or even owner of the company hires an extremely talented employee and there’s a tremendous buzz around that employee early on. In many cases, the technical expertise of the employee ends up getting them a pass in other areas. Over time, just like our kids tend to do when testing the boundaries we’ve set for them, those employees push the limits. Whether that’s with policies and procedures or even bad mouthing their boss and/or company, addressing the behavior can feel very threatening… What if they blow up and quit? What if they start their own business and take other team members with them? What if…??

As I re-watched The Last Dance, I noticed that not long after Pippen joined the team, giving Jordan a talented teammate to rely on, the jabs directed at Krause became more open. I don’t know that this ever really subsided, but there were several specific instances that were highlighted through the series. All of that culminated during the ‘97-’98 season, the last dance for that particular group of players with the Chicago Bulls organization. Michael’s father was no longer living to be a voice of reason. Phil Jackson appeared to be the scapegoat for Krause to use to break up the team, and I don’t recall any mention of Dean Smith around that time-frame or issue. In any case, even Jordan’s mentors didn’t seem to be providing him with much input on how to take the high road with Krause…

When any organization has extremely talented “players” who are at odds with members of management, there’s certainly reason for concern. But allowing it to go on unaddressed is something Simon Sinek comments on in The Infinite Game, calling it “an infection that festers over time.” Not only does it allow the working relationship between the specific team member and the particular management adversary to spiral out of control, it definitely takes a toll on that team member’s performance but it also impacts the performance and buy-in of every other team member who sees this lingering on.

I saw this happen first hand several years ago. An organization I was working with had hired a brilliant young man who was as good with customers as he was strong technically. He gained more and more influence with his coworkers and he took on a significant amount of responsibility for bringing in new business. However, there were a few things he struggled with - mainly the paperwork and accountability tied to his new supervisory role. While I was working with him directly, I was able to schedule time with him periodically to make sure those things got done (albeit through an occasional heated discussion). When I no longer had that direct working relationship with him, he was given a bit more leeway and eventually just allowed to shirk that part of his job completely. When his direct manager attempted to address it, ownership didn’t back the manager out of concern that it would drive the talented young man away. Although it didn’t push him out immediately, it also didn’t give him any reason to respect them. The owner’s approach caused the manager to leave the organization soon after. Eventually though, the brilliant young man had lost enough respect - which I believe stemmed from not being held accountable - and decided to start his own business as a direct competitor. In doing that, he took some of the most talented team members with him as well as a significant number of the customers he was serving…

In talking with a friend who was even closer to all that when it happened that I was, he compared it to having a house cat that’s as happy as it can be inside - until it gets a taste of hunting and is allowed to come and go as it pleases. It’s not long until that house cat becomes a barn cat, and the odds of it ever being a house cat again are pretty slim!

With regards to Jordan’s relationship with Krause, it sure seems like the folks who could have addressed his jabs early on allowed it to grow into barn cat behavior. I certainly can’t see where he ever came back inside on that issue… When someone with a lot of influence, primarily due to their technical expertise, isn’t held to the same standards we would expect from every other member of the team, we may never earn their respect again and we’ll likely lose the respect of many other team members in the process.

In closing this look at the leadership lessons we can learn from the greatest basketball player of all time, I’ll stress once more that I’m not making a case for him being a good or a bad leader - but you won’t convince me that anyone else has ever been better at the game of basketball and I’m not seeing where anyone will be any time soon! Hopefully though, this has provided you with some things to consider in your own leadership role and with your teams!