March Madness: What Women Leaders Can Learn from It

By AmyK Hutchens

From the sidelines, basketball games can look frenzied: offensive players trying to find an open teammate, defenders hoping to steal a ball, and coaches frantically calling out new plays in the midst of it all.  But to anyone who has been on the court or has followed the game extensively knows basketball is a fast-paced environment well orchestrated by leaders. The best teams – the ones that make it to the courts that host the NCAA Division I basketball championship tournaments known as “March Madness” – are constantly setting up and running multiple complicated plays and adjusting tactics to make it to the next round.  

Just as in the game of basketball, great business leadership strategy doesn’t start and end with the coach.  A successful team in any environment requires all players to contribute their best in concert with their teammates, and do it seamlessly.   It is the leader’s responsibility to provide the tools to make that happen.

5 Leadership Techniques from the Court:

1. Establish Your Culture: The success of the team cannot depend solely on all the players having a common goal or every school would make it to the final four.  Players on great teams have core values in common, both on the court and off.  What are your team’s values? What do you want the team to embody and emulate? Everyone should know the philosophy and the behaviors and demonstrate their belief in them.  
 
2. Create a Playbook: The basketball can be passed faster and more effectively than it can be dribbled, and no championship has been won on the backs of only one player – passing is the key to any good offensive strategy. Your team needs to know how and when to play off the strengths of each other successfully. They rely on you to create clearly defined roles that are flexible in times of need so there’s never a gap in progress if one person goes down.  As a leader, you must illustrate the optimum plays so they know what contributions are expected of them.  If you create a playbook for them to follow in any given situation when it comes time to play hard, they play well, with focus and purpose.
 
3. Select Team Captains: Build leadership at all levels. Every team needs a captain, someone who can lead the day-to-day efforts, offer observations, model excellence and inspire the team to be the best. Captains are hands-on guides for shared goals, core values and alignment. Make the role of a captain something to which all players aspire.
 
4. Provide Consistent Feedback: Coaches constantly observe performance – player behaviors, progress, trends and outcomes. They provide feedback, both praise and guidance, in real-time to clarify direction and ensure motivation. If coaches only provided performance reviews at the end of the season, their words would be futile and the results de-motivating.  As a leader, you must be present for your team, providing consistent consult and helpful perspective.

5. Celebrate Each Victory: It's awesome when you get to celebrate a championship victory, but there are a lot of wins before the final game, and each one needs to be recognized.  Your team’s performance will be better for it because recognizing each win demonstrates what’s possible, provides the ultimate “visualization,” creates a culture of receptivity to guidance and builds motivation and commitment
 
Always make sure you recognize those unsung heroes on your team!

AmyK Hutchens, Founder and Intelligence Activist, AmyK International, Inc., is a speaker, trainer and business strategist.  Follow her on Twitter @AmyKinc or visit www.amyk.com.