Will the Grizzlies Find Leadership? - Part 2

The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say "I." And that's not because they have trained themselves not to say "I." They don't think "I." They think "we"; they think "team." They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don't sidestep it, but "we" gets the credit. This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done.
Peter Drucker

In the first part of the blog I talked about the need for leadership on the team and how the major front office players are viewed as leaders in my eyes. It wasn't exactly complimentary but I did feel it was honest. In this part I am approaching leadership from the players perspective. While strong management leadership is needed on any team, it is ultimately the players on the court who have to take command. Dwight D. Eisenhower may have been calling the shots during WWII but it still took the soldiers in the field to win the war.

The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born -- that there is a genetic factor to leadership. This myth asserts that people simply either have certain charismatic qualities or not. That's nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.
Warren G. Bennis

So how do you build leadership? Is it a skill you can develop like a hook shot? If so what lessons are the current Grizzlies learning to develop their capacity to be leaders?

This could be one of the largest roadblocks in developing leadership on the team. Most teams consider their point guard to be the team leader but that is difficult to expect right now on the Grizzlies. Kyle Lowry and Mike Conley share duties and both are inexperienced in the NBA. To be the type of leader who can set personal examples that player needs to be on the court when tough times are happening. By rotating players the message is being sent that the staff doesn't have confidence in one player to fill that role. Leaders can't be on the bench in crunch time. Until Memphis establishes who their point guard is and give him the ball for more than half the game leadership won't come from that position.

"Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others."
Jack Welch

Rudy Gay has been described as the leader of the team in the past. However I question whether that was really the case. It seemed to me that Rudy Gay was still developing his own game more than elevating the game of those around him. That is not to say that Rudy can't become a leader on this team. He has the personality, the looks and the talent to gain the respect of his teammates. He now must learn how to take those talents to the next level and develop the team to a higher level around him.

Rudy Gay will enter training camp as clearly the best veteran player on the team but just being the best doesn't make you a leader on the team. Rudy is going to have to find a way to implement himself into that role both offensively and defensively. Rudy will need to become a better passer, a better on-court communicator and most importantly a better one on one defender. Players don't lead who don't pass, defend or guide the team. Rudy's individual skills may enable him to be the go-to shooter at the end of games but to reach the next level Rudy needs to make everyone on the team better not just himself. He is only 22 and just starting his 3rd season so there is still hope he can become that type of player.

"If a rhinoceros were to enter this restaurant now, there is no denying he would have great power here. But I should be the first to rise and assure him that he had no authority whatever."
G.K. Chesterton

The only player on the Grizzlies who has a history of being a leader on the court is Antoine Walker. That is a scary thought but it is also true. Antoine Walker was the emotional leader of a Boston Celtice team that reached the Eastern Conference Finals. He was not the leader on the Miami Heat team that won the NBA Championship.

Therein lies the potential and problem of Antoine Walker. At 31 Walker has NBA skills. He has a history of success in the league. He has the ring on his finger. What he doesn't have is respect. Walker is the proverbial bull in the china shop. He has been a whirlwind of controversy at many of his stops. When focused on playing basketball there are few players capable of doing things as well as Walker. The question has always been if basketball is the primary focus of his life.

This is likely Walker final stop if he doesn't show that dedication to the game. On this young team Walker could be a strong influence on the Grizzlies. One can only hope that Walker takes the opportunity to use that influence for the good of the team.

"The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been."
Henry Kissinger

Oventin J'Anthony Mayo has been described as a leader his entire basketball career. He leads by example, working harder than anyone else on the team. He leads by action, being more than willing to set up teammates for success as much wanting to take the shot himself. He leads by his mind, convincing himself that he can be the best by learning from those around him. He exhibits the traits people look for in a leader.

However, he is a 21 yr old rookie in the NBA. Will he be able to connect on a level that others will listen and follow him? O J Mayo was acquired on draft night for that express purpose. Wallace and most of the Grizzlies brass felt O J brought more of the innate ability to lead than Kevin Love or Mike Miller. They are willing to wait for him to grow into that role but they don't feel they will have to wait long. After all OJ Mayo is an adult. He may have just finished his freshman year at USC but he is more mature than many players in the league today (and older than some of his 'veteran' teammates as well). If there is anyone on the team who looks to be the 'natural' leader on the team it is Mayo.

Of course this team's on court leader may come from somewhere else. Darko Milicic, Marc Gasol, Darrell Arthur or even Javaris Crittenton could develop into the player that the team revolves around. One thing is for certain, the team needs to find their leader and fast.

Will the Grizzlies Find Leadership?

Fortidunie Vincimus (By Endurance we Conquer)

This was the family motto of Ernest Shackleton, the famed explorer whose leadership during the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition prevented a single death of his expedition when he was trapped on an ice flow off of Antarctica for over 20 months. His story was not one of great success but of great leadership. His vision and inspiration that enabled these men to survive an arctic winter is legendary even if the ultimate outcome of his expedition was complete failure.

So what does this have to do with the Grizzlies? Well I was reading Eric Musselman's blog the other day titled "Talent is Never Enough" based on the book of the same title by John Maxwell. The gist of the book revolved around this quote according to Musselman:

"Simple talent will never translate into success unless other factors related to character and attitude are strong as well. The more talented a team is, the more leadership is needed. Teams don't simply come together on their own; that they require leadership to do so."

It got me thinking about the Grizzlies. They have significantly increased the talent level on the team with the additions of O.J. Mayo, Darrell Arthur and Marc Gasol joining the developing talents of Kyle Lowry, Mike Conley and Rudy Gay. Talent doesn't appear to be the problem on this team. Not many teams in the NBA can boast as much young talent as the Grizzlies can trot out every night. Throw in Milicic, Crittenton, Jaric, Walker and Hakim Warrick and you have extremely talented players two deep at almost every position. What is lacking is leadership.

I want to look at leadership at the Grizzlies. First I will look at leadership at the top. The Front Office people who make the decisions on the make up of the team. In Memphis this is the trio of Michael Heisley, Chris Wallace and Marc Iavaroni. Each have roles to play in the team and how they lead goes a long way in determining how the team feels. These men are the Generals in the field headquarters so to speak. They aren't in the field but their decisions determine the likely success of those in the field of battle. In the second part I will discuss the actual players on the court or soldiers in the field to continue the analogy.

You do not lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Michael Heisley is definitely providing leadership of a sorts right now. He has laid down the vision the franchise is to take. He has established performance standards that need to be reached while maintaining the ultimate vision of success. That is the primary job of a leader: to focus anxiety on short term objectives while never losing sight of the ultimate goal. The problem many people have with Mr. Heisley is not his vision but rather his lack of inspiration. Heisley hits people over the head with his vision and doesn't appear to inspire them to share in his vision. This blunt approach may work in turning the ship around but with out inspiration it won't convince people to buy into that vision.

Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.
Stephen Covey

Chris Wallace has not shown true leadership of this team in his role. Rather than leading the team with his vision, Chris Wallace is merely administering the vision laid down by his superior. Chris Wallace has done what he was told to do but it is not his vision that is being pursued. At least that is not the message that Memphis is getting. It is obviously Heisley's vision and Wallace being the effective manager exercising the discipline to do what the leader has demanded must be done.

Of course there is a theory that to be a great leader, one must first be a good servant. If that is the case Wallace could be exercising his servantship position now to become the leader of the future. Wallace is somewhat hamstrung in how he builds this team, but he is in fact making a large amount of the personnel decisions. What the Grizzlies become will have as much to do with who is here three years from now as it does in the way the team came to be there. Heisley may be determining how much is paid to players but it is Wallace determining who the players are that get paid.

The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet.
Theodore M. Hesburgh

If there was one major complaint about Marc Iavaroni's first season as head coach it had to be his vision of what the Grizzlies should become. Many fans have questioned just what the vision of a Marc Iavaroni coached team is. Does he want the team to run or to control the ball? Does he want the team to focus on rebounding and defense or get out and run? Whatever his vision of this team is, he needs to sell it to the team and the city so they can buy into his vision.

The good news is that Iavaroni is starting his 2nd season as a head coach at any level this year. He knows what he has to do to keep his job. What everyone needs to see from him is a clear vision of what to expect from this team. Not vague platitudes but a clearly stated vision.

What worries me is that Iavaroni still seems reluctant to put forward his vision. He seems to be deferring to Kevin O'Neill's strategy on defense and leaving everyone guessing on offense. You can't lead without a confident steady message that the team can rally their support around. You can't lead saying that you are giving power to your subordinates and washing your hands of the matter. Either this is your team and O'Neill is working your strategy or it's not.

It is time for Iavaroni to stand up and be the leader on the bench.

Next I will look at the players....